Top psychiatrist claims liberals are...

[Ezra Smack]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56494

I find this quite compelling - the psyche of a liberal from a mental health perspective.

WASHINGTON – Just when liberals thought it was safe to start identifying themselves as such, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder.

"Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave." ....... more on the link above

[kinggovernor]

the worldnetdaily is not exactly a great source, any more info on this Dr. Rossiter character?

[motivez]

Proof he's a "Top Psychiatrist"? According to whom? So far all I can't find much about him and he seems more like a political hack than a well respected psychological researcher

It also seems this book is a response to a federally funded 2003 study which claimed conservatism is a mental disorder:

The study, titled Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition was led by Dr. John T. Jost, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stanford University (who is now at New York University). (www.sulloway.org/PoliticalConservatism(2003).pdf) Jost’s homepage at NYU states that he and his colleagues are:

(C)arrying out studies to determine whether certain epistemic and existential variables (such as uncertainty avoidance, need for cognitive closure, and death anxiety) are associated more with conservative or right-wing political orientations than with other political orientations. (John Jost)

In layman’s terms, Jost and company associate conservative beliefs with fear, anger, depression, pessimism, disgust and contempt as well as mental rigidity, closed-mindedness and fear of death.

Most of its claims are not so subtle reversals of the conclusions reached by four distinguished scholars that were funded by the US Government in a study to discover the roots of conservatism.

The report "Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition" cost $1.2 million and was supervised by the National Foundation as well as the National Institutes of Health. It found that conservatism is essentially a set of neuroses rooted in "fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity".

In an article published in the highly respected peer reviewed scholarly journal "Psychological Bulletin" the authors state:

"This intolerance of ambiguity can lead people to cling to the familiar, to arrive at premature conclusions, and to impose simplistic cliches and stereotypes."[/7960]

Seems this is little more than a PHD version of the old playground saying: "I know you are but what am I"

[JaJae]

I think you have to be careful when you start suggesting that people with different political views than you are in some way mentally insufficient. That's a dangerous road to travel and as others have pointed out worldnetdaily is not a reliable source. I have also never heard of this "top" psychiatrist and wonder what exactly he is at the top of.

[WickedLou9]

What a F-ing joke.

[TankRizzo]

Originally Posted by JaJae

I think you have to be careful when you start suggesting that people with different political views than you are in some way mentally insufficient. That's a dangerous road to travel and as others have pointed out worldnetdaily is not a reliable source. I have also never heard of this "top" psychiatrist and wonder what exactly he is at the top of.

basically, if you're in any field and write a book, you can be the "top" in whatever field you choose.

[Kytro]

If you believe that your perspective is actually not just a perspective but a fundamental truth then one could easily classify other beliefs as a non-functional.

[tbone]

Speaking as someone educated and trained and who worked over a decade in the mental health field, this guy may have a mental disorder himself.

A mental disorder must result in a deficit of normal functioning to reach the level of a diagnosis. A person's point of view, right or wrong, doesn't generally interfere with their daily lives.