title: The deeper sources of political conflict: evidence from the psychological, cognitive, and neuro-sciences.
abstract: Political disputes ruin family reunions, scuttle policy initiatives, and spur violence and even terrorism. We summarize recent research indicating that the source of political differences can be found in biologically instantiated and often subthreshold predispositions as reflected in physiological, cognitive, and neural patterns that incline some people toward innovation and others toward conservatism. These findings suggest the need to revise traditional views that maintain that political opinions are the product of rational, conscious, socialized thought.
authors.affiliation: Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA. Electronic address: jhibbing@unl.edu.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hibbing
authors.affiliation: Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
authors.forename: Johnathan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
authors.forename: Balazs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Feher
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003469:Culture; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D011057:Politics