A Time Magazine study has determined that answers to a few questions can determine whether or not your political leanings are liberal or conservative.
From Time:
Social scientists find many questions about values and lifestyle that have no obvious connection to politics can be used to predict a person’s ideology. Even a decision as trivial as which browser you’re using to read this article is imbued with clues about your personality. Are you on a Mac or PC? Did you use the default program that came with the computer or install a new one?
To test this, they put together 12 questions that have a statistical correlation to a person’s political leanings. They ask whether you’d prefer browsing Times Square over the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whether or not you prefer cats or dogs, which internet browser you prefer, how open you are to trying new foods, and more questions like this. Though the questions seem completely apolitical, the survey?is surprisingly astute.
Here is my result:
After you complete the short survey, you are asked a quick “how did we do” question. They actually used the answers to these questions to confirm that, though certainly incomplete, this short assessment is legit.
Update: Jan. 10, 2014, 11:00 a.m.: It works! Our analysis of 17,000 responses from readers who chose to report their actual ideology found a strong correlation (r=0.604, for those of you keeping score) between a person’s self-reported ideology and the output of the quiz. This is a particularly strong correlation given the wide degree of personal variation in taste that is intrinsic to this sort of research.
Time created this survey by drawing on various sources, including research by a social scientist a the University of Texas, who found that liberals tend to score higher than conservatives on “openness to experience” and are more likely to seek out new experiences. You can read more about the methodology after taking the survey.
As for the dogs and cats question? I love both equally. Really.
Does this information have practical uses? It does for me! As a single adult who is dating, I will fully embrace this new knowledge and apply it as I’m vetting suitors in online dating. If a gentleman expresses disdain at the idea of a day in a museum, I may have a clue as to what I’m dealing with, eh?
Let me know what you think if you take the survey. Accurate or no?
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Tiffany Willis is a fifth-generation Texan and the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
