authoritarianism on either side of the political divide
I’m done.
Brain scan studies are literally just publishing Rorschach tests. They have a decades long legacy of having some of the lowest rates of replicatability of any study ever devised. I’m genuinely surprised people are still taking them seriously after the Sam Harris “brain phrenology says religious people are stupid” controversy
we’re gonna do phrenology but this time we’re gonna get it right
Calipers
Computed TomographyBut seriously scientists please do find the fascism center of the brain so I can figure out how to apply the cure
This is just a word game about the definition of “authoritarian”.
I’m always suspicious of studies like these, usually what they’re actually tracking is lead poisoning or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
so you admit that you tankies have lead poisoned fetal alcohols???
I mean that would explain some of the characters from the late Soviet Union
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis
There’s a whole section on the field of psychology
The author, who is also part of an interdisciplinary research group called PseudoLab
Presenting the findings of my new scientific research group, Bad Science LLC.
…but seriously I guess it’s mildly interesting but entirely predictable that right- and left-wing brains have physical differences from each other and from more centrist types. That’s just materialism being proven correct once again. But I wouldn’t put any stock at all into the association between parts of the brain and specific personality traits because personality traits are far too squishy and hard to measure to be meaningfully correlated with the size of your post-anterior phalanges or whatever.
You see by looking at your
skull shapebrain scan we can tell you are less human than usI am not a statistician so I can’t authoritatively say their data is bunk, but this looks more like a nice shotgun pattern than correlative data
This is how a lot of statistical data. The correlation coefficient is low, but it’s still correlation (but maybe not causation)
turds
In an interview with PsyPost, lead study author Jesús Adrián-Ventura said that he and his team found that right-wing authoritarianism was associated with lower grey matter volume in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex — a “region involved in understanding others’ thoughts and perspectives,” as the assistant Zaragoza psychology professor put it.
So subscribing to “right-wing” beliefs (they merely describe it as adhering to conservative or traditional values) literally makes you less able to understand others. So even the brain shows signs of a lack of community and mutuality between people. While it doesn’t surprise me that right-wingers are less understanding, it’s intriguing that there seems to be a visible change in the brain. What I’m curious about now is if this can be reversed.
The left-wing authoritarians of the bunch — we don’t know exactly how many, as the results weren’t broken down in the paper — had less cortical (or outer brain layer) thickness in the right anterior insula, which is “associated with emotional empathy and behavioral inhibition.” Cortical thickness in that brain region has been the subject of ample research, from a 2005 study that found people who meditate regularly have greater thickness in the right anterior insula to a 2018 study that linked it to greater moral disgust.
Ok so… left-wingers, according to this study, are less empathetic and more impulsive…
Kidding aside, if we take the article at face value, I think it’d be safe to say that we all need to mediate more and go on as we are. Still, more research would be nice. Hope they don’t stop with this study.
The beauty of these studies is because the words they use mean nothing the study can mean anything. “Right wing authoritarianism” What is right wing? Biden? Trump? They both are to me. But likely the study doesnt think biden is right wing. Did they count all Israel supporters as right wing? What were the left wing authoritarian supporters? Democrats? Green party libs? Based Stalinists?
Its like saying i did a study of cool people and found they all have bigger toes than average. What makes someone cool? Who decides whats cool and isnt cool? All governments are authoritarian so was this study just on anyone that isnt a full blown anarchist? Where do they draw the line?
The study cites this for how they measured each form of “authoritarianism”:
The study it cites about “left-wing authoritarianism” explicitly states that it “strongly correlates with engagement in political violence” in the abstract and for why they think their research matters, which makes it sound like they want to get some phrenology-based “Minority Report” thing going.
I find this kind of research very suspicious overall.
ya i find it super sus too. Like even assuming the studies finding are infalliable and true which they arent, you still have correlation/causation issues. Issues with the interplay of each persons political views with their own existing government, for example a communist in the USA or in China has a very different lived experience. Its just a nonsense study imo.
Luckily they know so little about the brain all they can do is publish bunk studies like this shit
to make any sense at all of this kind of study result, it is definitely necessary to go read the entire thing, and then if it’s a survey, the survey questions themselves, which are often unavailable. and also the article itself is probably paywalled too.
Duh, people with bigger toes are cool
As the researchers defined them, right-wing authoritarians are people who ascribe to conservative ideologies and so-called “traditional values” who advocate for “punitive measures for social control,” while left-wing authoritarians are interested in “violently overthrow[ing] and [penalizing] the current structures of authority and power in society.”
Not that I believe the political compass is a valid representation, but whatever definition these folks are using is even weirder. Then again, they agree with Engels that revolutions are authoritarian by nature, so maybe i’m the wrong one.
From the paper: “LWA anti-hierarchical aggression was negatively related to the insular thickness”I find it hard to believe that leftists would be associated with less empathy–but empathy is a very flexible word in psychology.
Ah, here we go, quote from the study:
Importantly, the right anterior insula is strongly related with affective empathy
Disclaimer: not a shrink and I generally believe most “social” sciences are unworthy of the title, but I really do like to read
They cite studies that do fMRIs to test cognitive vs affective empathy; more recent trends in psychology/neurology tend toward defining more than two kinds of empathy; most often using cognitive, affective/emotional, and compassionate.
- Cognitive empathy: detecting and analyzing the emotional state of another
- Affective/Emotional empathy: experiencing the emotional state of another or tying it to one’s own experiences
- Compassionate empathy: a desire or drive to alleviate another’s emotional distress
Compassion is a big-brain thing–as in it requires a bunch of the brain bits working together, instead of a couple areas firing up.
Oh shit this helps me make sense of what seemed like a personal contradiction, where I’m light on type 2 but heavy on types 1 and 3
Surprisingly the study isn’t paywalled https://www.ibroneuroscience.org/article/S0306-4522(25)00304-5/fulltext
[T]he key trait linked to LWA is anxiety, especially in relation to the AHA and AC subscales (r = 0.30 and 0.31, respectively). This relationship is not surprising, given that LWA has been associated with neuroticism and higher sensitivity toward threatening situations and grievance
Ok nevermind they understand me completely
People unhappy with the world want to change it? What a fucking mind-blowing discovery
On the other hand, and less studied, Left-Wing Authoritarianism (LWA) has gained increasing relevance within the social and behavioral sciences. Recent advances have been made in understanding authoritarian attitudes among left-leaning individuals and groups across diverse sociopolitical contexts and languages (see Conway et al., 2018; Conway & McFarland, 2019; De Regt et al., 2011; Fasce & Avenda˜no, 2023; Manson, 2020; Van Hiel et al., 2006).
In fact, Costello et al. (2022) have recently made an important contribution on the conceptual elucidation
Can anyone tell me the structural reason why scientists write their papers like this? Do journal editors not take your paper seriously if you’re not writing things like “conceptual elucidation”? genuinely curious.
and psychometric measurement of LWA. According to their model, there are three dimensions of LWA: Anti-Hierarchical Aggression, which is the disposition to violently overthrow and penalize the current structures of authority and power in society; Anti-Conventionalism, characterized by a sense of moral superiority and a desire for ideological uniformity within the group; and Top-Down Censorship, the drive to use group authority to coercively and punitively control ideologies and behaviors that do not conform or are not consistent with left-wing standpoints. In the work of Costello et al. (2022), this construct displayed a nomological network reflecting cognitive rigidity, coercive group behavior, and moral absolutism. The same LWA construct has also been linked to support for authoritarian policies and rejection of fundamental civil liberties and rights (Fasce & Avenda˜no, 2022; Manson, 2020).
Left-wing authoritarianism (LWA): We used the Spanish adaptation (Avenda˜no et al., 2022) of the 39-item scale recently developed by Costello et al. (2022). The questionnaire consists of 3 subscales: Anti- hierarchical aggression (LWA AHA), Anti-conventionalism (LWA AC), and Top-down censorship (LWA TDC).
the 39-item scale can be found here: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpspp0000341
If any comrade has access through an academic institution or wants to pay $17.95 for the pdf that would be great
Lol, from your link:
In the present studies, we investigate the nature, structure, and nomological network of left-wing authoritarianism (LWA), a construct famously known as “the Loch Ness Monster” of political psychology.
I knew hexbear was full of cryptids
bigfoot is a maoist
Can anyone tell me the structural reason why scientists write their papers like this? Do journal editors not take your paper seriously if you’re not writing things like “conceptual elucidation”? genuinely curious.
A lot of reviewers and editors get really mad if you write in any other style
If any comrade has access through an academic institution or wants to pay $17.95 for the pdf that would be great
https://filebin.net/ylpcwhwbhif6anf0/EBSCO-FullText-04_30_2025.pdf
It was scored agree/disagree on these items, that were then given arbitrary (to me) weights (positive and negative) for “Anti-Hierarchical Aggression”, “Anti-Conventionalism”, and “Top-Down Censorship”:
the inventory:
- The rich should be stripped of their belongings and status.
- Rich people should be forced to give up virtually all of their wealth.
- If I could remake society, I would put people who currently have the most privilege at the very bottom.
- America would be much better off if all of the rich people were at the bottom of the social ladder.
- When the tables are turned on the oppressors at the top of society, I will enjoy watching them suffer the violence that they have inflicted on so many others.
- Most rich Wall Street executives deserve to be thrown in prison.
- Constitutions and laws are just another way for the powerful to destroy our dignity and individuality.
- The current system is beyond repair.
- We need to replace the established order by any means necessary.
- Political violence can be constructive when it serves the cause of social justice.
- Certain elements in our society must be made to pay for the violence of their ancestors.
- If a few of the worst Republican politicians were assassinated, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
- I would prefer a far-left leader with absolute authority over a right-wing leader with limited power.
- Schools should be required by law to teach children about our country’s history of racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia.
- Anyone who opposes gay marriage must be homophobic.
- Deep down, just about all conservatives are racist, sexist, and homophobic.
- People are truly worried about terrorism should shift their focus to the nutjobs on the far-right.
- The “old-fashioned ways” and “old-fashioned values” need to be abolished.
- Radical and progressive moral values can save our society.
- All political conservatives are fools.
- I cannot imagine myself becoming friends with a political conservative.
- Conservatives are morally inferior to liberals.
- It is important that we destroy the West’s nationalist, imperialist values.
- I try to expose myself to conservative news sources.
- There is nothing wrong with Bible camps.
- I hate being around non-progressive people.
- Classroom discussions should be safe places that protect students from disturbing ideas.
- University authorities are right to ban hateful speech from campus.
- I should have the right not to be exposed to offensive views.
- To succeed, a workplace must ensure that its employees feel safe from criticism.
- We must line up behind strong leaders who have the will to stamp out prejudice and intolerance.
- When we spend all of our time protecting the right to “free speech” we’re protecting the rights of sexists, racists, and homophobes at the cost of marginalized people.
- I am in favor of allowing the government to shut down right-wing internet sites and blogs that promote nutty, hateful positions.
- Colleges and universities that permit speakers with intolerant views should be publicly condemned.
- Getting rid of inequality is more important than protecting the so-called “right” to free speech.
- Fox News, right-wing talk radio, and other conservative media outlets should be prohibited from broadcasting their hateful views.
- Even books that contain racism or racial language should not be censored.
- I don’t support shutting down speakers with sexist, homophobic, or racist views.
- Neo-Nazis ought to have a legal right to their opinions.
Why yes, I do study political economics, and no I don’t have any clue what economic class is
did the study the brains after they were splattered on a brick wall?
