As described in Social Justice, there are two groups of people that promote social justice in an especially ideologically informed manner: PC-Egalitarians and PC-Authoritarians. Given below are the personality characteristics associated with each group, as researched by University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson:
PC-Egalitarians
- Trait agreeableness/Compassion — comes from the mother-infant pair bond type of compassion, altruistic generosity [Note: not mother-child]
- High verbal cognitive ability
- High trait openness
- The person has attended a sensitivity seminar or had the experience related by someone else that made them more sensitive to individual differences
- Often female, educated, Gay
When the PC-Egalitarian observes the PC-Authoritarians’ desire for censorship or punitive justice to reach their goals, the PC-Egalitarians create post-hoc justifications for it, and their higher compassion makes them think, “This must be right – these people are in distress, I must help them”, whether or not the PC-Authoritarian actions are beneficial (i.e., no accountability).
PC-Authoritarians
- Trait agreeableness/Compassion — comes from the mother-infant pair bond type of compassion, altruistic generosity [Again, note: not mother-child]
- Low verbal cognitive ability (often with corresponding high profanity usage)
- High interpersonal disgust sensitivity which creates protectiveness for groups that are in distress
- Acquaintance with a clinically diagnosed mood or anxiety disorder, either in themselves or a close family member or friend
- Often non-white, religious, low income, female
All the above for the PC-Authoritarians creates a personality with little tolerance for nuance: things must be zeros or ones, clear cut, with the anxiety/mood disorder creating a kind of general emotional distress for interactions that they have in society.
Critique: The problem with both types of Social Justice Warriors is that they are committed to postmodern ideology rather than objective truth. Hence for example they are blind to the mother-infant relationship which precludes actual growth and transformation for so-called oppressed groups via positive criticism and the assumption of responsible behavior. And the constant promotion of victimhood serves to enslave the people they are supposed to be helping.