The Tribalism Cluster and Political Spectrum

Key Insight

The political spectrum's left-right orientation is significantly influenced by a cluster of tribalism-related personality traits, which includes ethnocentricity, religiosity, and sexual intolerance. Individuals exhibiting high levels of these three traits tend to align with the political right. Conversely, those who demonstrate attraction to out-groups (xenophilia), secularism, and higher sexual tolerance are strongly correlated with political views on the left.

Sexual intolerance is specifically directed at any form of sexuality perceived as unlikely to contribute to sanctioned reproduction, economic stability, or social harmony within a given in-group. Examples include nonreproductive sexuality like homosexuality, premarital sexual choices by young people, and extramarital affairs. This intolerance serves the logic that greater ethnocentricity, religiosity, and sexual intolerance increase the likelihood of individuals reproducing within their own in-group.

Conservatives are more prone to prioritize group values, such as the reproduction and defense of their ethnic group, over competing individual interests like personal pleasure or career choices that might detract from family. In contrast, xenophilic, secular, and sexually tolerant individuals are more inclined to value out-groups and reproduce with them, thus emphasizing individualism over strict in-group values. This tribalism cluster fundamentally relates to contrasting kinship and reproductive patterns: endogamy (marrying in) versus exogamy (marrying out).