Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- A growing body of research suggests there’s some relationship between our measurable personality traits and our political beliefs.
- A recent study examined the relationship between political beliefs, personal responsibility and overall health.
- The results suggest that an emphasis on responsibility might explain health differences between liberals and conservatives.
It’s fairly well documented that conservatives tend to be healthier and than liberals, but what’s less clear is why? Some say it’s because conservatives tend to have higher incomes, and therefore have access to better health care. Others suggest it’s because conservatives participate in more religious activities, which helps them build healthy social relationships.
A recent study offers a new hypothesis: Conservatives place greater value on personal responsibility, and therefore they take better care of themselves.
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, defined personal responsibility as “the degree to which individuals see themselves, not external agents, as accountable for their own behaviors, which can be in a variety of domains,” including health. They don’t suggest that personal responsibility is the only explanation for health differences between liberals and conservatives, but rather that it can play a role.
“Political ideology is interesting, but terribly difficult to study. Causation is almost impossible,” Eugene Y. Chan, the author of the study and senior lecturer at Monash University, told PsyPost. “Most work, including mine, relies on correlational studies, so we can’t conclusively say that conservatives are healthier because of personal responsibility, just that the findings indicate a relationship between them.”
This relationship implies that we don’t always reason our way into a political party, or vote a certain way just because our family and friends do. Rather, our measurable personality traits seem to be, in some way, pulling us to the left or right.
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