It’s not news that liberals and conservatives have different reading tastes when it come to political books. But research shows that political differences affect the selection of science books as well.
According to a study released in Nature Human Behavior found that liberals and conservatives prefer different science subjects. Right-leaning readers prefer applied science, like criminology or medicine, while those on the other side of the political aisle seek books that explore science for science’s sake, like zoology, or abstract physics.
This article in Wired offers a few more details from the study of reading habits: “There are two important general differences between the two ideologies,†says Michael Macy, computational social scientist at Cornell University, and co-author for the study. “Liberals tend to be more interested in basic science that is motivated by intellectual puzzles, empirical exercises, philosophical musings, and conservatives are looking for solutions, problem solving, and applied research.â€
Another difference in reading habits was discovered as well. From the Wired story: “Liberals tend to purchase science books that are interesting to anyone who is interested in science, regardless of whether they read political books. And conservatives are more cloistered, preferring science books that are only of interest to people who buy conservative political books.”
The study adds another piece of evidence of a trend that Americans are increasingly associating with only like-minded individuals, without genuine dialogue with opposing viewpoints.
