Can you see a circle? Your political beliefs could be indicated by your answer
People who are able to accept the shape above as a circle are more likely to politically liberal, while those who can't see it are more likely to be politically conservative, a new study has found.
In particular, those who can see be tolerant of minority groups, support government aid for the homeless and unemployed, and take a liberal approach to same-sex marriage and legislation of marijuana for recreational use.
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This is in contrast to those who do not see the shape as a circle, typically representing support for protecting the rights of businesses and having a strong military force. If you're one of these people, you are likely to also believe that society should come down hard on even low-level crime.
The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, also suggested that those who don't see the shape as a circle are less likely to see illegal immigrants as an important issue.
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The researchers say they propose that "political differences in social policy support may be partly driven by the tendency for conservatives to show greater sensitivity to deviance than liberals", with conservative participants reporting greater differentiation between perfect and imperfect shapes.