My BIL and I have a lot of issues talking about politics, since he became a Trump supporter 8 years ago. I rarely talk to him outside of the times I see him at holiday gatherings and family trips. this difference makes him an outsider in our liberal family. When my sister married him, I knew he was less supportive of gay marriage than we were but he had voted for Obama and I never would have predicted his future path. My sister has remained a steadfast liberal and always votes blue.
I sent this post to my sister and mom because my BIL had very authoritarian parents and this connection to conservativism was so interesting to me.
As I've tried to understand my own estrangement from my family, I've come to believe that authoritarian parenting can be a factor in the neurobiological differences between conservatives and liberals.
You mentioned that liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex and conservatives often have a larger amygdala. Studies that examine impacts of trauma on the brain also chart these differences: "Findings from animal studies have been extended to patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showing smaller hippocampal and anterior cingulate volumes, increased amygdala function, and decreased medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate function." (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3181836/)
Appreciate your comment. So if I’m understanding, is this a way to understand the idea of “hurt people hurt people” from a neurobiological perspective?
In the sense that traumatized people are more likely to be drawn to authoritarian parenting and government because they provide structure and security, yes.
I think it's an opportunity to practice empathy--someone's past pain may make their brain more vulnerable to a bloviating orange man.
My BIL and I have a lot of issues talking about politics, since he became a Trump supporter 8 years ago. I rarely talk to him outside of the times I see him at holiday gatherings and family trips. this difference makes him an outsider in our liberal family. When my sister married him, I knew he was less supportive of gay marriage than we were but he had voted for Obama and I never would have predicted his future path. My sister has remained a steadfast liberal and always votes blue.
I sent this post to my sister and mom because my BIL had very authoritarian parents and this connection to conservativism was so interesting to me.
Thanks for your story Elizabeth and thanks for sharing the post.
Omg! I am SO INTO the rebrand and writing about estrangement in so many ways. I love your brain!!
As I've tried to understand my own estrangement from my family, I've come to believe that authoritarian parenting can be a factor in the neurobiological differences between conservatives and liberals.
You mentioned that liberals tend to have a larger anterior cingulate cortex and conservatives often have a larger amygdala. Studies that examine impacts of trauma on the brain also chart these differences: "Findings from animal studies have been extended to patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) showing smaller hippocampal and anterior cingulate volumes, increased amygdala function, and decreased medial prefrontal/anterior cingulate function." (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3181836/)
In my experience, and in many of the stories from Talia Lavin (https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/) and the Strongwilled Project (https://strongwilled.substack.com/), authoritarian parenting is pretty much gauranteed to cause cPTSD.
Does this mean that those of us who are beaten, emotionally neglected, sexually abused, etc are more likely to lean conservative? I think it's likely.
Appreciate your comment. So if I’m understanding, is this a way to understand the idea of “hurt people hurt people” from a neurobiological perspective?
In the sense that traumatized people are more likely to be drawn to authoritarian parenting and government because they provide structure and security, yes.
I think it's an opportunity to practice empathy--someone's past pain may make their brain more vulnerable to a bloviating orange man.