Research

How does emotionality affect political opinions?

We can recognize emotions, motivation andother people's intentions. And also their desires and the desires of others. This ability to control emotions in order to solve any problems is called emotional intelligence. However, recently, scientists have found that emotional intelligence is directly related to the development of prejudice and a tendency to a certain political ideology. According to a new study, people with lower emotional intelligence ratings are more likely to hold radical views and are prone to biases.

Empathy and political views are connected, scientists found

Political Views and the Human Brain

Psychologists have long been interested in how personality traits and cognitive abilities are associated with political preferences and a tendency toward prejudice.

Cognitive abilities are called higher brain functions - this is our ability to think, speak, learn. In other words, it is cognitive skills that make a person a person.

The results of previous studies have shown thatpeople with lower cognitive abilities tend to hold right and biased views. However, only a small number of studies have been devoted to the relationship of emotional intelligence and political orientation.

In politics, the "right" is called the supporters of capitalism, as well as a certain group that received power.

People with low cognitive abilities are more biased than others.

On the connection of the brain and political preferences for scientistsknown relatively recently. Political beliefs are believed to be the hardest manifestation of brain activity. So, neuroscientists have proven that the brain of liberals and conservatives works differently. Using magnetic resonance scanning, specialists studied brain activity in the process of people making decisions directly related to risk. The results showed that there is a difference in the work of those parts of the brain that are more active in those who consider themselves conservatives or liberals.

This is interesting: How do politicians manage to sleep so little and work hard?

In 2017, a study was conducted,the results of which scientists were able to reproduce today. During the study, scientists tested more than 1000 Belgian students. Specialists wanted to measure their emotional and cognitive abilities, as well as find out their political preferences. The results showed that students with lower grades on cognitive and emotional tests are more likely to have higher grades on tests that measure right-wing authoritarianism and orientation toward social dominance.

Authoritarianism is a political system based on submission to the state and its leaders.

It turns out that people who during the study scored fewer points on the basis of emotional intelligence, were more likely to hold right and a little racist views.

By the way, on our Telegram channel you will find even more interesting facts about the relationship of the brain and behavior

However, the study found only the presence of a relationship, but a causal relationship could not be identified. In other words, no one knows for sure why this happens.

What does developed empathy mean?

Empathy is the ability to empathize with another person and understand his emotional state.

New study published in the journalEmotion, supplemented previously obtained results. People with scarce emotional abilities - like people with a deficit of such abilities - are more likely to hold right-wing attitudes and are prone to prejudice.

In a new study, scientists rated politicalthe views and emotional abilities of 983 Belgian students. In order to measure emotional abilities, the participants passed three tests: a situational test of emotional understanding, a situational test of emotion management and the Geneva test of recognition of emotions.

The ability to understand others makes you less biased

The second part of the study was measuredemotional and cognitive abilities of subjects. The results showed that participants who received lower scores on tests for emotional abilities, especially those related to understanding and managing emotions, received higher scores for a tendency toward right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance.

Social domination or social categorization refers to relations in society based on the classification of people by group (rich, poor, etc.).

Usually people with a tendency to rightauthoritarianism willingly obey the authorities and show hostility towards people outside their groups. And those who are focused on social domination, as a rule, do not like elitism and prefer inequality within and between social groups.

Why do people not understand each other?

According to study author Alain Van Gil,professors at the University of Ghent (Belgium), the results of the studies mean that people who support strong leaders and for whom their authority is important do not care about the problem of inequality - and it is they who underlie most political ideologies. It is these people who have lower emotional abilities.

By the way, in the future, artificial intelligence can completely eradicate racism

Moreover, people who scored less pointsaccording to cognitive and emotional tests, were more likely to agree with statements such as "the white race is superior to all other races." However, scientists note that it is impossible to discredit any ideology based on the results. Only in the distant future will we be able to look back at our time, and then we may be able to understand which ideologies were the best. Do not forget that people with developed cognitive and emotional abilities can also make the wrong decisions.

And yet, the authors of the study suggest thatpeople with lower emotional intelligence are less sympathetic and less sensitive to the perception of other people's emotions and different from their own point of view. But the reasons why this happens, scientists have yet to find out.

If you are interested in what scientists know about the brain work of not only ordinary people, but also serial killers, subscribe to our Yandex.Zen channel.