One theory that I've heard from several sources is that people who subscribe to conservative ideology have less capacity to deal with ambiguity. I'm not sure of the cause and effect sequence here: Are people who have less capacity to deal with ambiguity more likely to be influenced by conservative ideology? Or, if you are influenced by conservative ideology do you become less capable of dealing with ambiguity? In either case I certainly think that if we train ourselves and others to become adept at looking at multiple sides of every problem we are less likely to be swayed by conservative arguments and more likely to come up with a progressive solution.
An article in Foreign Policy magazine points out that there is a growing rift along these lines even within the conservative camp. The article quotes Brent Snowcroft, national security advisor to George H.W. Bush ("Bush 41").
...the problem with absolutist beliefs "is that they can get you into traps in which the ends justify the means. It can be dangerous to believe that one's motives are so noble that therefore anything we do becomes okay because we are doing it for a good cause."
The article describes this as a turf war between traditionalists (or pragmatic conservatives) and transformationalists (or neocons).
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