Does your upbringing explain your political beliefs?

I found an interesting diagram which neatly sums up the differences between left and right-wing thinking.◊ Very interesting and remarkably unbiased (I think). These are just polarised comparisons, and I would expect that most people overlap between the two somewhat.

edited 26th Jan '11 11:25:10 AM by Shichibukai

Heh, this one does not quite fit for she is liberal but individualistic, and became liberal specifically because she is afraid of government's and society's interference in personal life.

Gah, I really hate the left-right system. It implies you can't have some of one and any of the other in terms of beliefs - and the fringes of both wings will both usurp the terms for themselves and be used by the other side as examples of why that side is bad.

edited 26th Jan '11 11:40:19 AM by pagad

Like I said, this is just a polarised, descriptive overview. People will overlap. Some might find themselves totally torn between it. I share your sympathies though. Left-right politics can sometimes be self-fulfilling. If you say that there are just two general sides of the debate people will feel pressured to hold beliefs in one camp or the other.

edited 26th Jan '11 11:47:15 AM by Shichibukai

Well it seems a tad extreme I think to show the views like that but I would agree that a particular type of upbringing is more likely (that is, statistically) to produce offspring of a certain type of view. I think the type of upbringing matters more than the views of the parent. That is, even if the parents are conservatives, if they raise their child in an open manner, the child is probably more likely to become liberal later in life.

Seconding thoughts on left/right being a poor dichotomy to use.

On the topic of the thread well...I was raised by an atheist single mother in New England. We moved to rural central Pennsylvania for a while before moving again to Canada. My family is Latin American (from la Republica Dominicana, specifically), and many of the stories I heard of my parents and great-grandparents involved their resistance to the dictatorial regimes of the time and their surviving the U.S. invasion in the 60s.

So yeah, maybe my upbringing had a part to play in my current opinions that Noam Chomsky is a swell guy and that lower taxes are overrated.

edited 26th Jan '11 12:51:24 PM by RadicalTaoist

I'm all over the place on that chart.

I guess you could describe me as being for almost "everything from both".

Strangely, I tend to lean towards liberal yet at the same time I ax a lot of principals from said party, and mix in conservative.

Also, this.

edited 26th Jan '11 1:04:39 PM by TheMightyAnonym

Of course your upbringing explains your beliefs, can you think of a more important influence on your psychology in your formative years? Other than genetics, possibly.

Don't think it's simple enough to be accurately depicted in a chart, though.

I think the type of upbringing matters more than the views of the parent. That is, even if the parents are conservatives, if they raise their child in an open manner, the child is probably more likely to become liberal later in life.

Very much this. My mom is personally quite conservative, but she taught me to think for myself and that those in charge aren't always right just because they're in charge, and a host of other "liberal" ideas. The result is the bleeding-heart hippie-pinko Commie Feminazi you see before you.

edited 26th Jan '11 1:07:52 PM by Karalora

How exactly are we defining conservative and liberal here?

Beliefs in government? Religious affiliation? Parental style?

Or are just aligning what we think the terms mean with groups of people who share similar beliefs? (i.e., pro-life is "conservative".)

edited 26th Jan '11 1:22:53 PM by TheMightyAnonym

Well, there are aspects of my views on both sides of the chart, but there are also aspects of my upbringing on both sides, so maybe there is something in it. I'd definitely say that my relationship with my parents growing up was based much more on mutual trust than on fear, and I also think that most people would class me as left wing rather than right wing, so, maybe.

^ I think the chart is just based around the most popular/common views held by left and right wingers (in the USA).

edited 26th Jan '11 1:25:29 PM by BobbyG

Strangely, I tend to lean towards liberal yet at the same time I ax a lot of principals from said party, and mix in conservative.

Same here.

Also, Tzetze (who, by the time you read this, will probably have changed their avatar again) has it right. Your upbringing effects your political opinions a lot, mostly because kids tend to base their behavior on that of their parents.

Of course, this doesn't always mean the kid will be the same political affiliation as their parents. If (or, likely, when) they decide to rebel against their parents, they may turn to the other side. They may also switch sides just because they see something in it that their parents don't. Or it could be because their friends, who tend to have a bigger influence on kids, may have influenced them into that political opinion (which isn't exactly a bad thing).

I wasn't influenced by my parents directly, but how they raised me did affect my political beliefs. My family is conservative and religious and I'm pretty much the complete opposite. Go figure.

From what I've seen on these fora, that probably happens a lot.

Yeah, it's a very odd phenomenon. Or perhaps it's not and it's just a sign of children growing up and seeing things differently from how their parents did.

I'd say it's more along the lines of the parents goofing up somewhere. After all, if they weren't desirable role-models, or failed to be looked up to by the child, then didn't they suffer contention at some point, and thus turning the child away?

In my case, I was raised in a conservative state, by religious right-wing nutcases who voted for GWB the second time around and thought that nuking the entire middle east would solve the country's problems. I think I'm more or less centrist because I lean towards being fiscally conservative, and more socially liberal.

^^ I don't think so. My political beliefs have drifted somewhat away from my parents', but I haven't fallen out with them or anything.

Hmm, I was thinking more along the lines of kids who wind up greatly disliking their parents, then wind up developing completely opposite views.

Mostly I would suspect this happens with homosexuals raised by religious conservatives.

Probably doesn't happen too often though.

Since when do the right not interfere with peoples social lives? The rest of the chart isn't too bad but that one part bugs me.

I would not call my upbringing based in fear, nor would I say I was in any way taught "the world is fine as it is."

:/ to the chart.

but to the topic question: yeah, probably. my dad came to the U.S. escaping from communism so therefore I'm somewhat conservative, at least compared to my friends who tend to be very liberal. i live in california, so hey. if i lived anywhere else in the U.S. i'd probably be called a hippie for sure. IMO, i'm mostly a centrist that leans towards the left.

edited 26th Jan '11 2:34:06 PM by SelphieFairy

I'm a real contradiction to the OP's flow chart, though I still found it interesting.

Brought up by one nurturing and liberal mother who was a nurse, and a conservative and strict step-father who was a soldier and is a policeman, I believe in Ethics instead of Morals, I'm non-religious, support gay rights, but support Conservative economic policy and beliefs such as Strong Role Models, Upholding Order, and Survival of the Fittest. I also strongly prefer a competitive playing field of individuals instead of a nurturing community that sacrifices personal progress for group progress.

And I don't blame the system for the Homeless and for Criminals.

edited 26th Jan '11 2:39:17 PM by Barkey

@Anonym: Not necessarily true. My rejection of religion and social conservatism came from analyzing my beliefs years ago. I didn't reject these things merely because I thought my parents were mean. But I won't deny that I enjoy that my beliefs are considered rebellious in my family.

Things I tend to support or believe are underlined in green, or things about my upbringing and life that ring true.◊

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