Political Extremism and the Brain

Why do we see more examples of political extremism from those on the political left than the right? What makes so-called liberals more prone to violence than conservatives? President Donald Trump has been called by so many Americans who oppose him ideologically an evil dictator, among many other – and often worse – things. This intense hatred of the president is often termed “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” or “TDS,” by others. Lately, this tendency appears to have expanded during his second term to include Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Trump voters in general. The breadth of targets has accompanied an intensification of political histrionics, criminality, and even violence – but why? A recent study blames this partly on the brain.

Left vs Right

Many blame social media. And there is some merit to that. We know that social media platforms and algorithms amplify traffic of toxic or emotional content, and that aggravates this issue. But these technologies aren’t the root cause. Yes, they spread and amplify negative content – but the negativity had to already exist for that to happen. As well, it doesn’t seem to affect everyone the same.

Conservatives are exposed to these technologies but are not easily stimulated to vandalism, hateful rhetoric, and the dehumanization of political adversaries. While Biden was president, the mainstream media became increasingly negative toward Trump and his supporters. Yet conservatives didn’t riot in the streets, loot businesses, or set things on fire – all behaviors we saw from the left during Trump’s first term and, to some degree, again in his second.

A March 2023 commentary by sociologist Musa al-Gharbi concluded that “it’s a scientific fact that conservatives tend to be happier and more well-adjusted than liberals, and ideological gaps in well-being have expanded since 2011.” It may be that there are physiological differences that contribute to this disparity. According to the author, “It’s possible that genetics and biology could explain much of the observed relationship between liberal identification and mental illness.” Conservatives also believe in personal responsibility and agency.

Thus, the root causes of TDS might not be political at all, but rather a side effect of the core worldview and mental state that leads to a leftist alignment. A symptom, rather than the underlying illness itself, so to speak.

TDS and the Human Brain

Admitted Trump opponent Dr. Robert Lustig in 2020 attributed TDS to dopamine and cortisol flowing to the prefrontal cortex, which serves as a filter and “the thinking part of the brain.” Dr. Lustig explained that persistent stress alters a person’s mental state and that “Prefrontal cortical dysfunction is the hallmark of basically all of the societal behavioral problems that we have experienced in the last 50 years.”

A new study in Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience supports this biological assessment. The political pattern on the far left of demonizing Trump, Musk, Kennedy, et.al., embraces an all-or-nothing, good-versus-evil dichotomy that skews factual perceptions and simplistically dehumanizes political opponents and their positions. The study’s authors found:

“Participants with lower ability to distinguish between correct and incorrect judgments—those with poor metacognitive insight—showed stronger brain activity in response to moral conviction. This was particularly evident in the lateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex.

“In practical terms, people who lack insight into the accuracy of their own beliefs may be more likely to treat political issues as moral imperatives and less willing to consider alternative viewpoints. This could help explain why low metacognitive ability has been linked to greater dogmatism and political extremism in previous research.”

“Deeply moralized” political beliefs such as hating “Orange Man Bad” or “Nazi Musk” translate into less reflective cognitive processings and knee-jerk responses that explain otherwise inscrutable behaviors like keying cars bearing the Tesla logo – even if they belong to fellow Democrats, who bought them  out of fear of the “existential” climate change crisis. Musa al-Gharbi points out that leftist ideology exacerbates this physiological tendency by embracing “a form of reverse cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)”:

“Cognitive behavioral therapy encourages people to avoid global labeling and black-and-white or zero-sum thinking. It pushes people to abstain from hyperbole and catastrophizing or filtering out the good while highlighting the bad. CBT encourages people to resist emotional reasoning, jumping to conclusions, mind-reading, and uncharitable motive attribution.”

Political Responsibility

World-renowned psychiatrist and philosopher Viktor E. Frankl observed that people possess the freedom of will to choose how they respond to external stimuli such as political news using personal responsibility that determines outcomes. This idea of human agency determines how people react in the decision-making space between a stimulus and their response. In a 2024 article in Psychology Today, Alex Pattakos, Ph.D, observed:

“Against this backdrop, one antidote to the debilitating effects of TDS requires the reclaiming of the space between stimulus and response, both as a way to change ourselves and as a proactive strategy for influencing situations or events that are yet to come, such as the 2024 election. Once again, this recommendation depends upon both freedom of will—’to choose one’s way’—and personal responsibility—to commit to meaningful values and goals that only you can actualize and fulfill.”

The dehumanization of German Jews under Nazi propaganda was enabled by this abuse of the brain space between stimulus and response. The Salem witch trials offer a similar fearful episode in colonial New England. Destroying artwork to “end oil,” burning cities to “end racism,” and assaulting MAGA voters with red hats are no different.

1. Many on the left seem to have an intense hatred for Donald Trump and anyone who supports or works with him. This is often called Trump Derangement Syndrome, or TDS.
2. While anyone is capable of it, conservatives rarely engage in political violence. Most instances come from the left.
3. It may be that the difference in world view – and the acceptability of political violence – comes from differences in how people’s brains work.