Liberal and conservative perspectives are not mirror images of one another

Evidence

But, perhaps most relevant to our argument is Kerlinger’s (1967, 1972) theory of “criterial referents.” Kerlinger posits that attitudes differ in terms of their “referents,” or focus; referents that are “criterial” or central to one attitude may be irrelevant to another. With respect to the social attitudes composing political belief systems, Kerlinger (1967, p. 112) suggests that “liberal is not just the opposite of conservative”; rather than representing endpoints on the same continuum, liberalism and conservatism constitute relatively distinct attitude systems based on different criterial referents. Kerlinger’s thesis received strong support from his factor analysis which revealed that predesignated “liberal” and “conservative” referents did load on different dimensions, and that there were few negative loadings. Taken together, such findings indicate a distinct lack of bipolarity in the beliefs defining liberalism and conservatism. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1992 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Using these and other methods, researchers have investigated a number of possibilities, including the “rigidity of the right” hypothesis, the “extremist-asideologue” hypothesis, and the “contextual” hypothesis that political deviants are more sophisticated and knowledgeable than centrists (e.g., Gruenfeld, 1995; Sidanius, 1985, 1988; Tetlock, 1983; Wilson, 1973). A quantitative meta-analytic review by Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, and Sulloway (2003) found that the most consistent evidence favors the “rigidity of the right” hypothesis that conservatives are significantly but modestly less cognitively complex than liberals in general. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 130 (#complicates, via linked claim)

For example, some would say, “Conservatives are people who want everybody to obey the government.” But others would say, “Conservatives are people who want no government at all.” Are both kinds of people conservatives, or is neither, or only one? … That is just the first step into the quagmire. See the symposium in the September 1976 issue of Commentary, entitled ““What Is a Liberal—Who Is a Conservative?” It contains sixty-four essays on the matter by well-informed writers from many fields. Overall, they provide sixty-four different answers. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 625 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Conservative and progressive politics differ in speed, not direction. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 688; Empirical blurring of left and right does not prove their irrelevance — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 521; All political theory rests on two opposing views of human nature (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Liberalism and conservatism are distinct attitude systems, not opposite ends of one continuum #corroborates (0.95) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1992
• Conservatives are modestly but significantly less cognitively complex than liberals #complicates (0.73) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 130
• Conservatism means contradictory things to different people #complicates (0.71) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 625