>Doug posted the following:
>
>
>
>>...With nonsense like this passing for objective scientific inquiry, is
>>it any wonder that the American public is becoming increasingly
>>contemptuous of its intellectuals?
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Edwin A. Locke
>>Ayn Rand Institute
>>
>>
>
>Some psychologist should do a study on the Rand cult.
>
Albert Ellis did, but he focused on the the question "Is Objectivism a
Religion?"
As for the study about common traits among conservatives, I'm very wary about it-- even though I've met Frank Sulloway, and I think he's pretty scrupulous, and he made a fairly decent case in his work on birth order and ambitions (_Born to Rebel_). It does sound as though the study basically reiterates the conclusions of Theodore Adorno's study of authoritarian personalities. My main issue with the article Doug circulated is that it seemed to focus in on traits seen in conservatives that, with a little linguistic legerdemain, could easily be applied to liberals or even leftists. And the traits themselves struck me as, well, expressions of something deeper, that may not run along the lines of specific political ideologies or modern political labels.
This is the sort of thing I wouldn't mind discussing in detail, except that a) I've only seen the press release about the study, so I couldn't make any meaningful commentary about it, and b) I just don't have the time to go on with some notions of my own that are really very tentative.