The Psychology of Progressive Hostility

Summary: Recently, I arrived at a moment of introspection about a curious aspect of my own behavior. When I disagree with a conservative friend or colleague on some political issue, I have no fear of speaking my mind. I talk, they listen, they respond, I talk some more, and at the end of it we get along just as we always have. But I’ve discovered that when a progressive friend says something with which I disagree or that I know to be incorrect, I’m hesitant to point it out. This hesitancy is a consequence of the different treatment one tends to receive from those on the Right and Left when expressing a difference of opinion. I am not, as it turns out, the only one who has noticed this. I'm a centrist: I hold some conservative views and some liberal views. But I'm more afraid of talking to my liberal friends about my conservative views than I am talking to my conservative friends about my liberal views. — Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) January 16, 2018 “That’s a stupid …