[CTRL] Fwd: [cia-drugs] Study of Bush's psyche touches a nerve

[Kris Millegan]

-Caveat Lector- www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.

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-Caveat Lector- Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition From my various associations with conservatives in life and on email groups, I've formed some general opinions. I'm not making a hasty generalization because I realize nobody is totally alike no matter what common label they wear. Unfortunately personal hostility, intolerance and aggression do seem to be a part of many conservative dispositions. I just discovered that research done by professionals have found a prevalence of the same traits I've seen. No matter what label we think fits us, I do know we need a balance and must quit calling names and assigning lables if we are to do our country any good. As generously as I look at this, I continue to reject the rightness of a government dominated by any one group of people, regardless of their chosen label.  Kay Lee   Study of Bush's psyche touches a nerve According to a research study performed by the American Psychological Association, the core of political conservatism is the resistance to change and a tolerance for inequality. Some other common psychological factors linked to conservatism include: Fear and aggression Dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity Uncertainty avoidance Need for cognitive closure Terror management Julian Borger in Washington Wednesday August 13, 2003 The Guardian A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity". As if that was not enough to get Republican blood boiling, the report's four authors linked Hitler, Mussolini, Ronald Reagan and the rightwing talkshow host, Rush Limbaugh, arguing they all suffered from the same affliction. All of them "preached a return to an idealised past and condoned inequality". Republicans are demanding to know why the psychologists behind the report, Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition, received $1.2m in public funds for their research from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The authors also peer into the psyche of President George Bush, who turns out to be a textbook case. The telltale signs are his preference for moral certainty and frequently expressed dislike of nuance. "This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes," the authors argue in the Psychological Bulletin. One of the psychologists behind the study, Jack Glaser, said the aversion to shades of grey and the need for "closure" could explain the fact that the Bush administration ignored intelligence that contradicted its beliefs about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The authors, presumably aware of the outrage they were likely to trigger, added a disclaimer that their study "does not mean that conservatism is pathological or that conservative beliefs are necessarily false". Another author, Arie Kruglanski, of the University of Maryland, said he had received hate mail since the article was published, but he insisted that the study "is not critical of conservatives at all". "The variables we talk about are general human dimensions," he said. "These are the same dimensions that contribute to loyalty and commitment to the group. Liberals might be less intolerant of ambiguity, but they may be less decisive, less committed, less loyal." But what drives the psychologists? George Will, a Washington Post columnist who has long suffered from ingrained conservatism, noted, tartly: "The professors have ideas; the rest of us have emanations of our psychological needs and neuroses." I found a lot of information on these studies on the web.  Here are just a few sources: Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition http://www.awitness.org/journal/political_conservatism_as_motivated_social_cognition_summary.html Researchers help define what makes a political conservative http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/07/22_politics.shtml  Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition http://azplace.net/index.php?itemid=237 Studies on Conservative Motivations:  http://www.house.gov/burton/RSC/NIH_NSFgrants.pdf "Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man`s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true." - Martin Luther King Jr. Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Sponsor Get unlimited calls to U.S./Canada Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/ <A HREF="">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om

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