As you can probably tell by my writings that I fall on the conservative side of the world. Like most CPA’s I know. But I have had many a lively conversation with clients who fall into the liberal camp. But now I have proof or what I suspected all along. Being a conservative give me a more flexible view of the world, so I have a better understanding view than a liberal. I am aware of three clients that would immediately argue that I am full of it.
Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and his colleagues have shown that conservatives are better at understanding liberal views than the converse. Which of course is not surprising; liberal views permeate the news media and popular culture; liberals can easily avoid exposure to conservative views. This distorts their view of the world and produces oversensitivity to leftist social-media mobs along with overconfidence in demographic trends. For the record I am not a fan of Fox News either.
But, in reality I deal with liberals and conservative alike. In the heated discussions with liberal clients, I have found that we can agree on many topics and can compromise in opinions with greater ease, than Washington or Springfield have been able to for decades.
I find being able to see as many sides of an issue to be a great help in serving my clients and their needs and goals.