Reno Reporter

A newly released study that examined the progression of political closed-mindedness among liberals and conservatives in the country showed the difference was not wide.

According to a press release shared by the University of Nevada, Reno, Markus Kemmelmeier, the Foundation Professor of Sociology and social psychologist, teamed up with a former Ph.D. pupil, Jesse Acosta, to study the evolution of closed-mindedness in a study that has been approved by the Journal of Social and Political Psychology for release.

The university reported that the study examined the correlation between social psychology and political science in an article titled "The changing association between political ideology and narrow-mindedness: the left and right have become more alike.”

According to Kemmelmeier: “What we found was that in the late 1940s, there was a relatively more pronounced correlation between people who described themselves as being more conservative also identified themselves as being more closed-minded. Over time, however, that correlation becomes smaller and smaller, and today it is less than one-percent of the entire variation.”

Kemmelmeier added that conservatives are conscientious people who prefer the traditional norms of society as opposed to the unknown and liberals embrace challenging traditional norms and social structures, however the political messaging is now closer than ever.

“What this really means is that there is less of a difference between conservatives and liberals today than ever before,” said Kemmelmeier.