America has become increasingly polarized, and new research shows just how far that polarization reaches: many of us are willing to pay to avoid interacting with people who hold different political views.
Very insightful work. The results also suggest a deepened future divide in the composition of faculties political orientations across campuses. It is very possible that appointment decisions will be more starkly influenced by students’ self selection into like-minded academic communities.
Further, Gary Becker (1954) suggested an intuitive economic rationale for avoiding labor market discrimination. That is, discrimination does not pay off. Although an indirect association, the results of this study would propose that discriminatory hiring decision, based on political orientation, could potentially be revenue generating.
Fascinating study which seems to confirm that the level of polarization will only continue to grow.
A thought I had was the evolving definition of liberal and conservative. Nixon was a conservative, yet the policies he supported would be considered wildly liberal today (clean air, universal healthcare, living wage positions, etc).
In college I considered myself conservative…I don’t think my core beliefs have changed that much over the last 40 years but I am considered liberal today. A function, I think, of the changing definition (?)
Fascinating. The big question this leads to for me: To what extent does this political leaning extend for the rest of a person's life? If students are much more liberal than the adults they will become, this would be confirmation that callow youth are liberals, but that people become more conservative as they age. If they retain their student political orientation throughout life, we would need to ask why, even as campuses are becoming more liberal, is it that politics, at least at the national level, has become more conservative over this period?
I recall reading somewhere that political views tend to shift more conservative with age, not sure if that was cross sectional analysis or longitudinal.
Very insightful work. The results also suggest a deepened future divide in the composition of faculties political orientations across campuses. It is very possible that appointment decisions will be more starkly influenced by students’ self selection into like-minded academic communities.
Further, Gary Becker (1954) suggested an intuitive economic rationale for avoiding labor market discrimination. That is, discrimination does not pay off. Although an indirect association, the results of this study would propose that discriminatory hiring decision, based on political orientation, could potentially be revenue generating.
1970 in the graph looks interesting. I wonder how consistent the definitions of left and right remains over the years in this graph?
Great work!
Great question. I do not know, and something worth looking into.
Fascinating study which seems to confirm that the level of polarization will only continue to grow.
A thought I had was the evolving definition of liberal and conservative. Nixon was a conservative, yet the policies he supported would be considered wildly liberal today (clean air, universal healthcare, living wage positions, etc).
In college I considered myself conservative…I don’t think my core beliefs have changed that much over the last 40 years but I am considered liberal today. A function, I think, of the changing definition (?)
That’s interesting. The changing definition might be something to look at. Another person commented with similar thoughts.
Fascinating. The big question this leads to for me: To what extent does this political leaning extend for the rest of a person's life? If students are much more liberal than the adults they will become, this would be confirmation that callow youth are liberals, but that people become more conservative as they age. If they retain their student political orientation throughout life, we would need to ask why, even as campuses are becoming more liberal, is it that politics, at least at the national level, has become more conservative over this period?
I recall reading somewhere that political views tend to shift more conservative with age, not sure if that was cross sectional analysis or longitudinal.