Studies find: Liberals lie, cheat, steal, more than conservatives

[InigoMontoja]

The Iraq war has been a bonanza for defense and Iraqi "reconstruction" companies. They've been able to do really crappy jobs with no oversight and rake in billions of taxpayer funds.

Yeah I suppose. Don't see what this has to do with the average conservative's honesty, however.

 

[FaithLikeARock]

You can't really survey lying...

 

[stan1980]

We have oil deposits off the coast on New Jersey that might make the middle east worry.

Why would the middle east worry?

The problem is we also have people here who rather than regulate it's drilling, cry about the possibility of spills, etc...

Since when has environmental concerns stopped America from doing anything?

 

[Corey]

http://www.examiner.com/a-1419425~Peter_Schweizer__Conservatives_more_honest_than_liberals_.html

Tell me your thoughts.

Schweizer is lying through his teeth.

Source: http://pewresearch.org/assets/social/pdf/Morality.pdf

There is a partisan divide in how people judge these behaviors. A majority of Republicans say seven of the ten behaviors are morally wrong; while a majority of Democrats and independents say just three of the behaviors (adultery, underreporting taxable income; drinking excessively) are morally wrong. Independents are the least inclined of the three partisan groups to view the behaviors as morally wrong and most prone to see them as "not a moral issue.

And...here's the tab on Ideology

Ideology %Morally wrong total n
Conservative 86 301
Moderate 77 291​

Liberal 68 126

The above information is from their World Values survey item regarding cheating on taxes and its morality. In the interests of fairness, I will note that a Chi-Square analysis reveals a statistically significant difference between conservatives and liberals.

Oh...and he cites data from a conservative think tank that hired a Republican polling company to do the research (Tony Fabrizio was Bob Dole's pollster)...data that magically matches their preconceived notions. Shocking. I also note the lack of a social desirability scale to control for bad respondents. This is poor research.

 

[InigoMontoja]

You can't really survey lying...

Why not?

 

[Gremlins]

I agree. American Conservatives seem to have this funny idea of 'external morality'; they can't police themselves, and they only feel shame when someone else catches them out (like all those preachers who've broken their own rules). I personally can't understand this, nor all the harping about Conservatives being better than Liberals, especially since Christianity is all about everyone being equally fallen, and about being humble and meek.

 

[mpok1519]

Jesus believed in generosity and compassion for mankind, which would be a conservative principle.

Let's stay on topic here.

Compassion and generosity arent liberal principles? Liberal principles are, the opposite?

well thats kinda messed up to say such a thing. tsk tsk.

I thought most people here were...well....better than a word I want to use...

 

[stan1980]

Why not?

Are you serious... it's nonsensical to ask someone if they lie....

Question: Do you lie?
Conservative: No

Question: Do you lie?
Liberal: Yes

Now who do you think is the most honest out of the conservative or the liberal? The conservative, because he says he doesn't lie, or the liberal, because we know at least he answered this question honestly.

 

[InigoMontoja]

Schweizer is lying through his teeth.



And...here's the tab on Ideology

Not sure what your message is.

 

[Gremlins]

We have oil deposits off the coast on New Jersey that might make the middle east worry. The problem is we also have people here who rather than regulate it's drilling, cry about the possibility of spills, etc...

Don't count on these deposits actually changing the price of oil. The reason they haven't yet been exploited is that they've not been economically viable up till now. Exploiting them now therefore wouldn't significantly change how much you're paying at the pump. And even if I were wrong about this, it'd still take at least 3 years to set up all necessary extraction infrastructure. And of course you can pump all the oil you want, but it won't make the slightest bit of difference until you build more refineries.

 

[Corey]

Are you serious... it's nonsensical to ask someone if they lie....

Question: Do you lie?
Conservative: No

Question: Do you lie?
Liberal: Yes

Now who do you think is the most honest out of the conservative or the liberal? The conservative, because he says he doesn't lie, or the liberal, because we know at least he answered this question honestly.

Actually, it's more complex than that. I tend to use a short form of the Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale. It measures that respondent's tendency to give answers that are socially desirable rather than accurate.

 

[Corey]

Not sure what your message is.

Schweizer lied about the numbers from the World Values survey. That's why I posted them.

 

[stan1980]

Actually, it's more complex than that. I tend to use a short form of the Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale. It measures that respondent's tendency to give answers that are socially desirable rather than accurate.

I'm not sure if I follow, so if a respondent gives socially desirable answers s/he must be lying?

 

[Maren]

Actually, the study only looked at people's beliefs, not their behavior. As such, I don't see things as such a surprise. It fits in with studies such as the one that show liberals are more left brained and conservatives more right brained. To me, it seems to make a certain amount of sense that conservatives see the world strictly in terms of black and white, while liberals tend to see shades of gray. Perhaps a simple example; a conservative would think if he goes 65 in a 60 mph zone that he is breaking the law whereas a liberal might not believe he is actually breaking the law since he is traveling the speed of traffic, and also since most policeman will not stop someone traveling 10% faster than the speed limit. What it doesn't answer is which group travels faster and, from my experience, conservatives drive just as fast, on a whole, as liberals.

 

[Corey]

I'm not sure if I follow, so if a respondent gives socially desirable answers s/he must be lying?

No. Let's say I ask about some sensitive topics. You give what is the pat socially desirable answer. In and of itself, I can't tell if you telling the truth or not. Let's say that I intersperse the MCSD scale into the survey though.

In that case, if you cumulative MCSD score is low, it's likely your not just giving the socially desirable answer. However, if you score is high, then you are more likely to be giving the socially desirable answer. You can then correct for high scores on the MCSD through statistical methods.

 

[Athene]

Truly, I think liberals are more likely to acknowledge that certain things they do might constitute, cheating, lying, stealing etc.. legally, or bureaucratically, while conservatives see what others do as lying, cheating, stealing, but can't apply that to themselves. But I suspect conservatives would say the same thing about liberals.

Those were my thoughts, the article has this to say in defence

However attractive this explanation might be for some, there is simply no basis for accepting this explanation. Validation studies, which attempt to figure out who misreports on academic surveys and why, has found no evidence that conservatives are less honest. Indeed, validation research indicates that Democrats tend to be less forthcoming than other groups.

Democrats are less forthcoming yet still willing to blab about tax-evasion and welfare fraud?

Assuming the data in the article does reflect reality then it has to be pointed out that this only shows one small area where liberals are more dishonest then conservatives, but I wonder what the results would be if the questions asked were something like this, is it ok to lie and spread false information about a presidential candidate from the opposing political party? Is it morally wrong to misquote prominent scientists if doing so would support your own beliefs? Is it acceptable to greatly exaggerate the failure rate of contraception in order to promote abstinence only?

 

[Tinker Grey]

I think it'd more interesting if they interviewed 40-somethings as opposed to college students.

 

[TeddyKGB]

Jesus believed in generosity and compassion for mankind, which would be a conservative principle.

That's really silly. I can't even begin to follow the chain of reasoning that concludes that "generosity and compassion" are tied to an American political persuasion.

 

[mpok1519]

I think it'd be better if they interviewed everyone on earth.

Then it'd be accurate; or at least as accurate as something as variable-ridden as this.


theres too many variables to accurately survey this kind of thing....

 

[stan1980]

No. Let's say I ask about some sensitive topics. You give what is the pat socially desirable answer. In and of itself, I can't tell if you telling the truth or not. Let's say that I intersperse the MCSD scale into the survey though.

In that case, if you cumulative MCSD score is low, it's likely your not just giving the socially desirable answer. However, if you score is high, then you are more likely to be giving the socially desirable answer. You can then correct for high scores on the MCSD through statistical methods.

I've got to say, I wouldn't be too confident in any survey where there is a need to adjust the results, whatever the reasons are. Short of attaching your respondents to a polygraph machine, I'd be pretty weary of the results.