{"id":3240,"date":"2025-01-10T10:59:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T10:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bullseye.ac\/blog\/?p=3240"},"modified":"2025-01-10T10:59:24","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T10:59:24","slug":"the-neuroscience-behind-political-ideologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bullseye.ac\/blog\/book-reviews-summary\/the-neuroscience-behind-political-ideologies\/","title":{"rendered":"The Neuroscience Behind Political Ideologies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Number of words: 617<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people turn to personal narratives or philosophical justifications to explain why they hold a particular political opinion. A recently published psychology study suggests they should also look to the size and shape of their brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psychologists conducted brain scans on a total of 93 adults (first they studied 48 Caucasian adults, 58% of whom were female, and then replicated the effects with 45 adults from diverse ethnic backgrounds, 67% of whom were female) and found that the size of the bilateral amygdala, which governs emotions, survival instincts, and memory, was strongly correlated with support for the existing social order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This mindset is known as \u201csystem justification,\u201d and is highly correlated with conservatism, says Jay Van Bavel, professor of psychology and neural science at New York University. \u201cA system-justifying psychological orientation favours the social, economic, and political status quo, and may promote vigilance to social hierarchy and a preference for ideologies that characterize extant inequality as legitimate and necessary,\u201d explain the authors in the paper<\/a>, published in December in Nature Human Behavior<\/em>. The study evaluated this by the system justification scale, which poses questions such as, \u201cIn general, you find society to be fair,\u201d and \u201cEveryone has a fair shot at wealth and happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier research (notably one paper co-authored<\/a> by the actor Colin Firth) found a link between conservatism and the volume of the right amygdala, with higher volume linked to conservatism. Van Bavel says his research found that system justification, more than specific political ideology or the tendency to legitimize economic inequality under capitalism, was the strongest indicator of variations in the size of the amygdala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors followed up with 20 participants and found that those with larger amygdalas were less likely to take part in protests. \u201cAlthough the sample size was small, this link between amygdala volume and protest behaviour provides initial evidence that the amygdala may not only be related to beliefs about society but also willingness to take action to change certain aspects of the social system,\u201d note the authors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These findings suggest that political beliefs aren\u2019t only influenced by identity or party mandates, but by biology. \u201cWe think of politics as something driven by elites. When Donald Trump does something, the Republicans get in line and Democrats reverse their opinion,\u201d says Van Bavel. \u201cThis is a bottom-up influence on politics. Whether or not we support \u2018March for Life\u2019 might just be whether we\u2019re [biologically] predisposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brain structure, he says, is \u201cpart of the story\u201d that explains what political parties and movements we find appealing. \u201cIt explains why it\u2019s hard to make momentum and get everybody out protesting and to change things. A lot of people are dispositionally orientated towards the status quo,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This research is in keeping with findings that genetics have a significant effect<\/a> on influencing political preferences. \u201cIt seems quite likely that these biological predispositions are manifested in brain structure,\u201d says Van Bavel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The physical brain changes as our beliefs and behaviors shift (\u201cvirtually any change in behavior is mirrored by a change in brain structure,\u201d says Van Bavel), and so it\u2019s extremely likely that our brains change as our political views do over time. It\u2019s difficult to know the extent that the brain we\u2019re born with predetermines political opinions, as opposed to whether the brain is physically molded by the views we develop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I had to place a bet, my money is on both outcomes: I suspect that our inborn brain structure guides us to political preferences, but that our political environment also alters our brain structure,\u201d says Van Bavel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experiences and careful rational consideration can certainly shape the causes we choose to support. But, so too, can our physical brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excerpted from<\/em> https:\/\/qz.com\/1238929\/your-political-views-are-influenced-by-the-size-of-your-brains-amygdala\/<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Number of words: 617 Most people turn to personal narratives or philosophical justifications to explain why they hold a particular political opinion. A recently published psychology study suggests they should also look to the size and shape of their brains. Psychologists conducted brain scans on a total of 93 adults (first they studied 48 Caucasian … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Neuroscience Behind Political Ideologies - BullsEye<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bullseye.ac\/blog\/book-reviews-summary\/the-neuroscience-behind-political-ideologies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Neuroscience Behind Political Ideologies - BullsEye\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Number of words: 617 Most people turn to personal narratives or philosophical justifications to explain why they hold a particular political opinion. 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