Liberalism may result from relatively unpredictable childhood, with personality types optimized for short-term relationships, risk-taking, novelty, & creativity; conservatives may be suited for stable surroundings with low risk payoffs

Ideology, attachment, and life history strategy: Cultural conservatism may be an ontogenetic product of high-predictability niches. Connor Wood, Jonathan Morgan, John Shaver. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 31st annual meeting. Boston 2019. http://tiny.cc/aa1w6y

Attachment theory and life history theory may offer useful tools for investigating the psychological bases of ideological commitments. Thornhill and Fincher (2007) found that conservatives exhibited more secure attachment styles than liberals and reported more positive childhood memories, suggesting that liberal orientations result from relatively unpredictable childhood environments that produce personality types optimized for short-term relationships, risk-taking, novelty, and creativity. Conservatives, by contrast, may be suited for stable surroundings with low risk payoffs. However, other studies have questioned these results (Koleva and Rip 2009; Gaziano 2017). Therefore, we set out in a preregistered study to conceptually replicate Thornhill and Fincher’s 2007 findings in light of life history theory (Del Guidice, 2009). Individuals with “fast” life histories pursue low-investment reproductive strategies. “Slow” LH strategies are characterized by more parental and relational investment. In a sample of >600, we found that certain kinds of ideological conservatism – specifically cultural conservatism– were strongly associated with stable childhood backgrounds and with slow life-history variables, corroborating Thornhill and Fincher’s interpretation. However, the association between conservatism and attachment style held only for female subjects. Conservatism may be an adaptation for stable cultural niches, but attachment style may not be the critical variable.