the power of positive thinking...

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2008
the power of positive thinking...
35
Thu, 11-06-2008 - 9:06pm

So I realize that some conservatives are devastated right now, and bitterly anticipating how horrible our lives are going to be with Obama as president. Those who voted for Obama are generally feeling relieved, hopeful, and excited about the next 4 years. Although the conservatives may feel that those who voted for Obama are in for a rude awakening, I wanted to point out that all the positivity flowing around right now among Obama supporters could itself have a very beneficial impact on our society. Look around you at all the people who feel inspired by the impact that they were able to make on our political system, who feel inspired by Obama's message that we need to do a better job of looking out for each other. I know that I for one feel a real spirit of generosity and social responsibility. I feel like I want to donate more to charity, volunteer my time, and find ways to make my work more relevant to helping those around me. Do the conservatives out there believe in the power of positive thinking? Do you think it is at all possible that excitement about Obama and his hopeful message could turn into a self-fulfilling prophesy?

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siggy aug 09
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:18pm

Conservative tend to be more charitable as well. Then tend to believe more in it being a personal responsibility to help the poor and do so through their actions as indicated by their higher levels of volunteering and charitable giving. I'm sure some of it has to do with them being more religious in nature as well.

Many don't believe it's right to infringe on individual rights. That forced charitable giving through taxation is a bit of a cop-out. It's supposed to be done voluntarily. Because of their strong believe in personal responsibility they tend not to be a party of victims. That attitude is a very good one if your goal is ultimate success in life.

I do think you missed some of the point being made. They don't sit around feeling sorry for themselves because all things aren't equal. Maybe because it's a pointless thing to do that only tends to make one feel miserable. Imagine living in a world where you constantly lamented on what it was you didn't have when compared to others? It's not a happy place to be. And that's part of why they're happier.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:21pm
I think it has more to do with gratitude. Conservatives have more of it. They focus on what they are blessed with instead of feeling bad for what they don't have. It's a cultural mindset.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-12-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:32pm

Before the conservatives get too big-headed about the findings of that research, there are some other interesting differences between conservatives and liberals we might all be interested in. Note, I am quoting this from:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20061222-000001.xml

Before you all read this, I want to point out that I think the take-home point from this research, if you combine it with the research delphine pointed to, is that liberals and conservatives are different, but both groups have some wonderful redeeming qualities.

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Most people are surprised to learn that there are real, stable differences in personality between conservatives and liberals—not just different views or values, but underlying differences in temperament. Psychologists John Jost of New York University, Dana Carney of Harvard, and Sam Gosling of the University of Texas have demonstrated that conservatives and liberals boast markedly different home and office decor. Liberals are messier than conservatives, their rooms have more clutter and more color, and they tend to have more travel documents, maps of other countries, and flags from around the world. Conservatives are neater, and their rooms are cleaner, better organized, more brightly lit, and more conventional. Liberals have more books, and their books cover a greater variety of topics. And that's just a start. Multiple studies find that liberals are more optimistic. Conservatives are more likely to be religious. Liberals are more likely to like classical music and jazz, conservatives, country music. Liberals are more likely to enjoy abstract art. Conservative men are more likely than liberal men to prefer conventional forms of entertainment like TV and talk radio. Liberal men like romantic comedies more than conservative men. Liberal women are more likely than conservative women to enjoy books, poetry, writing in a diary, acting, and playing musical instruments.

"All people are born alike—except Republicans and Democrats," quipped Groucho Marx, and in fact it turns out that personality differences between liberals and conservatives are evident in early childhood. In 1969, Berkeley professors Jack and Jeanne Block embarked on a study of childhood personality, asking nursery school teachers to rate children's temperaments. They weren't even thinking about political orientation.

Twenty years later, they decided to compare the subjects' childhood personalities with their political preferences as adults. They found arresting patterns. As kids, liberals had developed close relationships with peers and were rated by their teachers as self-reliant, energetic, impulsive, and resilient. People who were conservative at age 23 had been described by their teachers as easily victimized, easily offended, indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited, and vulnerable at age 3. The reason for the difference, the Blocks hypothesized, was that insecure kids most needed the reassurance of tradition and authority, and they found it in conservative politics.

The most comprehensive review of personality and political orientation to date is a 2003 meta-analysis of 88 prior studies involving 22,000 participants. The researchers—John Jost of NYU, Arie Kruglanski of the University of Maryland, and Jack Glaser and Frank Sulloway of Berkeley—found that conservatives have a greater desire to reach a decision quickly and stick to it, and are higher on conscientiousness, which includes neatness, orderliness, duty, and rule-following. Liberals are higher on openness, which includes intellectual curiosity, excitement-seeking, novelty, creativity for its own sake, and a craving for stimulation like travel, color, art, music, and literature.

The study's authors also concluded that conservatives have less tolerance for ambiguity, a trait they say is exemplified when George Bush says things like, "Look, my job isn't to try to nuance. My job is to tell people what I think," and "I'm the decider." Those who think the world is highly dangerous and those with the greatest fear of death are the most likely to be conservative.

Liberals, on the other hand, are "more likely to see gray areas and reconcile seemingly conflicting information," says Jost. As a result, liberals like John Kerry, who see many sides to every issue, are portrayed as flip-floppers. "Whatever the cause, Bush and Kerry exemplify the cognitive styles we see in the research," says Jack Glaser, one of the study's authors, "Bush in appearing more rigid in his thinking and intolerant of uncertainty and ambiguity, and Kerry in appearing more open to ambiguity and to considering alternative positions."



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siggy aug 09
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:33pm

I know how to read and I understood your article completely. Nothing you said in that post contradicts the fact that the article stated that conservatives are more happy than liberals simply because they are able to rationalize inequality. Spin it however you want, I will never see that as a good thing. You can think that it's a good thing when a

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:40pm

Thank you for posting that! I think it is spot on.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-14-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:47pm

You don't understand the point being made.

A poor conservative is happier because they don't sit around blaming others for the fact they have less. Thus they are less miserable. Less envious. Less angry.

A poor liberal feels more the victim. They are angrier at the disparity. Feel it's unfair, they are more envious, feel less in control and are thus more miserable.

It's not about your vision of well to do conservatives having no compassion for those who are less well off. If that were the case conservatives of all income levels wouldn't more charitable than liberal in general.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-18-2004
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:50pm


She understands the point being made just fine - she just doesn't agree with it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:50pm

Very interesting.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:52pm

Where'd the information come for showing that conservatives are more charitable?

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2008
Fri, 11-07-2008 - 5:54pm

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i hardly think thatall