Political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence

[packman]

This is a 2010-2011 study, but bears reading. Author concludes that as man evolved liberalism grew. Ancient man and civilization were conservative because the clan and immediate family is the prime. Strangers and their welfare, in general, is of little or no importance to a society where family fidelity and immediate community concerns is the binding glue which leads to a conservative approach to social, political and religious issues.


"Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ from a large national U.S. sample and found that, on average, people who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs. This applied also to sexual exclusivity in men, but not in women. "

Another interesting bit from the study:

Vegetarianism, while not strongly associated with IQ in this study, has been shown to be related to intelligence in previous research, Kanazawa said. This also fits into Bailey's idea that unconventional preferences appeal to people with higher intelligence, and can also be a means of showing superiority


Well - before we go patting ourselves on the back - the study really shows that one only needs 6 to 11 more IQ points to fit into the above category. Amazing, 6 to 11 IQ points may separate a liberal from a conservative.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/26/liberals.atheists.sex.intelligence/index.html

[-none]

1. Quite an interesting article.

One of the things they didn't mention, but kinda alluded to is that conservatives have a lower IQ because they tend to not be as curious and take what they are told at face value, without checking it out.
So it is not the fact that they are dumber, but more ignorant about more things, which reflects on IQ tests. Also, their world view shapes their reality, instead of the other way around.