The Relationship Between Political Affiliation and Personality

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When it comes to political affiliation, there is always the discussion of conservatives compared to liberals. Currently the U.S. is much divided between those who are liberals and those who are conservatives. Conservatives are described as being disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change. Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty, traditional American values and a strong national defense. Conservative policies generally emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems. Conservatives seek to stop the growing entitlement programs, encourage individual responsibility, and look to return constitutionally mandated power to the states. Conservatism sees a nation of people capable of solving their own problems with minimal government help, as long as the people are free. Liberals, on the other hand, are described as being favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs. Liberals believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all. Liberals believe that it is the duty of the government to alleviate social ills and to protect civil liberties and individual and human rights. Liberal policies generally emphasize the need for the government to solve problems. Although there is a clear division between the U.S. in political affiliation, conservatives outnumber the liberals. Saad (2012) concludes that 40% of Americans describe their views as conservative, 21% as liberal, and 35% as moderate. The two groups clearly have different views which may mean that there is a dispositional, genetic, or environmental difference that leads to one of the two attitudes....

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