The history of the right and left division teleports us to the year 1789. How could Europe, ravaged by the French Revolution, know that it would introduce the concepts of “right-left” that determine political views in the 21st century?
These terms, which bring to mind some labels such as conservative and liberal, were once innocent enough to describe the way politicians sit in parliament.
How did they become an element of political opinion when the reason was so simple?
When the members of the French National Assembly met to draft a constitution in 1789, the anti-Royalists sat to the left of the president; Conservative and aristocratic supporters sat on his right.
In fact, this method, which also expresses a kind of opinion, still allows conservatives to be called “right-wing” and liberals “leftist”.
Could it be our genes that determine our political stance?
Political opinion is something that people choose consciously and in accordance with their own logic. The reason why people differ with each other is because everyone comes to a different conclusion. But research says it’s not that simple.
Politics is in our blood.
Studies on biological origins and political connections show that our personality influences our political views. The situation is not limited to this. The picture becomes even more complicated when genetics is involved.
James Fowler, a political scientist and professor of medical genetics, conducted a study on this subject.
Wondering if our genes influence our political stance, Fowler conducted a study tracking the hormones serotonin and dopamine. As a result of his research, he revealed that the 5HTT gene, which plays a role in the production of serotonin, makes a significant difference in religious views. In addition, the gene called DRD4 was associated with innovative and left-leaning views.
According to Fowler, a person’s social life in adolescence increased his/her predisposition to liberal view.
Saying that social life affects political opinion, the professor also supports that these are hereditary. For example, identical twins are much more likely to have the same political views than other siblings.
Does our personality structure have a big role in influencing our political views?
Recent studies on this subject reveal that personality structure affects political opinion. Observing psychologists state that conservative and liberal people organize their living spaces in a completely different way.
Proponents of order and tradition possessed many items, while others hid more scattered and exploratory items. In fact, it was observed that conservatives were more willing to remove ambiguities.
Another area where the differences stand out: moral judgments.
While the so-called progressive group cannot tolerate inequality; Conservatives were found to be more uncomfortable with disrespect for authority and tradition. These differences also have a surprising biological origin. The disgust reflex in all of us also influenced responses when investigated biologically.
By looking at the reactions and the disgust reflex, it has been shown that the conservative part perceives the world as a more dangerous place.
Most of the discussions; research has focused on reducing people to one of two groups. This is of course very disturbing.
What we tried to convey without taking any political stance was simply the biological basis of the factors that influence our political views. Also, the treatment of conservative thinking as a personality disorder is extremely disturbing. We also know that there are people who do not fit both sides, including libertarianism.
What we want to tell in this article is the fact that both sides are actually quite different from each other in the midst of conflicts of opposing views. For this reason, the conflict of both sides is often not in the hands of individuals. The truths that everyone believes and know are very different, the best thing to do for this is empathy.
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