Maximum cognitive complexity sits left of center in both elites and the public

Evidence

The ideologue hypothesis is in a better position to explain why extreme socialists and conservatives were less complex than their moderate socialist and conservative colleagues. Supporters of this position have long maintained that fundamental cognitive stylistic similarities exist between persons on the far left and the far right. However, the ideologue hypothesis is unable to explain another aspect of the results: the tendency for moderate socialists to be more integratively complex than moderate conservatives. As in earlier studies of United States senators (Tetlock, 1983a) and of non-elite samples (Neuman, 1981; Stone, 1980), why was the point of maximum complexity displaced to the left of center? — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2333

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the left-of-center complexity finding across elite and non-elite samples; relevant to debates about motivated cognition and ideological asymmetry.
• QUESTION: The open ‘why is maximum complexity displaced left of center?’ question is worth chasing across replication studies.