When various programs of political correctness, anti-harassment, minority protection, sensitivity to special needs, and the like are introduced, they are usually justified on the grounds that they will supposedly create a more considerate environment. People, we are told, will be less traumatized, will treat one another better, and will work together more easily. We tend to mock this as excessively soft, but we generally accept the description.
Wrong. Several experiments conducted recently in the United States show that merely reading anti-oppression materials leads to measurable changes in attitudes. People become more callous, harsher, more hostile, and more willing to punish even mere suspicion of improper views. Basic fairness disappears.
I quote from one such study: “Across all areas examined, the tendency to attribute hostile intentions to others increased. Participants began ascribing hostile attitudes to other people even where none existed. They also began supporting punishment for alleged offenses without taking a closer look at the situation.”
In other words, hysteria over supposed injustice turns fairly decent people into vicious ones. And it lowers their quality of life. Because when you constantly suspect everyone around you of secret racism, sexism, or patriarchal attitudes, it is extremely hard to build relationships of trust. And without such relationships, there is no good life.
Since I often criticize conspiracy theories here, it is worth making a comparison. Conspiracies lead to a generally gloomy view of the world, but you do not start thinking your best friend is a secret Israeli agent. Liberal correctness does produce such attitudes.
It is, in fact, another piece of the puzzle explaining why severe depression is so common among young liberal women.