Politics

<p>Take a good look at the picture below. Do you see a circle? Or not a circle?</p><p>It turns out that your answer to this question will likely predict where you fall on the political spectrum &ndash; liberal, conservative, or somewhere in the middle.</p><figure class="image"><div class="image-container"><img alt="" data-attribution="Photo via Spring.org" data-attribution-url="" height="374" src="//cdn.someecards.com/posts/circleornot-LAJpPU.jpg" width="540" /></div><div class="image-attribution">Photo via Spring.org</div></figure><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>Here goes: if you&rsquo;re liberal-minded, you likely shrugged and said &ldquo;sure, I&rsquo;d call that a circle.&rdquo;</p><p>It also means that you&rsquo;re more likely to support the legalization of cannabis, gay marriage, and support government-funded programs like welfare.</p><p>If you squinted, then frowned and shook your head, thinking &ldquo;that has too many squiggly lines to be a circle,&rdquo; then it&rsquo;s likely that you see the world through a more conservative lens.</p><p>The test works on other shapes, too, fyi &ndash; as long as they&rsquo;re not &ldquo;perfect.&rdquo; What it measures is our willingness to accept something that&rsquo;s outside the &ldquo;norm&rdquo; as acceptable: ie, if you&rsquo;re more tolerant of the difference between the shape in the picture and a circle, you&rsquo;re more likely to accept deviance in society (and others). If you&rsquo;re a stricter judge of geometry, you&rsquo;ll view society (and others) through a similar lens.</p><div className="ad-splitter"></div><p>Psychologists think that it boils down to what they call <a href="http://www.spring.org.uk/2014/08/the-fundamental-psychological-bias-that-determines-your-politics.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a negativity bias:</a></p><blockquote> <p>Our position on the political spectrum &ndash; right, left, or centrist &ndash; could be down to a deep-seated psychological bias in the way people think about the world&hellip;This finding, combined with other research from around the world, suggests our so-called &lsquo;negativity bias&rsquo; &ndash; an automatic orientation towards negative aspects of our environments &ndash; may be at the heart of our place on the political spectrum.</p> </blockquote><p>What do you think? Is it a circle? Is it not? Does it matter?</p><p>I wanted to dismiss this whole thing as fluff, but the truth is that it was right. At least about me.</p><p><em>This article was first published by our partners at </em><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.good.is/articles/bikini-photo-manifesto-self-acceptance&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1521136108620000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEypYVZRcybctTdDH7EJr5MBpg0dw" href="https://www.good.is/articles/bikini-photo-manifesto-self-acceptance" target="_blank">D</a><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://didyouknowfacts.com/20-people-caught-significant-others-cheating-hand-major-karma/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1521136108620000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFsNudTN8sdhh0fduo-akuJW1RUIw" href="https://didyouknowfacts.com/20-people-caught-significant-others-cheating-hand-major-karma/" target="_blank">id You Know?</a></p><div className="ad-splitter"></div>

What You Think About This Picture Can Predict Your Political Bias.

Syndicated Content

Take a good look at the picture below. Do you see a circle? Or not a circle?It turns out that your answer to this question will likely predict where you fall on the political spectrum &ndash; liberal, conservative, or somewhere in the middle.Photo via Spring.orgHere goes: if you&rsquo;re liberal-minded, you likely shrugged and said &ldquo;sure, I&rsquo;d call that a circle.&rdquo;It also means that you&rsquo;re more likely to support the legalization of cannabis, gay marriage, and support government-funded programs like welfare.If you squinted, then frowned and shook your head, thinking &ldquo;that has too many squiggly lines to be a circle,&rdquo; then it&rsquo;s likely that you see the world through a more conservative lens.The test works on other shapes, too, fyi &ndash; as long as they&rsquo;re not &ldquo;perfect.&rdquo; What it measures is our willingness to accept something that&rsquo;s outside the &ldquo;norm&rdquo; as acceptable: ie, if you&rsquo;re more tolerant of the difference between the shape in the picture and a circle, you&rsquo;re more likely to accept deviance in society (and others). If you&rsquo;re a stricter judge of geometry, you&rsquo;ll view society (and others) through a similar lens.Psychologists think that it boils down to what they call a negativity bias: Our position on the political spectrum &ndash; right, left, or centrist &ndash; could be down to a deep-seated psychological bias in the way people think about the world&hellip;This finding, combined with other research from around the world, suggests our so-called &lsquo;negativity bias&rsquo; &ndash; an automatic orientation towards negative aspects of our environments &ndash; may be at the heart of our place on the political spectrum. What do you think? Is it a circle? Is it not? Does it matter?I wanted to dismiss this whole thing as fluff, but the truth is that it was right. At least about me.This article was first published by our partners at Did You Know?

Take a good look at the picture below. Do you see a circle? Or not a circle?  It turns out that your answer to this question will likely predict where you fall on the political spectrum &ndash; liberal, conservative, or somewhere in the...