Conservatives in the United States have more self-control than liberals, according to the results of a new study.
The
research results appear on the National Academy of Sciences website, and they prove that right-leaning Americans have more willpower than any other political group.
"Evidence from three studies reveals a critical difference in self-control as a function of political ideology," the study's abstract reads. "Specifically, greater endorsement of political conservatism (versus liberalism) was associated with greater attention regulation and task persistence.
"Moreover, this relationship is shown to stem from varying beliefs in freewill; specifically, the association between political ideology and self-control is mediated by differences in the extent to which belief in freewill is endorsed, is independent of task performance or motivation, and is reversed when freewill is perceived to impede (rather than enhance) self-control."
A group of six researchers, led by University of Cincinnati professor of marketing Joshua J. Clarkson, conducted three studies — two that focused on college undergraduates and one that looked at older Americans with an average age of 40.
According to a
Los Angeles Times article, conservatives generally were faster at determining the correct answers to questions about self-control.
The questions that tested for self-control followed the Stroop test, which displayed the names of colors in a font color that differed from the name, according to the Times. The subjects were asked to identify the word, which was challenging because they were printed in different colors. The Stroop test was given to the college students.
"If you see the word 'red' in blue type your mind wants to say 'blue' right away, but you have to suppress that," Clarkson told the Times. "That's why it is a strong indicator of self regulation."
Clarkson said his research team contained people of all political walks of life.
"We've got liberals, conservatives, libertarians and people who aren't sure," Clarkson told the Times. "We are not saying that conservatives are better in general. We just think this study gives us a novel way to think about self-control."
A recent Gallup poll, meanwhile, showed that Democrats in the U.S. are moving further left politically.
Gallup found that 47 percent of Democrats are socially liberal and economically moderate/liberal, a jump of 17 percentage points since 2001.