Three different studies suggest that conservatives are more likely to stick with their diet plan than liberals, simply because they have more self-control than the liberals.
The paper, presented on June 22 at the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, linked the political belief of a person to his or her ability to self-regulate. The studies, led by Joshua John Clarkson, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor of marketing, involved a total of 458 participants at two Midwestern universities and across the United States.
The first study involved 147 students who did a modified Stroop task. They were presented different colors such as red, blue, green and yellow. Each color was represented a word, but it was confusing because the word "yellow" had a blue background. The researchers measured how fast the participants were able to decide which color to say and the accuracy of their responses. In this activity, those who identified as conservatives performed faster than those who identified as liberals, but both groups were both accurate.
"We found that those who identified as conservative were as correct as liberals, but they were performing the tasks faster. This finding suggests that conservatives might be better able to fixate their attention on a task," Clarkson said in a university news release.
The second study involved another group of students and the finding is similar to the first study.
The third study used an anagram test in which the participants were given seven letters and unlimited time to come up with English words. It was designed to measure persistence. The conservatives defeated the liberals again on this task.
The researchers clarified that their studies were not meant to undermine the liberals' capacity for self-control, but rather prove that a belief in free will can help someone become successful in achieving his or her goal.
"If you're struggling with a certain task -- whether your job, maintaining a diet or budgeting your expenses -- who are you going to blame for your struggles?" Edward Hirt, study co-author and a professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, said in another news release. "Anyone who feels they are responsible for their own outcomes, that sense of responsibility you take on could lead to greater guilt and inability to rebound."
Conservatives believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free will, and have strong traditional American values. Liberals, on the other hand, believe that the government should help its people solve their problems and make decisions for them.
