New Study Suggests It Can Be Cured!

Is it a surprise to anyone that conservatives were those kids that whined the most and went to the teacher about every little thing? It's hard to break habits that set in during childhood, no?

So, I guess it's true what they say: You can spot one. Hopefully this study will lead us to some valuable research about what we can do to "cure" this deviant, anti-social behavior. Perhaps someone can start a ministry to treat these folks through the power of Jesus Christ, and they can all one day become well-adjusted, non-conforming "ex-conservatives."

Via AMERICABlog:

Study: Whiny Insecure Kids Grow Up To Be Republicans

More than a kernel of truth in this study. What do Bill Frist, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Limbaugh, George Will, Dr. Laura, the Republican bloggers all have in common? Whiny insecure brats. And that, my friends, comes from growing up a bit of a twit. Gary Bauer even admitted as much a few years back — grew up a wimp, been trying to fight back ever since (note to Gary: You're still gayer than me).

How To Spot A Baby Conservative
Whiny Children, Claims A New Study, Tend To Grow Up Rigid and Traditional. Future Liberals, On The Other Hand…

Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative.

At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.

The study from the Journal of Research Into Personality isn't going to make the UC Berkeley professor who published it any friends on the right.

…The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity.

The confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests. The girls were still outgoing, but the young men tended to turn a little introspective.

Block admits in his paper that liberal Berkeley is not representative of the whole country. But within his sample, he says, the results hold. He reasons that insecure kids look for the reassurance provided by tradition and authority, and find it in conservative politics. The more confident kids are eager to explore alternatives to the way things are, and find liberal politics more congenial.

In a society that values self-confidence and out-goingness, it's a mostly flattering picture for liberals. It also runs contrary to the American stereotype of wimpy liberals and strong conservatives.

I think particularly with the new definition of Republican, this is absolutely true. What do Republicans stand for anyway? They're bullies who need the government to either blow up or regulate everyone and everything they're afraid of, which is pretty much everything. Sound familiar? Whereas liberals are the well-adjusted kid, the nice guy, live and let live, and not really needing to invade any countries to either scare away the boogeyman or prove their manliness. — John Aravosis

(Thanks to the blog Pattern Recognition for the Photoshop file for creating an Exodus International parody billboard.)