Meditation Makes Conservatives Liberal

Warning: meditation may make you a more liberal person. That’s the suggestion of research conducted at the University of Toronto, where scientists examined political views in relation to the religiousness and spirituality in three studies. In the first, the researchers asked 590 Americans whether they identified as Democrat or Republican. Next, they measured 703 participants’ political orientations and support for the major American and Canadian political parties. The study showed that religiousness is associated with political conservatism, while spirituality ties in with political liberalism. Finally, in a third study, the researchers recruited 317 people from the U.S. and asked half to complete a spiritual exercise consisting of a guided meditation video. Those who watched the video were asked to close their eyes and breathe deeply, imagining themselves in a natural setting and feeling connected to the environment. They were then asked about their political orientation and to rate how spiritual they felt. The researchers reported that, compared to those in the control group, participants who meditated felt significantly higher levels of spirituality and expressed more liberal political attitudes, including a reduced support for “tough on crime” policies and a preference for liberal political candidates. Breathe deep and lean left. Read more from the University of Toronto.