First of all, you know as well as I do that studies of the brain are dicey at best. It's virtually impossible to separate cause from effect. The study that stated that conservatives have larger amygdalas therefore could be measuring cause IE, conservatism is caused by enlarged amygdala which create additional fear and drive a person into conservative patterns, OR, enlarged amygdala could be an *effect* of conservatism, IE, observation of the trends of the country cause the conservatives to fear for the future, which causes enlargement of the amygdala.
It is also important to mention that the original study that determined that conservatives have larger amygdalas consisted solely of a sample of students at University College London. A rather liberal institution. Perhaps the conservatives simply fail to feel safe at that location, and that was the cause of the enlarged amygdala. More study is needed.
In either case, the enlargement of the amygdala correlating to depressed mothers makes a great deal of sense, as depression in the mother tends to erode stability of the homelife, which would be a cause of such enlargement. Based on that enlargement, it's reasonable to assume that the people would react by becoming more cautious in their decisions, which could easily correlate to greater political conservatism.
However, given that the tea party is primarily comprised of older people, I am somewhat sceptical that Gen X mothers are the cause of it.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2011-08-20 03:10 am (UTC)It is also important to mention that the original study that determined that conservatives have larger amygdalas consisted solely of a sample of students at University College London. A rather liberal institution. Perhaps the conservatives simply fail to feel safe at that location, and that was the cause of the enlarged amygdala. More study is needed.
In either case, the enlargement of the amygdala correlating to depressed mothers makes a great deal of sense, as depression in the mother tends to erode stability of the homelife, which would be a cause of such enlargement. Based on that enlargement, it's reasonable to assume that the people would react by becoming more cautious in their decisions, which could easily correlate to greater political conservatism.
However, given that the tea party is primarily comprised of older people, I am somewhat sceptical that Gen X mothers are the cause of it.