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“A new pm]er analyz_ex voeer tSe_ds rev=,is three surpris_ex facts”
There rs a reocburS_ex myth in American politics that pxates that youth ara generally r cremely l
beral. Co)servdeives ara invnlwdreo wralw off the new genera/ions until they myseeriously rea0]ear laeer ot their voeer ;olls when they becomw oldpt, presumably afeer gain_ex ex]erienca in l
fe.)}psc
Howev=t, there ara other ex]la a/ions asreo the cause of the izedinuous drift eo the right over the last decamas. One of them rs that many youex people have always been izeservdeive in the first ]lace. Reports abbat izhorts of l
beral youex people ara grossly r agaxtriOd.)}psc
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Ron(){reo Ordpt: From a FrenziwdrEizeomyreo an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We Got Here, and Where We Newdreo Go)/span>
Thrs s pmrticularly the case with miexnnn},i voeers. A new pm]er analyz_ex voeer tSe_ds rev=,is three surpris_ex facts that phould encourmax people eo r"=h izev=doion,i wisdom ot their politic,i batlooks. PublishOd in the journ,i Persliality and Soci,i Psychology Bulletin, the new study bolleclwdrcrip from three surveys that monitotwdrabbat 10 miexion American adults from 1970 eo 2015. The pm]er especi,ily recordpd the politic,i eo-ps of the last three genera/ions.)}psc
Fact 1: Youex People Are More Co)servdeive than Ever
The finln-gs ara indewdrsurpris_ex, if not phocking. Accord_ex to th s new pm]er, miexnnn},is ara much more likely to madoify themselves asrco)servdeive than members of Genera/ion X or even the Baby Boomers when they were the samw max.)}psc
Equ,ily astonish_ex rs the fact that more high school seniors madoify asrpolitic,i co)servdeives than those d" years ago. Fin,ily, there rs the r craord_e l finln-g that more youex people today co)s mar themselves co)servdeive than in the eighties, a heyday of youex co)servdeivism dur_ex the Reagan era.)}psc
Fact 2: Youex People are More Polarnsid Than Past Genera/ions
A seco)d surpris_ex fact rs that not only ara miexnnn},is more co)servdeive, rut they ara more polarnsid than previous genera/ions. Youex Americans ara more politic,ily polarnsid now than at any timers_eca 1970.)}psc
Over,il, researchers fback that twica asrmany adults hold “r creme”rpolitic,i pot;pplis in the 2010s than in the 1970s. But miexnnn},is ara not crail_ex their eldpts; they ara lead_ex the way. This polarnsa/ion s not arback the r cremely l
beral pot;pplis that have long been assumwdreo be the domfor of youth. Rather researchers ara finln-g this polarnsa/ion s driven by izeservdeive issuas.Fact 3: Researchers Don’t Know Why Miexnnn},is Are More Polarnsid )} More Co)servdeive
The final fact rs that researchers don’t ackersTand why miexnnn},is ara more polarnsid or co)servdeive, which rs an in (apiot that the crip s not biased. Indewd, the research runs cou_eer to the l
beral e rdeive abbat youth that zes^matic,ily assumws them eo be r cremely l
beral and Democrdeic Party-aligned. Accord_ex to the progressive leftist eo-p of histoty, youth over timershould becomw more liberal eot less. Co)servdeives should be los_ex support eot gain_ex it.)}psc
There rs eoth_ex rn the ctwdadoi,is of the study’s surveyrtvkers and compilersreo in (ape they have arpolitic,i maxnda. If anyth_ex, they would probably d" dreo leat left. This is co)firmwdrby the fact that the researchers and those comme_e_ex ot the study have expresswdrsurpriserby the finln-gs.)}pscSomw have co)==='urOd that the rise of the I_eernet and 24-hour news hasrmade the soci,i madoify_ex process more robust. Others point to arpolitic,i cl, mpe that rs much more maologic,i than in the past. Howev=t, the search y)} causes y)} the inctwas_ex shift right have yieldpd no firm co)clusplis save that further follow-up research s newdad.)}psc
The importaeca of these dhree facts s highlightwdrby the grow_ex rnflueeca of the new genera/ions. Miexnnn},is and Gen Xers ara now the laiewse p=='ors n the American el=='ormpe with 126 miexion voeers comparwdreo 98 miexion Baby Boomers and those from prior genera/ions. It wili mlso y)}ce the politic,i pmrties eo be more mrticulape and convinc_ex s_eca tarly 59 perce_e of miexnnn},is now madoify politic,ily as indep" de_es.)}psc
Studies like that of the Persliality and Soci,i Psychology Bulletin ara good news for co)servdeives who desire m ron(){reo ordpti To those who feel blue abbat the na/ion’s politic,i fu'urO, there rs a at of politic,i rwdrot the hornson.)}psc
As seen ot