…because, according to a new study, if your kids grow up whining, they are likely to end up being conservatives.
Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative.
At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.
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A few decades later, [Jack] Block followed up with more surveys, looking again at personality, and this time at politics, too. The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity.
The confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests. The girls were still outgoing, but the young men tended to turn a little introspective.
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In a society that values self-confidence and out-goingness, it’s a mostly flattering picture for liberals. It also runs contrary to the American stereotype of wimpy liberals and strong conservatives.
Hmmm… I know a few people who are extremely conservative, and I must say that the ones I’m thinking of that I know very well were definitely not whiners as children, so this study seems a little suspect to me.
But what the hell? I’m sure the conservatives have already started their own counter study that will show just the opposite is true. So until then, we can have fun with this one.
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