People with lower emotional intelligence are more likely to hold right-wing views, study finds
New research from Belgium provides evidence that deficits in emotion understanding and emotion management are related to right-wing and prejudiced attitudes. The study has been published in the journal Emotion.
“I have a lifelong interest in political psychology and in political ideology in particular. The observation that left-wing and right-wing adherents tend to differ on so many psychological characteristics is amazing,” said study author Alain Van Hiel, a professor at the University of Ghent.
“Many scholars have investigated the cognitive basis of ideology in general, and right-wing ideological attitudes in particular. In the present study, we wanted to investigate if a similar relationship would exist for emotional abilities.”
In two studies, the researchers assessed the emotional abilities and political ideology of 983 Belgian undergraduate students. The second study also examined the participants’ cognitive ability. Emotional ability was measured with three tests: the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding, the Situational Test of Emotion Management, and the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test.
The researchers found that individuals with weaker emotional abilities — particularly emotional understanding and management — tended to score higher on a measure of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation.
Right-wing authoritarianism is a personality trait that describes the tendency to submit to political authority and be hostile towards other groups, while social dominance orientation is a measure of a person’s preference for inequality among social groups.
“The results of this study were univocal. People who endorse authority and strong leaders and who do not mind inequality — the two basic dimensions underlying right-wing political ideology — show lower levels of emotional abilities,” Van Hiel told PsyPost.
Those with lower emotional and cognitive abilities were also more likely to agree with blatantly prejudiced statements such as “The White race is superior to all other races.”
The researchers controlled for age, sex, and education level. But like all research, the study includes some limitations. The study only collected correlational data, preventing inferences of causality from being made.
“Of course, caution should be exercised in the interpretation of such results,” Van Hiel said. “One cannot discredit any ideology on the basis of such results as those presently obtained. Only in a distant future we will be able to look back upon our times, and then we can maybe judge which ideologies were the best. Cognitively and emotionally smart people can make wrong decisions as well.”
“The results have been obtained in one particular context. Would similar results be obtained in other contexts besides in a Western country with a long-standing stable democracy? Whether these tendencies are universal, or limited to particular contexts, is very intriguing.”
The study, “The Relationship Between Emotional Abilities and Right-Wing and Prejudiced Attitudes“, was authored by Alain Van Hiel, Jonas De keersmaecker, Emma Onraet, Tessa Haesevoets, Arne Roets, and Johnny R. J. Fontaine.
On one hand, I can pretty much accept that this is true in a broad sense of the idea of emotional intelligence. Conservatives tend to care less about emotions in my opinion and I think that in some ways explains why conservatives tend to be men more often than women. However, this is a broad generalization.
On the other hand, I am not a big fan of soft sciences because it allows studies like this to occur. Just a few issues:
"Right-wing authoritarianism is a personality trait " -Really? I don't remember that one on the Myers-Briggs test! That is such a strange way to describe a personality, I wonder if they thought about calling it the "evil" personality trait.
"People who endorse authority and strong leaders and who do not mind inequality — the two basic dimensions underlying right-wing political ideology" - I personally reject the concept of left and right wings, but given the general understanding of what the right wing represents, I don't agree with this definition
"social dominance orientation" - I wonder what the units of measure are for social dominance orientation.
Sometimes people confuse emotion with compassion and humanity.
It's odd how he seemed to "love the uneducated". I wonder why that is?
Maybe it's because when you lose the popular vote by almost three million America voters you can convince them you won the popular vote of every demographic? That's strictly a guess on my part.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
“Of course, caution should be exercised in the interpretation of such results,” Van Hiel said. “One cannot discredit any ideology on the basis of such results as those presently obtained. Only in a distant future we will be able to look back upon our times, and then we can maybe judge which ideologies were the best. Cognitively and emotionally smart people can make wrong decisions as well.”
“The results have been obtained in one particular context. Would similar results be obtained in other contexts besides in a Western country with a long-standing stable democracy? Whether these tendencies are universal, or limited to particular contexts, is very intriguing.”
These are the last two paragraphs from the above "study". The author condradicts his entire premise in two paragraphs. This tells me the entire premise is bunk from its origin.
God has a lot to say about emotional intelligence. That is a essentially a bunch of nonsense. I stand with God, and his word stands on its own. I won't be fooled by the "traditions of men" that go against God's word.
No I won't be replying to this post either, don't need to. Again, God's word stands on its own.
Quote:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. - Proverbs 1:7
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. - Romans 8:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. -Proverbs 9:10
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Corinthians 2:14
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. - Colossians 2:8
Matt. 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Proverbs 19:17 (NIV)“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Luke 3:10-11 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
Proverbs 22:9 Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.
Proverbs 19:17 The one who is gracious to the poor lends to the LORD, and the LORD will repay him for his good deed.
Proverbs 29:7 The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
Acts 20:35 In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Psalm 112:9 They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.
Proverbs 21:26 Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!
Proverbs 28:27 Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed.
Deuteronomy 15:10 Be sure to give to them without any hesitation. When you do this, the LORD your God will bless you in everything you work for and set out to do.
Colossians 3:12 As holy people whom God has chosen and loved, be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.
Proverbs 25:21 If your enemy is hungry, give him some food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him some water to drink.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8 If there should be a poor man among your relatives in one of the cities of the land that the Lord your God is about to give you, don’t be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor relative. Instead, be sure to open your hand to him and lend him enough to lessen his need.
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Acts 2:44-26 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.
Galatians 2:10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Damned Liberals!
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Anecdotally, because I don't live in the south or a heavy red areas. I have found, in my personal experience that this is not even close to being true.
That's gotten to be the go to line around here. People form both sides, including Biden, have called out against such criminal activity. We have called for them to be arrested and convicted.
Yet when your side gets called out, your big excuse is, "Yeah, but we aren't as bad as the people who burn our cities!".
It's hilarious.
Somehow that makes interfering with people's right to vote no big deal?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
That's gotten to be the go to line around here. People form both sides, including Biden, have called out against such criminal activity. We have called for them to be arrested and convicted.
Yet when your side gets called out, your big excuse is, "Yeah, but we aren't as bad as the people who burn our cities!".
It's hilarious.
Somehow that makes interfering with people's right to vote no big deal?
What is not hilarious is how long it took Biden and the Dems to finally speak up against the violence.
Shouldn't have to think about it that long when you are trying to be our leader.
So I assume People with higher emotional intelligence are the people wearing their hearts on their sleeves, crying out loud every time Trump takes a dump and running around with their hair on fire?
That's gotten to be the go to line around here. People form both sides, including Biden, have called out against such criminal activity. We have called for them to be arrested and convicted.
Yet when your side gets called out, your big excuse is, "Yeah, but we aren't as bad as the people who burn our cities!".
It's hilarious.
Somehow that makes interfering with people's right to vote no big deal?
What is not hilarious is how long it took Biden and the Dems to finally speak up against the violence.
Shouldn't have to think about it that long when you are trying to be our leader.
Like Trump did with saving us all from the pandemic virus? Get a clue...
Your feelings and opinions do not add up to facts.
That's gotten to be the go to line around here. People form both sides, including Biden, have called out against such criminal activity. We have called for them to be arrested and convicted.
Yet when your side gets called out, your big excuse is, "Yeah, but we aren't as bad as the people who burn our cities!".
It's hilarious.
Somehow that makes interfering with people's right to vote no big deal?
What is not hilarious is how long it took Biden and the Dems to finally speak up against the violence.
Shouldn't have to think about it that long when you are trying to be our leader.
Like Trump did with saving us all from the pandemic virus? Get a clue...
I am happy to see you coming around to understand the greatness that is Trump, but alas, even he can't cure a Pandemic. Yet.
I just find it funny how the same things are labeled differently depending on who it is doing them.
So you feel interfering with our democratic election process is fine? We actually have laws against that. We also have a constitution protection to peacefully protest.
I believe in both of those things. I believe in the laws that are supposed to prevent any interference in the right to vote. I believe in the right to peacefully protest.
It seems you only believe in the law when it suits your purpose.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
That's gotten to be the go to line around here. People form both sides, including Biden, have called out against such criminal activity. We have called for them to be arrested and convicted.
Yet when your side gets called out, your big excuse is, "Yeah, but we aren't as bad as the people who burn our cities!".
It's hilarious.
Somehow that makes interfering with people's right to vote no big deal?
When it's put in those terms, yeah I guess it really isn't a big deal.
You can't have it both ways....Far right blocks voters as some gleaning example of all that is right wing and then "Well Biden denounced it!" (lets be real he only denounced when it showed up in the polling) when they literally burn half of he city.
Come on bro, if ever there was a false equivalency.
Stack them up: 1. Billions of dollars of damaged caused by left wing parties. 2. Handful of Right wingers blocked polls for a few hours.
You posted that in response to an emotional intelligence thread. Again, looting and vandalizing multiple major cities. Protesting at voting sites with two dozen people. Emotional Intelligence thread.
I will, once again point out that all along I have called for those who have committed those crimes to be arrested and prosecuted for their crimes. Can you show me anywhere that back in May polling indicated Biden needed to speak out against the violence? Joe has always been a law and order guy. He has never been some left wing radical Trump and his cronies are trying to paint him as.
And there are videos of them on the entrance to the building. Just not the one you posted.
You also seem to try and paint those who are committing those crimes in our cities are Biden supporters. Many of them are simply anti government anarchists with no political affiliation.
The ones in those videos are actually carrying Trump signs.
Making excuses why violent criminals somehow make it okay to interfere in our election process is something I thought was beneath you. I must have been wrong.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Good lord you love shifting the goalpost. We are done here.
I didn't "shift" anything. I'm not the one here trying to say in one case we should uphold the law and use the excuse that because one set of people break the law that somehow makes it fine that another group does the same.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Did you read the story? They were 100 feet from the entrance. When asked to move, they did. They didn't prevent anyone from entering the polling place. Pollsters handing out flyers would have been closer.
Then on the about page it talks about balanced news... lmao, so obviously GOPer.
But addressing your point:
Don't you find the description "Photos of a group of heavily armed Black Panthers gangsters have been seen in Georgia carrying on a rally for left-wing Georgia gov. candidate Stacy Abrams." just a little troubling? I mean what's the difference here?
The only significant things I see are a variation in political views and the color of their skin. I wonder what makes the black men "gangsters", while the white men with guns were touted as patriotic? Balanced news my ass. Are you seriously cool with this kind of bigotry arch?
Last edited by OldColdDawg; 09/21/2003:36 PM.
Your feelings and opinions do not add up to facts.
Did you read the story? They were 100 feet from the entrance. When asked to move, they did. They didn't prevent anyone from entering the polling place. Pollsters handing out flyers would have been closer.
When asked to move they did. Because unlike some people, they respect law and order.
“Of course, caution should be exercised in the interpretation of such results,” Van Hiel said. “One cannot discredit any ideology on the basis of such results as those presently obtained. Only in a distant future we will be able to look back upon our times, and then we can maybe judge which ideologies were the best. Cognitively and emotionally smart people can make wrong decisions as well.”
“The results have been obtained in one particular context. Would similar results be obtained in other contexts besides in a Western country with a long-standing stable democracy? Whether these tendencies are universal, or limited to particular contexts, is very intriguing.”
These are the last two paragraphs from the above "study". The author condradicts his entire premise in two paragraphs. This tells me the entire premise is bunk from its origin.
Emotionally smart people. Are those the people that need a teddy bear when someone expresses an opinon they don't like?
It is my observation that most "smart" people have knowledge without knowing what to do with it.
I just find it funny how the same things are labeled differently depending on who it is doing them.
So you feel interfering with our democratic election process is fine? We actually have laws against that. We also have a constitution protection to peacefully protest.
I believe in both of those things. I believe in the laws that are supposed to prevent any interference in the right to vote. I believe in the right to peacefully protest.
It seems you only believe in the law when it suits your purpose.
Quote:
By law, voters may rally at polling places as long as they stay at least 40 feet from the entrance and don't block any pathways.
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