Did Nature Bless You With Progressive Predispositions Or Were You Doomed From Birth To Be A Conservative?

Over the weekend, Time Magazine published a mood map-- "an interactive guide to the United States of Attitude." A multinational team based at Cambridge and "using personality test data from over one million people, researchers have identified three distinct personality regions in the country-- "friendly and extroverted," "relaxed and creative" and "temperamental and uninhibited." OK… so West Virginia is the most neurotic state, Utah is the most agreeable and the folks of Wisconsin are the country's most extroverted… For conscientiousness, South Carolina takes the finishing-their-homework-on-time prize, while the independent-minded Yanks of Maine-- who prefer to do things their own way and in their own time, thank you very much-- come in last. Does any of this tell us anything about electoral politics? The lead researcher doesn't think so:

“Political values may exaggerate the temperamental differences and a sense of tribalism may emerge,” he concedes, “but these things all come from a mix of common personality types. The Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic may be very different from the Rockies and the West, for example, but openness is a big part of both personality profiles.”

That simple idea might be the best message we can take from the study. We’re less a nation of warring tribes and angry camps than we are a loud, boisterous, messy mix of geography, social history and the unpredictable X factors of human personality, all trying to make a go of things under the same national flag. In other words, we’re exactly what the Founding Fathers intended us to be.

However, the whole point of the new book by academics John Hibbing, Kevin Smith and John Alford, Predisposed: Liberals. Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Differences, ties in personality traits to political preferences. "well as cooperation. "Politics," they write, "is such a fundamental part of our natures that our political temperaments are at least partially heritable and we pick mates on the basis of politics (thus further shaping the political temperaments of offspring). Heritable political beliefs make no sense if politics is purely the product of our social environments."

The key to understanding this apparent contradiction is what we call bedrock social dilemmas. These reflect divisions on the underlying first principles of politics; core preferences about the organization, structure and conduct of mass social life. All social units face the same need to resolve certain social dilemmas. They need to decide on leadership and decision-making arrangements, distribution of resources, decide how best to secure protection from out-groups, punish the misbehavior of in-group members, and orient to traditional (as opposed to new) forms of social behavior. People clearly have different underlying preferences on these bedrock dilemmas. Some prefer more hierarchical decision-making while others prefer egalitarian arrangements; some believe in share and share alike while others believe in taking care of your own; some see out-groups as threats while others see them as potential sources of friendship and new knowledge.

These underlying dilemmas are the bedrock of politics. They are fundamental to human social life, they are never fully resolved for all time, and divisions on the best solutions to these dilemmas constantly churn human societies. These dilemmas, then, constitute the deep and constant current of politics. Labels and issues are just waves on the top; they can be whipped up and blown every which way by the winds of history and culture.

They developed something called the "Society Works Best" index, traits that predict political predisposition almost perfectly. Take the test and, in case you're unsure, you can figure out where you "belong" politically.

Bedrock Social Dilemma 1: Degree of Adherence to Traditional Values/Moral Codes

Society works best when…

1-People live according to traditional values
2-People adjust their values to fit changing circumstances

Society works best when…

1-Behavioral expectations are based on an external code
2-Behavioral expectations are allowed to evolve over the decades

Society works best when…

1-Our leaders stick to their beliefs regardless
2-Our leaders change positions whenever situations change

Bedrock Social Dilemma 2: Treatment of Outgroups/Rulebreakers

Society works best when…

1-People realize the world is dangerous
2-People assume all those in far away places are kindly

Society works best when…

1-We take care of our own people first
2-We realize that people everywhere deserve our help

Society works best when…

1-Those who break the rules are punished
2-Those who break the rules are forgiven

Society works best when…

1-Every member contributes
2-More fortunate members sacrifice to help others

Bedrock Social Dilemma 3: The Role of Group/Individual

Society works best when…

1-People are rewarded according to merit
2-People are rewarded according to need

Society works best when…

1-People take primary responsibility for their welfare
2-People join together to help others

Society works best when…

1-People are proud they belong to the best society there is
2-People realize that no society is better than any other

Society works best when…

1-People recognize the unavoidable flaws of human nature
2-People recognize that humans can be changed in positive ways

Bedrock Social Dilemma 4: Authority and Leadership

Society works best when…

1-Our leaders are obeyed
2-Our leaders are questioned

Society works best when…

1-Our leaders call the shots
2-Our leaders are forced to listen to others

Society works best when…

1-Our leaders compromise with their opponents in order to get things done
2-Our leaders adhere to their principles no matter what