Why do people vote the way they do?

[patoadam]

I would like to know why people hold the political opinions they do and vote the way they do. (Translation: Why doesn't everyone agree with my obviously correct political opinions and vote the way I do?) I have listed some popular explanations below. I should mention that the brief summaries I give do not do justice to the writers' nuanced arguments.

How can I tell which hypotheses are correct? Or are they all correct, as in the parable of the blind men and the elephant? Or is it impossible to answer "why" questions, because correlation does not imply causation? Can you suggest other theories I'm not familiar with?

Conservatives are authoritarian; liberals aren't.
Mark J. Hetherington and Jonathan D. Weiler, Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics

Conservatives come from strict-father families; liberals come from nurturant-parent families.
George Lakoff, The Political Mind and Don't Think of an Elephant

Conservative are more easily squicked than liberals.
See this article

Morality is based on five principles: caring for others, fairness/reciprocity, group loyalty, respect for authority, and purity/sanctity. Liberals base their beliefs on the first two principles; conservatives base their beliefs on all five principles.
Jonathan Haidt, as described at moralfoundations.org

Political opinions are based on emotion, not reasoning.
The Political Brain, by Drew Westen

Blue-collar workers, who used to be liberal for economic reasons, have become increasingly conservative because conservative politicians have increasingly emphasized social issues such as abortion and gay marriage.
Thomas Frank, What's the Matter With Kansas?

Comments

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

I attempt to justify my own opinions at some length here (http://www.nyrond.co.uk/liberal.html), if you're interested.

[lapislaz.livejournal.com]

This is a fascinating theory - http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/print_friendly.php?ID=st_20100501_5904

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Many of these seem to me to be different ways of saying similar things.

Take the 5 principles theory--that ties in with the strict-father family theory via respect for the authority of the father being more important than harm/care and fairness/reciprocity.

Take the authoritarian theory--(I admit to committing the cardinal sin of speculating about it based on the name; I don't have time to read it right now)--wouldn't that tie in via respect for authority and group loyalty being more important than harm/care and fairness/reciprocity?

Take the more easily squicked theory--wouldn't that tie in via purity/sanctity being more important than harm/care and fairness/reciprocity?

So those 4 theories seem to me to be related.

[ifics.livejournal.com]

My parents are liberal and had 6 kids. (I'm 3 of 6.) Half of us are liberal and the other half are conservative. Go figure.

[catalana.livejournal.com]

I suspect that these are all overly simplistic; I think there is likely a lot of variation as to why people vote the way they do. (For instance, I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative. There is no party that does that, so I vote all over the map.)

[lemmozine.livejournal.com]

I attribute it to the fact that 50% of the population is below average. I know it's frustrating, but it will always be true, and there's nothing us above-average people can do about it

An Elephant Is Very Like a Rope . . .

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Each is, I think, a piece in a puzzle. And voting is complex behavior.