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Why are N people usually more liberal then S people?

Anja

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That's true for me, I think, tinkerbell.

Also the empathy thing.

And the ability to see various possibilities.

But I no longer think of myself as liberal. The idea of alligning with either side is repugnant to me. More apt to make my decisions on political (or people) issues on an individual basis or by personal experience.
 

Anja

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Are you confusing "independent" with "liberal"? N types are less likely to accept the status quo and more likely to question things. I don't think that necessarily makes them more liberal. N's don't fit into the mainstream as well so they look for alternatives. Sometimes those alternatives are even more conservative though, it depends on the individual.

This fits for me.
 

Giggly

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Surely the meaning of S and N is a give away.

S type focus on the detail
N type the bigger picture, hence offensive details are less of an issue for them because it falls into the wash of the whole N big picture.

L

This is a good point but it still doesn't really account for unconventional SP's though.
 

Walking Tourist

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Not! We were not counting the money.
We just spent it.
To heck with counting it.
And we didn't spit on purpose. We just stuffed too much in our mouths and someone made us laugh while we were walking by the elderly homeless people.
Really!:devil::devil:

The S's are all busy counting our money and spitting on elderly homeless people. :devil:
 

Walking Tourist

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This is a good point. I am an anti-war and human rights activist and maybe part of it is because I focus on the detail. The details of war are horrifying for me.
So, no, I'm not a conservative... but not really a liberal, either. Liberals in government tend to compromise their positions too much and the policies that they end up with satisfy no one.


Surely the meaning of S and N is a give away.

S type focus on the detail
N type the bigger picture, hence offensive details are less of an issue for them because it falls into the wash of the whole N big picture.

L
 

Unique

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This doesn't sound like anything to do with the S/N divide to me, maybe J/P but even that would still be stereotyping...

If SPs are not the most open flexible unconventional people ever I don't know who is...
 

Maabus1999

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Maybe I have wrong picture but to me it looks like that sensors are usually more conservative and traditional then intuitives.


I have my own theories about this but for now I would like to hear other peoples opinions about this subject.



Also I want to say that I am coming from different political environment then most of people here.

Incorrect assertion. Ever met a conservative ENFP for example? They exist. N's, without strong T and F sides that override their N, are normally independent thinkers and can see flaws in both sides.

Also age and experience will change your political views. I would be willing to guess most posters here are under 40 so are more likely to be liberal to independent.

Finally, as an example of myself, I am socially liberal in a way but fiscally conservative and a huge proponent of national security. Someone said I was libertarian once, which may be true, but I find myself testing as independent in every survey I take.
 

ptgatsby

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Incorrect assertion.

If everyone is really interested in personalities and political influences, there are a lot of studies out there that look into it. Granted, it's not MBTI and I don't know of any studies done in MBTI... well, I don't know of any authoritive studies (there are some easily found - pdf warning), but this isn't an area that requires speculation or ancedotal evidence. The causation is still a big question, but the patterns are pretty well validated.

Google scholar search

Example study (pdf warning), for those that don't want to scroll through.
 

Maabus1999

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If everyone is really interested in personalities and political influences, there are a lot of studies out there that look into it. Granted, it's not MBTI and I don't know of any studies done in MBTI... well, I don't know of any authoritive studies (there are some easily found - pdf warning), but this isn't an area that requires speculation or ancedotal evidence. The causation is still a big question, but the patterns are pretty well validated.

Google scholar search

Example study (pdf warning), for those that don't want to scroll through.

A lot of text to read so I just skimmed it. Something that I did see and want to add is that folks who are in college/fresh out of college normally have a more left leaning view. I think exit polling shows that fairly well.

Winston Churchill said it best, in summary, "If you are not liberal when you are young, you have no heart; if you are not conservative when you are older, you have no brain."

Again quote is probably inaccurate wording wise but the meaning is correct.
 

Eric B

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A read up on the term "neoconservative" will be very enlightening. To some degree, the neocons are the WWII democrats who were also hawks so they defected. The remaining liberals drew heavily from the philosophy of socialism/communism to steer the new party (post neo-con defectors) further left.

Now we have the Hawk Democratic Party (republicans) and the Socialist Democratic Party.
Ironic, that what do many conservatives today complain about, but that the modern Republican party is basically the same as the Democrats. (Big govt., spending too much, softening on the "moral" issues, etc). The twist is that some of those doing the complaining are probably fall into the category of neoconservativism themselves. They just want govt. to enforce their particular values.
 

ptgatsby

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A lot of text to read so I just skimmed it. Something that I did see and want to add is that folks who are in college/fresh out of college normally have a more left leaning view. I think exit polling shows that fairly well.

Winston Churchill said it best, in summary, "If you are not liberal when you are young, you have no heart; if you are not conservative when you are older, you have no brain."

Again quote is probably inaccurate wording wise but the meaning is correct.

I remember debating this quote a while back - the interesting thing is that age and sex have an influence on political attitudes... I don't remember if it was due to the decrease in openness or disagreeableness (S and T), or something else though... but the same went for young (trends towards openness) college students.

It's really difficult to isolate root causes, so we are stuck with a whole lot of correlations.
 

Maabus1999

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I remember debating this quote a while back - the interesting thing is that age and sex have an influence on political attitudes... I don't remember if it was due to the decrease in openness or disagreeableness (S and T), or something else though... but the same went for young (trends towards openness) college students.

It's really difficult to isolate root causes, so we are stuck with a whole lot of correlations.

I can theorize why. When you are young, you are ignorantly and blissfully optimistic about life. You haven't had a lot of "bad times" to make you mature. As your life experiences compound your own personal wisdom, you will probably become naturally cautious in some cases (conservative) as you try to learn and not repeat mistakes.

This does not work of course for religious conservatism as that is usually dictated by faith for what you will believe. However in other experiences, I believe it is a valid theory.
 

cloakofsnow

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In answer to the OP, I think it may be because it takes S's longer to adapt/get use to things. This is especially true of Si types, who process sensory information in an introverted, more in depth manner. Since it takes so much energy to take in sensations, it is harder for Si types to let go of the old and start over again with the new as quickly as N types do. Too many new things may be overwhelming to an Si type.

Here's an interesting description of the dominant Si type for those who want to know where I got this idea from:


The Introverted Sensation Type


The introverted sensation type is captivated not by the sense object, like the extraverted sensation type is, but by the subjective sense impressions that this object awakens in him. The reverberation and repercussions of the object on his inner world are what his attention focuses on. It is as if a pebble has been thrown into a pond and the ripples spread out throughout the whole inner world of subjectivity, revealing not so much the qualities of the pebble but those of the water it has been thrown in.

The sense impressions of this type have a different quality. They are not matter-of-fact like those of the extravert, but have overtones of myth, fantasy and deeper subjective values. The introverted sensation type takes what his senses tell him, brings those details into his inner world, weighs them, experiences them in the depth of his inner self, and only after this process has been completed does the world see an outward reaction.

When I see a friend who is this type and say, "Hi", he looks like he is not reacting at all. He stands there looking blank, but a moment later he greets me. What was happening? Why the lag? He was literally taking in the details of the situation. My presence had to be absorbed and only when his inner world became saturated with those impressions could he give an outward, delayed and extraverted response to my greeting. Once that initial lag is over our conversation runs smoothly.

Because external stimuli have such an impact on him the introverted sensation type needs to keep his house, office or wherever he spends his time orderly. Neatness is important to his inner psychic comfort. He is uncomfortable in crowds, first because he is introverted, and second because he literally can become overwhelmed by external stimuli if there is too much of it. He needs to know where things are. He also takes very good care of the possessions he has. He values them, not just for what they are as an extraverted sensation type would, but for the added emotional import they have for him. The cherished Christmas tree decorations that have been in the family for years are carefully wrapped in tissue paper and gently placed in a sturdy box until next year. The piece of jewelry given by a loved one is stored in the same velvet-lined box it came in, the love letters have a clean and pressed ribbon around them, and the scribbles of their now-grown three-year-old are saved in a trunk.

The second and third functions of thinking and feeling help organize and evaluate sense impressions. The introverted sensation type can put a great deal of time on one physical project. Unlike the extraverted intuition type who will get bored or impatient, he keeps at it for months, and he excels where attention to detail and order is important, whether it is the repair of delicate machines, the mastering of complicated inventories or making an especially intricate quilt, sewn and embroidered with infinite care.
If they choose to build a house the results will be perfect. Each wall, each board, will be carefully measured, skillfully painted, meticulously leveled and plumbed, but it will take him an age. Why? Because each step in the process is not simply done, but is weighed and balanced against the inner image he has inside himself. He might seem slow until you consider the wealth of images and inner sensations he is carrying around and has to sort through. This type makes dinner a quiet ceremony, serves each course with special care, a cup of coffee shared with a friend is not simply a cup of coffee, it is an event, a unique time graced by a beautiful tray and the plate of carefully arranged cookies.

Once when I went to visit a friend, he was fixing his car. If he had been an extravert he would have had a bunch of tools within easy reach, but he had them all lined up, neatly, in a row. If he had been an intuition type he would have had tools thrown here and there, and he would have been missing some, but they were all there. He had carefully collected them for the exact job he was about to do. He took out the part, carefully cleaned it, made sure all the gaskets were dirt-free, and then he just as carefully put the pieces back together again. But remember, first each piece had to travel within and then come out. When I came by I interrupted his peace, quiet and concentration which was essential for the job. He neither wanted, nor could handle, any extra stimuli. The job was his whole world at the moment. When he saw I wasn't going to go away he gave a quiet sigh and reluctantly turned his back on what he was doing, and then I was his one focus. Later he would pick up where he left off and begin again his interior-exterior dialogue with his engine. The extraverted thinker might do the same repair work, and with something of the same thoroughness, but it would be much more matter-of-fact, it wouldn't matter to him how many people were hanging around, and he wouldn't have to take interior trips as he did it.

The weakest function of this type is extraverted intuition, which is why he or she hates change. To move to another house, to get another job, to go to another part of the country, is traumatic. He has absorbed all the details of his present situation and is comfortable with them. To make a physical move is to throw what he has come to feel comfortable with out of the window, and he feels he has to start all over again, meaning he has to take all the thousands of new details, one by one, bring them into his inner world, find a place for them there, and then pick up the next stimulus and repeat the process.

Seen in this light we can understand what an upset such a move is for him. A Safeway store in one town is not the same as a Safeway store in another. It is a whole new experience.

The introverted sensation type is slow to make friends. You have to approach them gradually and let them get used to you. It is peaceful for me to be around this type because topics are going to be taken up, one at a time, without a rush. When I am with the extraverted intuition type I have a hard time keeping up with all their ideas, but I find I have to tone myself down when I am with an introverted sensation type. Too many comments or stories tire them out.


From Tracking the Elusive Human, Chapter 1: CG Jung's Psychological Types
 

mlittrell

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depends on the type. i can see SJs being a bit more conservative considering their traditionalism. SPs...not so much. NFs...it really depends. and NTs... it depends on the NT.

really i would say it doesn't matter about type. some of the most liberal people i know are SJs.
 
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