A conservative brain’s amygdala and insula are as obvious as Donald Trump’s comb over. The amygdala governs reward, fear-response, pleasure, emotional information, risk and positive stimuli. Indeed, a 2013 study showed that

Conservatives have an intense physical reaction to threatening stimuli compared to liberals that conversely, have an intense physical reaction to cognitive conflict.

In the same study, participants were asked to complete a simple-risk taking decision-making task during which they were presented with three numbers in ascending order (20, 40, 80) for one second each. They were told pressing a button during the presentation of the number 20 would earn them 20 cents, but waiting to select 40 or 80 was associated in either gaining or losing 40 or 80 cents. So, they could definitely win 20 cents, or wait and risk gambling with more money. The study built on the previous one by adding the element of behavior and its relationship to partisanship. Republicans more strongly activated in their right amygdala, associating with orienting attention to external cues. Democrats showed activity in the insula, associated with perceptions of internal physiological states. So,

Republicans focus on external things when taking risks while Democrats look inside for guidance.

The study also surpassed its parent study by accurately predicting the participants’ party preference 82.9% of the time.

Chicken or Egg.

So is your moral compass a product of genes or environment? Science has not definitively decided. The brain can change and grow in accordance to its environment, i.e. the study that proved that London cab drivers have larger hippocampi (region related to memory formation). However, the brain also dictates political choice evidenced thus far, by the amygdala and insula being larger in respective political parties.

Whether you lean left or right, understanding our behavior will be essential in advancing our political attitudes and indeed as a result, make us more compassionate to the other side.