Conservatism

As used in popular discourse, the term conservatism typically refers to a political ideology. Political conservatism is often contrasted with liberalism, and the two are often conceptualized as occupying opposite ends of a single ideological continuum. Conservatism comprises two primary dimensions: (1) a preference for tradition over change and (2) promotion (or tolerance) of inequality. These two dimensions often (though not always) are correlated with one another. This is partly attributable to the fact that, throughout history, nontraditional social systems have tended more toward egalitarianism than traditional ones. Interestingly, in cognitive psychology, the term conservatism is used in reference to the insufficient updating of judgments and estimates in the light of new information. Such cognitive conservatism is conceptually related to the resistance to change and ...