Sometimes one can distinguish a progressive from a conservative, literally, at first sight.

This is shown by research at the University of Queensland and the University of Pennsylvania: faced with an imperfect image geometry, such as a circle or a slightly warped square, conservatives would have it more difficult to recognize, or rather to accept it. According to its authors, the study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology show that the concept of deviance has implications far beyond the moral sphere, or social. In other words, in the eyes of a conservative it would be intolerable any kind of irregularity, no matter if it comes to gay marriage, an immigrant, or an irregular geometric shape.

The research involved 2,100 US adults, who were asked to estimate how much a series of geometric images were deformed identifiable as circles, squares or triangles. At the end of the experiment, participants were also asked what they considered conservative or progressive than you, and were then asked a series of questions on social issues such as "what should be severely punished criminals?", Or "homeless they should be helped by the state? ".

By crossing the results of the two tests, the researchers found that participants classified as conservatives showed more scruples to classify an imperfect form in a "geometric category" (circle, square or triangle). Conversely, liberals were more tolerant not only against criminals and homeless, but also irregular triangles and circles.

According to the authors the results, as curious, demonstrate a few deep mechanism of our thinking, in which we develop our convictions in the social field. "We think these results reflect a greater tendency of conservatives to classify as deviant, and therefore unacceptable, any situation that differs from the norm," said Tyler Okimoto of Quartz, one of the researchers who participated in the study. "This applies in the case of the homeless, homosexual couples ... and even to the geometrical figures. The result is that the Conservatives believe more easily progressives that these groups should receive severe punishment, or not be helped. "

From Wired