Liberals and Conservatives Differ on Who Counts as a Victim

Everyone shares a similar moral compass about right and wrong, but where liberals and conservatives disagree is about who counts as a victim, according to new research.

The study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin introduces the concept of “assumptions of vulnerability”—people’s beliefs about who is especially susceptible to harm, mistreatment, and victimization—and finds that these assumptions explain why people from the right and left reach such different moral conclusions.

“We all care about protecting the vulnerable from harm, but we make different assumptions about who is especially susceptible to victimization,” says study coauthor Daniela Goya-Tocchetto, assistant professor of organization and human resources in the University at Buffalo School of Management.

“Liberals tend to see the world as split into two clear groups: those who are very vulnerable and those who aren’t vulnerable, while conservatives tend to think everyone is pretty equally at risk of being hurt, no matter what group they belong to.”

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Liberals see the environment and minority groups (such as immigrants and racial minorities) as much more vulnerable than powerful people (such as CEOs) or religious principles and representations (such as the bible or a church). Conservatives view all these groups and ideals as equally vulnerable.