Some contend that both liberals and conservatives at the polar ends of the political spectrum are ideological extremists and thus are more likely to be dogmatic.\u00a0 This position is known as the I<\/em>deological-Extremist Hypothesis<\/i>.\u00a0 Another perspective, held by many, is the Rigidity of the Right Hypothesis, <\/i>that contends that conservatives tend to score higher than liberals on measures of dogmatism, intolerance of ambiguity, and closed-mindedness.\u00a0 Naturally, the issue is more nuanced than this.\u00a0 These issues have been studied and published in a paper by Toner, Leary, Asher, and Jongman-Sereno (2013) titled Feeling Superior Is a Bipartisan Issue: Extremity (Not Direction) of Political Views Predicts Perceived Belief Superiority<\/a>.<\/i><\/b> \u00a0\u00a0Toner et al., (2013) contend that:<\/p>\n \u201cNot only do individuals \u2013 liberals and conservative alike \u2013 vary in the issues about which they feel superior, but also evidence suggests that liberals and conservatives may be dogmatic about different issues.\u00a0 For example compared to conservatives, liberals are more dogmatic about global warming, equally dogmatic about civil unions, and less dogmatic about affirmative action.\u201d 1<\/sup> Measuring both belief superiority<\/i> and dogmatism,<\/i> Toner and her colleagues attempted to assess the veracity of both the Rigidity of the Right<\/i> and the I<\/em>deological Extremism<\/i> Hypotheses.\u00a0\u00a0 They did this through an online questionnaire service whereby they collected data on 527 subjects (55% male, 49% with some college, ages 18-67 years with a mean age of 30.7).\u00a0 Three questionnaires were completed by each participant including: 1) an issues oriented set of questions quantifying attitudes on nine contentious political topics –\u00a0 thereby determining their political sensibilities on a conservative-liberal spectrum; 2) a superiority of belief measure assessing the degree of certainty of correctness on each issue, and 3) a measure of dogmatic thinking.\u00a0 Co-author Mark Leary\u00a0 noted that they: “… examined whether those who endorse the extremes of conservative and liberal viewpoints demonstrate greater belief superiority than those who hold moderate views.2<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n Consistent with previous research findings, those espousing more conservative attitudes scored significantly higher on the dogmatism scale. \u00a0\u00a0Thus the R<\/em>igidity of the Right<\/i> Hypothesis<\/em> was supported while the Ideological Extremism<\/em> hypothesis was unsubstantiated.\u00a0 In other words, extreme conservatives scored much higher on the dogmatism scale than did extreme liberals.\u00a0 With regard to belief superiority,<\/em> both conservatives and liberals demonstrated this attribute, but on different topics (see Figure 2 below from Toner, et al., 2013).\u00a0 Specifically, people who endorsed conservative attitudes expressed greater belief superiority<\/em> than did liberals when asked about voter identification laws, affirmative action, and taxes.\u00a0 Liberals demonstrated greater belief superiority<\/em> on the issues pertaining to the role in government in helping the less fortunate, the use of torture on terrorists, and the basing of laws on religious teachings. \u00a0The more \u201cextreme\u201d one\u2019s attitudes were, the greater their belief superiority<\/em> tended to be.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 belief superiority does not include the unchanging, inflexible element implied by dogmatism.\u00a0 Thus, people who endorse extremely liberal views may feel as equally superior in their beliefs as those endorsing extremely conservative views, but they might be more likely to adjust their views over time with changes in evidence, social norms, or other people\u2019s influence.\u201d1<\/sup><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n History is filled with travesties perpetrated by extremists at both ends of the political spectrum promoting egalitarian (liberal), individualistic (conservative), and\/or religious agendas. \u00a0\u00a0As Toner et al., (2013) suggest, strong beliefs based in evidence may be reasonable and justified.\u00a0 It is dogmatism, regardless of what belief system that it emanates from, which constitutes danger. Dangerous yes, but more relevant today is the reality that such bombast results in gridlock.\u00a0 These mindsets help explain the current US governmental stalemate as Toner noted in an interview for Duke Today<\/a>: “These findings help to explain why politicians with more extreme views can’t reach across the aisle.\u00a0 As more extreme candidates get elected to Congress, compromise becomes more difficult and deadlocks increase because those with more extreme views are more certain that they are right.”2 Although certainty and confidence are attractive in leaders, it is exactly these very attributes that render politicians ineffective.\u00a0 Life and society are complicated.\u00a0 There are no easy solutions.\u00a0 What I took away from this study is that we need collaboration among diverse and intelligent thinkers who are unencumbered by dogmatism and extremist ideology.\u00a0 We, as a people, must stop feeding into the vitriolic nature of politics and look for leaders who are more willing to work together to solve complex problems.\u00a0 We must stop feeding the monster, before it eats us up.\u00a0 One important way to end this is to stop attending to extremist political pundits who stir up hatred and polarize politics.\u00a0 We all know who these pundits are.\u00a0 The reality is that media driven hatred and fear mongering drives these phenomena and it is commercial Television and Radio that gives these pundits a platform.\u00a0 Perhaps it is time to hit their corporate sponsors as they are complicit in spoiling the well.<\/p>\n References:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Toner, K., Leary,\u00a0 M. R., Asher, M. W., & Jongman-Sereno, K. P. (2013).\u00a0 Feeling Superior is a Bipartisan Issue: Extremity (Not Direction) of Political Views Predicts Perceived Belief Superiority<\/em><\/span><\/a>, Psychological Science, DOI: 10.1177\/0956797613494848<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0Duke Today. (2013). Belief Superiority is Bipartisan<\/em> <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Also <\/strong>See:<\/strong><\/p>\n American Exceptionalism: I’m All For It!<\/a><\/p>\n The Illusion of Punditry<\/a><\/p>\n Political Divide<\/a><\/p>\n Moral Foundations Theory<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/geraldguild.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Screen-Shot-2013-11-25-at-6.54.54-PM.png\")
<\/a>As this study and a number of previous studies have provided evidence for, dogmatism tends to be associated with those at the conservative end of the spectrum.\u00a0 Meanwhile, belief superiority is more specific to the issues and is evident at both ends of the spectrum.\u00a0 Toner et al., (2013) note:<\/p>\n
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