Left vs. Right: Unequal Vulnerability to Different Types of Manipulation?

[Daniel Waxman]

People who have right-wing views seem to be more vulnerable to manipulation based on fear, e.g. terrorists want to attack us and therefore we need to increase domestic security at the putative expense of liberty. People who have left-wing views seem to be more vulnerable to manipulation based on shame, e.g. excluding outsiders is xenophobic and therefore we need to import migrants at the putative expense of the domestic population's safety. There is no judgement here about the merits of increasing domestic security or importing migrants, only a question about the differential efficacy of using fear or shame between the left and right wings in order to coerce behavior. Are right-wingers more resistant to shaming tactics? Are left-wingers more resistant to fear tactics?

If we assume the answer is yes to both, then shouldn't strategies not based on shame be more effective at convincing right-wingers to accept migrants, and shouldn't strategies not based on fear be more effective at convincing left-wingers to accept increases in domestic security? Let's say that our goal is to convince people that domestic security should be increased. To convince right-wingers it might be sufficient to claim that terrorists want to attack us and therefore we need to increase domestic security. However to convince left-wingers it may be more effective to use shame, e.g. innocents died on 9/11 therefore your refusal to comply with additional security measures is selfish and will cause harm to others. That argument is unlikely to resonate with right-wingers, but it may be effective with left-wingers. Likewise, to convince right-wingers to accept migrants it may be more effective to use fear; e.g. not accepting enough immigrants will lead to economic stagnation since domestic birthrates are low. That argument is unlikely to resonate with left-wingers, but it may be effective with right-wingers.

Now let's look at where this theory is consistent with present day events. Today there is a split between the left and right on the wearing of masks. The resounding argument for mask wearing is that failing to wear a mask may cause harm to others since you may spread the virus, however it is well known that the risk of serious complications from Covid-19 is low if you are not elderly or immunocompromised. Therefore that argument is based on shame and not fear. It is not surprising then that this argument resonates more with left-wingers, and barely at all with right-wingers. An argument which may resonate more with right-wingers is that if you do not wear a mask then you will be fined or arrested, since that is an argument based in fear.

Well I'll end the analysis there. I'm very interested in hearing other opinions.

[iNow]

You need data. Until then, this is little more than an opinion. 

[Ten oz]

14 hours ago, Daniel Waxman said:

right-wing views seem to be more vulnerable to manipulation based on fear, e.g. terrorists want to attack

In 2019 polling showed 46% of people were somewhat or very concerned about themselves or a family member being victims of a terrorist attack, Here. In 2019 polling showed 48% of people were somewhat or very concerned about themselves or a family member being victims of a mass shooting, Here.

Statistically even levels of fear among the population for terrorism and mass shootings yet Right-wing attitudes between the two very greatly. When it comes to fear associated with gun violence the Right is not willing to do anything. When it comes to fear associated with terrorism the Right is willing to do a lot. Fear doesn't appear to be motivating factor or else one would assume the Right would equally care about gun violence as they do terrorism.

14 hours ago, Daniel Waxman said:

 People who have left-wing views seem to be more vulnerable to manipulation based on shame, e.g. excluding outsiders is xenophobic

Polling shows half (50%) of the U.S. believes Christians face discrimination, Here. Among republicans 75% believe White in the U.S. face discrimination, Here. The political left-wing, far as I can tell, doesn't respond to those claims of discrimination. The Left doesn't appear burden with shame the Christians and White Republicans may accuse them of xenophobia.

15 hours ago, Daniel Waxman said:

If we assume the answer is yes to both

I do not assume this.

[MigL]

If you're going to generalize about certain groups, you had better ( at least ) specifically define those groups.
Left/right or liberal/conservative can be vastly different from Democrat/Republican.
While Democrats/Republicans favor well-defined policy issues, left/right, or liberal/conservative, are relative terms.

[Phi for All]

Several studies support the conclusion that social conservatism produces citizens with lower cognitive abilities. Folks with rigid social attitudes just don't take advantage of opportunities for learning the way a more socially liberal person would, and the effect is cumulative over a lifetime. I would use this to support an argument that someone who identifies as mostly conservative is an easier target to manipulate mentally.

16 hours ago, Daniel Waxman said:

The resounding argument for mask wearing is that failing to wear a mask may cause harm to others since you may spread the virus, however it is well known that the risk of serious complications from Covid-19 is low if you are not elderly or immunocompromised. Therefore that argument is based on shame and not fear.

So choosing to act intelligently to protect others is shame-based behavior? I don't think so, pal. The only people who should be ashamed are those who aren't trying to overcome their animal instincts with human intelligence and critical reasoning.

[MigL]

That is evident, Phi.
Social conservatives often don't see the value in an education for the sake of knowledge, they see it only as a path to higher income/security.
Even so, comparisons can be tricky, unless strictly controlled.
I have often said Canadian, or ( some ) European conservatives are more liberal than American Democrats.

[Phi for All]

31 minutes ago, MigL said:

That is evident, Phi.
Social conservatives often don't see the value in an education for the sake of knowledge, they see it only as a path to higher income/security.
Even so, comparisons can be tricky, unless strictly controlled.
I have often said Canadian, or ( some ) European conservatives are more liberal than American Democrats.

I still think conservative/liberal are too broad to use as identifiers for anything. It will be nice when folks finally admit that all behavior is on multiple spectra. I'm extremely socially liberal, and COVID-19 has shown me the value of that side of me, and I'm embracing my conservative feelings as well. We need all our tools as humans if we're going to be smart about our lives (and not be manipulated).

[Ten oz]

5 hours ago, MigL said:

If you're going to generalize about certain groups, you had better ( at least ) specifically define those groups.
Left/right or liberal/conservative can be vastly different from Democrat/Republican.
While Democrats/Republicans favor well-defined policy issues, left/right, or liberal/conservative, are relative terms.

In practice there is no meaningful difference between a conservative vs republican. The margins of support during elections are virtually identical. Likewise for Democrats and liberals. The distinction appears to merely exist as a preference in labeling.Ultimately their political habits are same.

Quote

nearly all those with consistently conservative values went for Trump (98% to less than 1% for Clinton). Those who held conservative views on most political values (“mostly conservative”) favored Trump by 87% to 7%. Republican validated voters reported choosing Trump by a margin of 92% to 4% https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/08/09/an-examination-of-the-2016-electorate-based-on-validated-voters/

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Ten oz

[MigL]

Don't be so US-centric, Ten oz.
Other countries have liberals and conservatives.
Only in the US are liberals/conservatives generally equivalent to Democrats/Republicans.

My apologies if the OP's intent was to consider only American 'left' and 'right'.

[iNow]

Even if that was the OPs intent, the argument that fear is only impactful to the behaviors of one ideological side is fallacious. 

Sure, folks on the right are often encouraged to fear government takeover of business or blood in the streets and every city looking like Chicago, or to fear MS-13, or caravans coming up from Mexico, or (as we’ll hear about during the RNC this week) to fear communism and socialism and cancel culture and “the radical left” and people taking guns away or making religion illegal, etc. 

But folks on the left of are also rather often encouraged to act on fear... fear of losing social security, or fear of losing healthcare, or fear of authoritarians taking over our democracy, or fear that our justice system only protects the well connected, or fear of climate disaster and pollution and fear of the loss of civil discourse based on facts over conspiracy, for example. 

We may judge some fears as more relevant or as more worthy of our attention than others, but they all still remain best described as fears and fear is something which consistently affects the behaviors of voters on both sides of the political aisle. 

It’s remedially false to suggest that fear is a bigger factor on one ideological side than the another. The only difference is we sometimes happen to agree with the validity of some fears which happen to align with our own, while in parallel thinking the fears felt by “the other” are invalid merely because we don’t happen to share them. 

[Ten oz]

7 hours ago, MigL said:

Don't be so US-centric, Ten oz.

Republicans are specific to the U.S. . It is a U.S.-Centric dichotomy being discussed.

[Daniel Waxman]

I'm glad to see that this topic has generated some discussion.

20 hours ago, Ten oz said:

In 2019 polling showed 46% of people were somewhat or very concerned about themselves or a family member being victims of a terrorist attack, Here. In 2019 polling showed 48% of people were somewhat or very concerned about themselves or a family member being victims of a mass shooting, Here.

Statistically even levels of fear among the population for terrorism and mass shootings yet Right-wing attitudes between the two very greatly. When it comes to fear associated with gun violence the Right is not willing to do anything. When it comes to fear associated with terrorism the Right is willing to do a lot. Fear doesn't appear to be motivating factor or else one would assume the Right would equally care about gun violence as they do terrorism.

It becomes complicated when there are multiple threats associated with a decision. It's possible that the right-wing's fear of being defenseless without their guns supersedes their fear of themselves or a family member being victims of a mass shooting.

20 hours ago, Ten oz said:

Polling shows half (50%) of the U.S. believes Christians face discrimination, Here. Among republicans 75% believe White in the U.S. face discrimination, Here. The political left-wing, far as I can tell, doesn't respond to those claims of discrimination. The Left doesn't appear burden with shame the Christians and White Republicans may accuse them of xenophobia.

I think in this case we can see that shame only works if you believe that you are hurting someone who is helpless. If White Christian people are seen as privileged then harming them doesn't elicit shame. Think about how in the French Revolution rich and noble people were killed without remorse because they were seen as privileged. Once a group of people is marked as privileged you are free to harm them without shame.

19 hours ago, Phi for All said:

Several studies support the conclusion that social conservatism produces citizens with lower cognitive abilities. Folks with rigid social attitudes just don't take advantage of opportunities for learning the way a more socially liberal person would, and the effect is cumulative over a lifetime. I would use this to support an argument that someone who identifies as mostly conservative is an easier target to manipulate mentally.

This is really interesting, because I agree that the smartest people in the world today tend to be liberals, but in debates liberals are often blindsided by the verbal ability of conservatives, whereas liberal politicians can have a inorganic rehearsed vibe to their speech. Think about how quickly Trump is able to deliver concise one-liners like "Because you'd be in jail" in the heat of the moment during a debate. That's not as easy as it looks. It's the kind of thing most people think of in the shower the next day after an argument ("That's what I should've said!!!"), but he gave the most piercing response he could have immediately. Most of us here probably believe we would outscore Trump on an aptitude test, but would you want to debate him on the national stage? I would not want to verbally spar with Trump with millions of people watching, I am certain he would rattle me and make me look like a chump.

12 hours ago, iNow said:

But folks on the left of are also rather often encouraged to act on fear... fear of losing social security, or fear of losing healthcare, or fear of authoritarians taking over our democracy, or fear that our justice system only protects the well connected, or fear of climate disaster and pollution and fear of the loss of civil discourse based on facts over conspiracy, for example. 

I agree that people on the left are often encouraged to act on fear, but how effective has that been? The Democrats lost in 2016, so perhaps fear is not an effective motivator for people on the left.

[Phi for All]

3 minutes ago, Daniel Waxman said:

I agree that people on the left are often encouraged to act on fear, but how effective has that been? The Democrats lost in 2016, so perhaps fear is not an effective motivator for people on the left.

It can be argued that the right to left spectrum also indicates how much one's fears are focused around oneself, and how much one's fears are centered on a group. The left is probably more easily motivated by fears for society as a whole, but fear is a powerful motivator for all humans.

[Arete]

14 hours ago, MigL said:

My apologies if the OP's intent was to consider only American 'left' and 'right'.

Only my armchair perspective, but the fact that a military-industrial complex with a $720 billion annual cost to the taxpayer, more than the next ten largest national military budgets combined, has bipartisan support requires the entire political system of the US to be skewed to the authoritarian right. If the US elected a genuinely left wing government, or genuinely fiscally conservative government, a level of demilitarization would inherently be a core policy, however the established political propaganda machine has made that position political suicide in the US.  

Most US Democrats would fall into the center right based on ideology and policy positions in most western democracies - I've lived in the US and it still boggles my mind that policies like nationalized health care are seen as a far left policy. Virtually every other western nation has support across the board for a universal healthcare system. 

[Phi for All]

47 minutes ago, Arete said:

Only my armchair perspective, but the fact that a military-industrial complex with a $720 billion annual cost to the taxpayer, more than the next ten largest national military budgets combined, has bipartisan support requires the entire political system of the US to be skewed to the authoritarian right. If the US elected a genuinely left wing government, or genuinely fiscally conservative government, a level of demilitarization would inherently be a core policy, however the established political propaganda machine has made that position political suicide in the US.  

Most US Democrats would fall into the center right based on ideology and policy positions in most western democracies - I've lived in the US and it still boggles my mind that policies like nationalized health care are seen as a far left policy. Virtually every other western nation has support across the board for a universal healthcare system. 

Only my perspective, but behind much of this are the extremist folks who want money to be the litmus test for all of society, because they already have a lot and are very good at making more. Paint state and public ownership as evil and what do you have left? Capitalism must be the best because private ownership is all that remains. Capitalist extremism requires everything to be an opportunity for profit, including people's health, or prosecuting criminals, or running for public office, or teaching children how to read. The ultimate manipulation is done with the staggering sums of money these folks have basically stolen through corrupt behavior.

[Ten oz]

On 8/24/2020 at 12:33 PM, Daniel Waxman said:

The Democrats lost in 2016,

You are creating addendums to your initial point and supporting them with disassociated evidenced. Who wins or loses an elections isn't directly connected to what motives a political ideology.