'A large body of psychological research has shown that people tend to overestimate how much others share their beliefs, feelings, and practices. But this new research suggests that this is not the case for those on the left end of the political spectrum – in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Conservatives and moderates overestimated the degree to which other conservatives and moderates were like them, while liberals assumed they were more unique among party peers than they actually were. This “liberal uniqueness” perceptive bias could help to explain why it’s harder to get Democrats to fall in line than it is for Republicans.'
If you think everyone thinks differently from you, you're less likely to go along the the rest of the crowd, I guess. Especially if you have a desire to feel you are unique (vs. being like everyone else), which makes consensus even less likely.
(h/t +Kee Hinckley)
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I wonder how this plays out in other political systems, in which the perception of "uniqueness" may not be on the left end of the spectrum – for example, a Russian Orthodox believer in the Soviet Union in 1952 may have thought that he was all alone.