Political Tribes Are Predictable

With the US election imminent, we view who to vote for as one of the most important choices in our lives. But, writes John T. Jost, whether liberal or conservative, our political affinities as adults can be predicted from early childhood. American and global studies show that temperament and psychological traits such as threat sensitivity correlate with ideological divides. A mix of nature and nurture means our political beliefs are at least partly heritable – though not inevitable.

Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera Iolanthe included the celebrated refrain ‘Every boy and every gal, That’s born into the world alive, Is either a little Liberal, Or else a little Conservative!’ There is, as it turns out, a grain of truth in this one-hundred-and-sixty-year-old song. It is certainly not the case that people are destined to occupy the political left, right, or center in any inevitable sense, but events that are set into motion in childhood, adolescence, and beyond do indeed shape our political orientations, whether we like to admit it or not.

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