Political Tribes, and the Psychology of Liberals and Conservatives.

I am using this post to pass on to MindBlog readers some background material I just sent out to members of a senior current topics discussion group that we have recently formed in Fort Lauderdale, and named "The Round Table." The session on Monday Dec. 19 is on the topic indicated by the title of this post.
Where do tribes come from? Evolutionary origins  http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2014/12/eo-wilson-and-meaning-of-human-existence.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2011/03/beginning-and-middle-of-human-history.html
What is essential human nature? Where do religion and morality come from?  How do  religious and non-religious people differ?  
http://www.moralfoundations.org/ http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2007/02/human-nature-redux_20.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2007/10/moral-universals.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2014/08/origins-of-good-and-evil-in-human-babies.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2015/09/birth-of-moralizing-gods.htm http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/02/moralistic-gods-enhance-sociality.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2008/10/evolution-of-religious-prosociality.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2014/09/morality-how-theists-and-non-theists.html
What dynamics regulate in-group and out-group interactions and conflicts? http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/opinion/sunday/the-roots-of-implicit-bias.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2014/11/a-mechanism-underlying-intractable.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2012/05/blog-post.html  brain correlates of whether we help someone suffering http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2014/09/norm-enforcement-is-biased-from-its.html
What kinds of political tribes do people belong to today? http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/07/the-myth-of-cosmopolitanism.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2011/02/bias-within-politics-of-professoriat.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/opinion/sunday/the-dangers-of-echo-chambers-on-campus.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/democrats-need-to-focus-on-the-gut-not-the-head/2016/12/01/dfbe7782-b803-11e6-a677-b608fbb3aaf6_story.html http://www.alternet.org/print/election-2016/rural-america-understanding-isnt-problem https://www.amazon.com/Strangers-Their-Own-Land-Mourning/dp/1620972255/ref=as_li_ss_tl http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/01/our-strongest-prejudice-partisan.html
What distinguishes liberals and conservatives? http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2009/12/more-on-psychology-of-liberals-and.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2008/10/political-attitudes-vary-with.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2009/06/liberals-and-conservatives-feel.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2015/12/negative-evaluation-of.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2013/02/red-brain-blue-brain.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2008/06/why-are-conservatives-happier-than.html
How do people sustain their tribal identities, what psychological shortcuts or errors help?
http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2010/08/metacognitive-deficits-in-public.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/04/a-succinct-list-of-some-of-our-common.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-travis-bradberry/13-cognitive-biases-that_b_13355298.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2008/06/seeing-ourselves-seeing-others-built-in.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2015/02/the-neuroscience-of-motivated-cognition.html
How can tribal animosities and conflicts be ameliorated?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/opinion/sunday/im-prejudiced-he-said-then-we-kept-talking.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/06/confronting-prejudiced-brain.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/11/how-to-get-beyond-our-tribal-politics.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2010/04/internet-enhancing-not-diminishing.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/05/the-key-to-political-persuasion.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2013/05/the-limits-of-empathy.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/04/how-to-change-prejudicefor-real-this.html http://mindblog.dericbownds.net/2016/01/how-learning-shapes-empathic-brain.html