Are liberals and conservatives physiologically different?

Next Tuesday at the Omaha Science Cafe, John Hibbing, Ph.D., will discuss physiological differences between liberals and conservatives.

John Hibbing, Ph.D.

Dr. Hibbing — a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Foundation Regents University Professor of political science — will start his presentation at 7 p.m. at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St.

Below, he gives us a taste of what he will discuss next Tuesday.

Give us an example of physiological differences you’ve observed between liberals and conservatives.

When we show participants pictures that have been rated as “disgusting,” the electrodermal response (skin conductance level) of conservatives tends to go up more than do the levels for liberals.

What led you to examine possible physiology differences between the ideologies?

The sense that, at least in some cases, liberals and conservatives differed not just in their specific political issue positions but in their approaches to life, personality traits and cognitive predispositions. The differences sometimes seem to run very deep.