Editing Political spectrum (section)

== Biological variables ==
{{main|Biology and political orientation}}
A number of studies have found that [[biology]] can be linked with political orientation.<ref name=Jost2001>{{cite journal|last=Jost|first=John T.|author2=Amodio, David M.|title=Political ideology as motivated social cognition: Behavioral and neuroscientific evidence|journal=Motivation and Emotion|date=13 November 2011|volume=36|issue=1|pages=55–64|doi=10.1007/s11031-011-9260-7|s2cid=10675844|url=http://www.psych.nyu.edu/jost/Jost-Amodio-2012.pdf}}</ref> Many of the studies linking biology to politics remain controversial and unreplicated, although the overall body of evidence is growing.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Biology and ideology: The anatomy of politics |last=Buchen |first=Lizzie |date=25 October 2012 |journal=Nature |volume=490 |issue=7421 |pages=466–468 |language=en |doi=10.1038/490466a |pmid = 23099382|bibcode=2012Natur.490..466B |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Studies have found that subjects with [[conservative]] political views have larger [[amygdala]]e and are more prone to feeling [[disgust]].<ref name=RK>{{cite journal|title=Political Orientations Are Correlated with Brain Structure in Young Adults |author=R. Kanai|journal=Curr Biol|date=5 April 2011|pmid=21474316|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2011.03.017|volume=21|issue=8|pages=677–80|pmc=3092984|bibcode=2011CBio...21..677K |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name=YI>{{cite journal|title= Conservatives are more easily disgusted than liberals. |url=http://yoelinbar.net/papers/disgust_conservatism.pdf | author=Y. Inbar |journal= Cognition and Emotion |date=2008|volume=23|issue=4 |pages=714–725 |doi=10.1080/02699930802110007|display-authors=etal|citeseerx=10.1.1.372.3053 |s2cid=7411404 }}</ref> [[Liberalism|Liberals]] have larger volume of grey matter in the [[anterior cingulate cortex]] and are better at detecting errors in recurring patterns. The anterior cingulate cortex is used when dealing with conflicting information. A study conducted by researchers from the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA) and [[New York University]] (NYU) had participants sort through a deck of cards. The letter M was four times more likely to be in the deck than the letter W. Participants had to press a button every time an M came up in the deck. Liberals were shown to make fewer errors in mistaking the W for the M. This behavioral study supported the notion that liberals are better with dealing with conflicting information.<ref name=RK/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/09/10/brains-of-liberals-conservatives-may-work-differently/1691.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013125516/http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/09/10/brains-of-liberals-conservatives-may-work-differently/1691.html|archive-date=13 October 2016|title=Brains of Liberals, Conservatives May Work Differently|publisher=Psych Central|date=20 October 2007|access-date=29 June 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref> Conservatives have a stronger [[sympathetic nervous system]] response to threatening images and are more likely to interpret ambiguous facial expressions as threatening.<ref name=Jost2001/><ref name=JV>{{cite journal|title= Political leanings vary with facial expression processing and psychosocial functioning. | author=J. Vigil |journal= Group Processes & Intergroup Relations |date=2010|volume=13|issue=5 |pages=547–558 |doi=10.1177/1368430209356930| s2cid=59571553 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> In general, conservatives are more likely to report larger social networks, more happiness and better self-esteem than liberals. Liberals are more likely to report greater emotional distress, relationship dissatisfaction and experiential hardship and are more open to experience and tolerate uncertainty and disorder better.<ref name=JV/><ref name=JJ1>{{cite journal|title=The end of the end of ideology. |url=http://www.psych.nyu.edu/jost/Jost%282006%29The-End-of-the-End-of-Ideology.pdf | author=J. Jost |journal= American Psychologist|date=2006|volume=61|issue=7|pages=651–670 |doi=10.1037/0003-066x.61.7.651|display-authors=etal |pmid=17032067}}</ref><ref name=JJ2>{{cite journal|title= Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. |url=http://contracabal.com/PDF/Jost-1.pdf | author=J. Jost |journal= Psychological Bulletin |date=2003|volume=129|issue=3|pages=339–375 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.339 |pmid=12784934|s2cid=1778256 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>

[[Genopolitics|Genetic factors]] account for at least some of the variation of political views.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/21/science/21gene.html?pagewanted=all | title=Some Politics May Be Etched in the Genes | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=21 June 2005 | access-date=25 September 2012 | author=Carey, Benedict}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Alford | first1 = J. R. | last2 = Funk | first2 = C. L. | last3 = Hibbing | first3 = J. R. | title = Are Political Orientations Genetically Transmitted? | doi = 10.1017/S0003055405051579 | journal = American Political Science Review | volume = 99 | issue = 2 | pages = 153–167 | year = 2005 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.622.476 | s2cid = 3820911 }}</ref> From the perspective of [[evolutionary psychology]], conflicts regarding [[redistribution of wealth]] may have been common in the ancestral environment and humans may have developed psychological mechanisms for judging their own chances of succeeding in such conflicts. These mechanisms affect political views.<ref name=AEP>Michael Bang Petersen. The evolutionary psychology of Mass Politics. In {{Cite book | last1 = Roberts | first1 = S. C. | editor1-last = Roberts | doi = 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586073.001.0001 | editor1-first = S. Craig | title = Applied Evolutionary Psychology | year = 2011 | publisher = Oxford University Press| isbn = 9780199586073 }}</ref>