Is Jonathan Haidt left or right?
Jonathan Haidt is an NYU social psychologist who explicitly self-describes as a 'non-partisan centrist' and is a leading figure in the heterodox space — the loose movement arguing that universities and institutions need more viewpoint diversity. He was a progressive for much of his life but says writing 'The Righteous Mind' moved him out of the 'progressive moral matrix'; in 2015 he co-founded Heterodox Academy to push back on ideological uniformity in academia. His current public prominence rests less on left-right politics than on 'The Anxious Generation' (2024), his argument that smartphones and social media have damaged youth mental health, which as of mid-2026 had spent over 110 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and fueled phone-free-school laws across the political spectrum. He remains a frequent critic of tribalism and polarization on both left and right.
How credible is Jonathan Haidt's audience?
Jonathan Haidt scores 10.7 out of 100 on the RisingPolitics Credibility Score, ranking #187 among the political creators we track. The score starts with audience size, subtracts accounts that look fake, and weighs how strongly the audience actually engages.
How many followers does Jonathan Haidt have?
Jonathan Haidt has about 468K followers combined across X.