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Liberal Norms and Their Discontents
1Princeton University predebb@princeton.edu.
Summary
The study found little evidence of discrimination against conservatives in personality and social psychology. Instead, liberal views dominate academia due to factors like value consonance, creating norms that narrow research scope.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Academic Ideology
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- Concerns exist regarding the predominance of liberals in personality and social psychology.
- A hypothesis suggests active discrimination against conservatives may drive this imbalance.
- Broader academic ideological homogeneity is a recognized phenomenon.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review empirical evidence on ideological discrimination in personality and social psychology.
- To investigate the drivers of liberal predominance in academia.
- To examine the impact of liberal norms on research in personality and social psychology.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing empirical evidence.
- Analysis of factors contributing to ideological distribution in academia.
- Examination of the role of social norms within academic fields.
Main Results:
- Little empirical support for active discrimination against conservatives in personality and social psychology was found.
- Evidence suggests a broader predominance of liberal views across academia, influenced by factors like value consonance.
- Strong liberal norms within personality and social psychology intensify ideological homogeneity.
Conclusions:
- The ideological imbalance in personality and social psychology is not primarily driven by discrimination.
- Liberal norms within the field contribute to an unfortunate narrowing of research perspectives.
- Weakening these liberal norms is proposed as a remedy to broaden research in personality and social psychology.
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