Vincent Tijms reviewed The Republican Brain by Chris C. Mooney
Review of 'The Republican Brain' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This book surprised me. I had expected glorification of the liberal frontal lobe, accompanied by severe mocking of conservatives, who are supposedly shown to be phobic automated response machines by modern cognitive psychology.
But the book wasn't like that. Instead, Mooney gives a neat summary of advances in political psychology and tentatively links it to partisan behavior. He is not particularly critical of the research he describes, but also certainly doesn't overplay the value of any study or body of work.
In fact, The Republican Brain is a rare popular science book that may speculate too little instead of too much. Some thoughts on why the different psychological profiles seem to balance out or how this research can be translated to contemporary politics outside of the US would have made the book a bit more inspiring. And although Mooney gives some attention to party-switchers, it could have been expanded on …
This book surprised me. I had expected glorification of the liberal frontal lobe, accompanied by severe mocking of conservatives, who are supposedly shown to be phobic automated response machines by modern cognitive psychology.
But the book wasn't like that. Instead, Mooney gives a neat summary of advances in political psychology and tentatively links it to partisan behavior. He is not particularly critical of the research he describes, but also certainly doesn't overplay the value of any study or body of work.
In fact, The Republican Brain is a rare popular science book that may speculate too little instead of too much. Some thoughts on why the different psychological profiles seem to balance out or how this research can be translated to contemporary politics outside of the US would have made the book a bit more inspiring. And although Mooney gives some attention to party-switchers, it could have been expanded on a bit more.
Still, it's too easy to judge a book by what it's not. In the end, Mooney just wants to show that conservatives and liberals differ markedly in their respective psychologies. He makes good use of the evidence that's there - without too much exaggeration and, to my knowledge, without leaving out important studies -- to drive this point home. Nothing exciting for those who are familiar with the field, but definitely a worthwhile read for anybody looking for an overview of political psychology.