How to spot a baby conservative

A university professor from California named Jack Block did a study beginning in the 1960s of over 100 children in nursery school. He followed the kids into adulthood and found some interesting traits about their personalities. Teachers rated the 3 and 4 year olds at the time, looking at the children’s personalities. He followed up a few decades later with surveys for the then adults that including questions on personality and politics. To quote from a Toronto Star article:

The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity. The confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests.

The article continues:

He reasons that insecure kids look for the reassurance provided by tradition and authority, and find it in conservative politics. The more confident kids are eager to explore alternatives to the way things are, and find liberal politics more congenial.

Interesting. The sample is obviously too small to be totally representative, but the next step is to replicate the results. That is, see if other researchers do similar research and come to the same results.