Thread by @docrussjackson

What are we to make of Boris Johnson's continuing support, both from most Tory MPs & the wider right-wing, given his relentless denial of reality, & almost daily demonstrable lies?

Why are @Conservatives more susceptible to believing lies?

slate.com/technology/201…

The Left aren't immune to believing lies, but the evidence seems conclusive: people on the Right are more prone to believing lies than people on the Left.

Why?

It may be that conservatives & liberals seem to hold different beliefs about what constitutes “truth.”

Finding facts, pursuing evidence & trusting science is basic liberal ideology. For many (especially US) conservatives, faith & intuition appear as equally valid sources of truth. Fairness & kindness come lower on the list of moral priorities for conservatives than for liberals.

Conservatives show a stronger preference for higher status groups, are more accepting of inequality & injustice, & are less empathic (at least towards those outside their immediate family).

Baptist minister & former Republican congressman J.C. Watts put it succinctly:

Campaigning for Sen. Rand Paul in Iowa in 2015 he observed:

“The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans believe people are fundamentally bad, while Democrats see people as fundamentally good.”

Conservatives are also less introspective, less attentive to their inner feelings, & less likely to override their “gut” reactions & engage in further reflection to find a correct answer.

As a result, conservatives may be more likely to rely on error-prone cognitive shortcuts, less aware of their own unconscious biases, and less likely to respond to factual corrections to previously held beliefs.

In both the UK & USA, conservatives come disproportionately from rural areas & small towns, where social networks remain smaller, but denser & more homogeneous than in the big cities where left-leaning liberals dominate.

As a result, it may well be the case that the opinions of family, friends, & community may be more potent in conservative areas than in the more anonymous big cities, where people tend to mix with a wider range of people & opinions, & where Left-leaning people tend to dominate.

The lack of shared reality between left & right in America today - & increasingly in Britain too - has no doubt contributed greatly to our current dangerously high levels of political polarization. This plays out daily in the news media, which politically, appear to be ossifying.

Despite occasional left forays into reality denial, conservatives are far more likely to accept #misinformation & outright lies.

Deliberate campaigns of misinformation & conservative preferences for information that fits pre-existing ideology provide only a partial explanation.

Faulty reasoning & judgment, rooted in the interactions between modes of reasoning & judgment shared by all with the specific personality patterns found disproportionately among conservatives, may also play a central role.