Symmetry in Political Rigidity w/ Dr. Luke Conway

Symmetry in Political Rigidity w/ Dr. Luke Conway

From Discourse Lab by Clayton Smith and Anthony Rispo

February 23, 2026 · 1h 36m

About this episode

The episode features Dr. Luke Conway discussing cognitive rigidity in politics and social psychology.

In this episode the boys are joined by Dr. Luke Conway. Luke is a social psychology researcher, professor, and author who has over a hundred pieces on the psychology of politics and culture. He has served as an associate editor for the Society for Personality in Social Psychology's flagship journal and is an elected fellow of that journal and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology. He is currently a Professor of Psychology at Grove City College, and the author of Liberal Bullies: What Psychology Teaches Us about the Left's Authoritarian Problem—and How to Fix It . More recently, Dr. Conway co-authored a fascinating new study titled An Adversarial Collaboration on the Rigidity-of-the-Right, Rigidity-of-Extremes, or Symmetry: The Answer Depends on the Question . Listen to this episode to learn about how cognitive rigidity is not an especially conservative trait, get Luke's take on whether social psychology has become irredeemably woke, hear his surprisingly controversial opinion about a beloved fast food franchise, and much more! Please rate and review us on your podcast player of choice! It’s the best way to support us. Subscribe on Apple , Spotify , and YouTube Follow us…

People in this episode

Hosts: Clayton Smith, Anthony Rispo

Guest: Dr. Luke Conway

Topics covered

  • political psychology
  • cognitive rigidity
  • social psychology
  • political commentary
  • fast food culture

Keywords

  • politics
  • psychology
  • cognitive rigidity
  • social psychology
  • fast food

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Society for Personality in Social Psychology, Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Grove City College

Books & works: Liberal Bullies: What Psychology Teaches Us about the Left's Authoritarian Problem—and How to Fix It, An Adversarial Collaboration on the Rigidity-of-the-Right, Rigidity-of-Extremes, or Symmetry: The Answer Depends on the Question, The War on Words: 10 Arguments Against Free Speech – And Why They Fail

More episodes of Discourse Lab

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Discourse Lab podcast page.