Professors’ study disputes long-standing claim conservatives are more rigid thinkers

College Fix

Key Takeaways

• A recent study disputes the notion that conservatives are inherently more rigid in their beliefs, suggesting both conservatives and progressives exhibit similar psychological traits.
• The study, involving collaboration among professors, aimed to address biases in the social sciences' examination of political ideology and emphasized fair testing of the rigidity-of-the-right hypothesis.
• Findings indicate that while conservatives can be rigid, this is only sometimes and to a minor degree, and political extremity at both ends correlates with less evidence-based belief updating.
• The research highlights the importance of ideological diversity in academia, suggesting that the lack of varied viewpoints may influence how political ideologies are studied.

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