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A new paper has found a link between ‘being genetically predisposed to be smarter’ and being more liberal, suggesting that our political views may not solely be a product of our environment or upbringing, but could also be influenced by the genetic variations that affect our intelligence.
According to a recent study, people with higher IQ scores are more likely to hold liberal views, which suggests that intelligence directly alters our political affiliations.
Published in the journal Intelligence, the paper’s results ‘imply that being genetically predisposed to be smarter causes left-wing beliefs.’
The finding provides a new approach to answering the age-old question of how people develop their inclinations towards certain ideologies or attitudes and why some lean more liberal while others lean more conservative.
Of course, numerous factors determine how we participate in our civil rights and what parties we support.
Among these is family – specifically parents who shape the beliefs of their children either directly (through discussion) or indirectly (through modelling) – as well as gender, religion, race, and ethnicity.
"This implies that intelligence is associated with political beliefs, not solely because of environment or upbringing, but rather that the genetic variation for intelligence may play a part in influencing our political differences," he added. "Why is this the case? I do not…
— DKGray (@TheRealDKGray) April 15, 2024
However, the psychologists who conducted the research have pointed out an often-overlooked aspect of this discussion, one that goes beyond environment or upbringing.
As reported by the team at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, ‘the genetic variation for intelligence may play a part in influencing our political differences.’
‘We find both IQ and genetic indicators of intelligence can help predict which of two siblings tends to be more liberal. These are siblings with the same upbringing, who are raised under the same roof,’ lead author Tobias Edwards told PsyPost.
‘This implies that intelligence is associated with political beliefs – that the genetic variation for intelligence may influence our political differences.’
To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied more than 300 families and measured participants’ intelligence using both IQ and genetic indicators of intelligence known as polygenic scores.
Additionally, they determined their politics by testing for six variables that included political orientation, authoritarianism, egalitarianism, social liberalism, fiscal conservatism and religiousness.
