The psychological traits that shape your political beliefs | Dannagal G. Young

Social psychologist Dannagal G. Young breaks down the link between our psychology and politics, showing how personality types largely fall into people who prioritize openness and flexibility (liberals) and those who prefer order and certainty (conservatives). Hear why both sets of traits are crucial to any society -- and how our differences are being dangerously exploited to divide us. What if things weren't that way?

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[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
― Isaac Asimov

[mauris]

This video should be played at the beginning of every debate.

[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
― Issac Asimov

[lp]

What an amazing talk! very neutral and interesting 10/10!!

[rafaelll]

The world needs this video. This woman deserves a standing ovation. 👏👏👏👏

[StillGotShitBrains]

I always thought the claps at the start were real.

[RJ_Ehlert]

What if the real danger was the love of money, and people who do anything to get more.

[xavierlopez]

Thank you for this! We need more rational approaches to our political divide like these!

[TXTX-dogf]

Gospel. It was wisely spoken many a moon ago... "United we stand, divided we fall." It isn't a difficult concept.

Differences are inevitable, yet tolerance seems to be an animal driven into extinction.

We must find a balance, or be doomed to stew in our own ineptitude to compromise.

[BrianTaylor-AlwaysInTao]

I applaud this video 100% - It is precisely right and because it doesn't cause conflict will probably be largely ignored, when it should be spread everywhere.

[kmata]

My first youtube comment. This is the clearest explanation of social psychological work on this cross-culturally occurring opposition between certain basic human values. Well done. Thank you.

[PtolemyXVII]

The definitions of liberal and conservative are flawed here. One can be socially liberal and fiscally conservative, and vice versa. the fact that people are categorized into two rigid opposing sides makes the entire argument easily digested and forgotten as it doesn't have any particular insight from what's usually read in popular publications like the New York Times

[EagleEye-vmgf]

Thank you, Mrs Young. I needed to listen to this. The media is causing havoc across the globe and our daily lives making it imperative we choose wisely what we do with our mind and time. Fellow psychologist. :)

[TheREALLYBADGAMERS]

Wow, a video on TED challenging the established media? I never expected this. Good on you

[saraH-yumx]

I agree with this to an extent, but there is a lot of grey area that isn’t being discussed. I’m politically liberal and I have CPTSD, which causes hyper vigilance. I am liberal FOR that reason. It’s not just the media-it’s the beliefs and morals that align with one’s political beliefs. I work with domestic violence victims and Trump and his supporters behave in ways similar to abusers-gaslighting, lying, minimizing, invalidating etc. Most people I know voting for Biden recognize that he’s not their #1 choice and corrupt in other ways, but are willing to take the chance, rather than have a narcissist/sociopath in the office for 4 more years. There is fear on both sides. To me the fear on the right comes down to their “way of life” changing. They are afraid of anything different than what they know, even if that means they have privilege while others suffer. People on the left tend to see that suffering(or are in it themselves-think minority/oppressed groups) and want equality and is okay with change. I don’t see the world as safe, but it’s because of beliefs that conservatives have.(ie women aren’t safe in a patriarchal culture that perpetuates abuse under the guise of “traditions”)

[shannonlove]

Well things have improved.

When I was in school in the early 80s, academics used to evoke Freud and toilet training to explain the difference between Left and Right.

[josephligart]

Thank you so much for this video! It was incredibly thought provoking. I really appreciate your neutral stance. Basically saying “hey having different beliefs balance us out to help us survive.” I had never thought of it that way.

[TD-cblu]

Incredible insight. Thank you, so very much, for sharing your thoughts.

[SashaTownsendTulsa]

I love thinking for thinking’s sake. I love nuance, creativity, and I’m comfortable with ambiguity. But I consider myself a moderate, right of center, because while I agree with the sentiment of my bleeding heart liberal friends and am just as open regarding social issues, I don’t think the policies that the left promotes actually lead to the conclusions they want. I respect their hearts and intentions, but I disagree with most policy positions. Almost all of my friends are liberal atheists, and I’m the only moderately conservative Christian in the group. That being said, I’m a liberal among Christians on the right.

I love abstract art, performing arts, and philosophy, and I care about public policy and my fellow man. I just don’t think the policy positions of democrats lead to the intended consequences.

Still I make decisions quickly and efficiently, guided by my intuition and emotion. I don’t fit into these categories...

I’m not angry at the other side. I see them, and I love them, but I can see them and love them without agreeing with them or some of the us-versus-them behavior on both sides. I think we need to rise above that. I want to live in a world where we can disagree with others on public policy and still trust in our mutual good intentions, and use our diverse perspectives to craft better solutions together.

Thank you for pointing out the differences, but please be careful about the generalizations of the groups.

[Seafoam]

Brilliant, sane, and refreshing. THANK YOU!!!!