Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them

by Joshua D. Greene

For the most part, American social conservatives belong to a specific tribe—a European American, white, Christian tribe that remains lamentably tribal. This tribe dismisses the knowledge gained from science when it conflicts with tribal teachings. Moreover, this tribe regards its own members as the “real” Americans (implicitly, if not explicitly) and regards residents who challenge their tribal beliefs as foreign invaders. According to Haidt, American social conservatives place greater value on respect for authority, and that’s true in a sense. Social conservatives feel less comfortable slapping their fathers, even as a joke, and so on. But social conservatives do not respect authority in a general way. Rather, they have great respect for the authorities recognized by their tribe (from the Christian God to various religious and political leaders to parents). American social conservatives are not especially respectful of Barack Hussein Obama, whose status as a native-born American, and thus a legitimate president, they have persistently challenged. Such conspiracy theories ought to be relegated to the right-wing fringe, but according to a 2011 CBS/New York Times poll, 45 percent of Republicans believe that President Obama has lied about his origins. Likewise, Republicans, as compared with Democrats and independents, have little respect for the authority of the United Nations, and a majority of Republicans say that a Muslim American with a position of authority in the U.S. g...

Long but good explanation how conservatives are very tribal