(CNN) -- Political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence, a new study finds.
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. The findings will be published in the March 2010 issue of Social Psychology Quarterly.
The IQ differences, while statistically significant, are not stunning -- on the order of 6 to 11 points -- and the data should not be used to stereotype or make assumptions about people, experts say. But they show how certain patterns of identifying with particular ideologies develop, and how some people's behaviors come to be.
The reasoning is that sexual exclusivity in men, liberalism and atheism all go against what would be expected given humans' evolutionary past. In other words, none of these traits would have benefited our early human ancestors, but higher intelligence may be associated with them.
"The adoption of some evolutionarily novel ideas makes some sense in terms of moving the species forward," said George Washington University leadership professor James Bailey, who was not involved in the study. "It also makes perfect sense that more intelligent people -- people with, sort of, more intellectual firepower -- are likely to be the ones to do that."
Bailey also said that these preferences may stem from a desire to show superiority or elitism, which also has to do with IQ. In fact, aligning oneself with "unconventional" philosophies such as liberalism or atheism may be "ways to communicate to everyone that you're pretty smart," he said.
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8 comments:
If you read the fine print in the study it says that Liberal are not only smarter, but nicer looking, friendlier to the environment, can run faster, jump high, live longer, are sexier, leave a much smaller carbon footprint, are more honest, have cuter babies, and anamals like them better too!
Can anyone say B.S.!
If this is true then are liberals unable to make solid arguments based on facts.
It's true. Atheists are, on average, the most intelligent cohort of a given population if you're measuring math, verbal and reasoning skills, but are they happy? The warm, comforting blanket of belief that swaddles less intelligent people has a lot going for it.
Imagine living your life knowing that there will be no afterlife, and that the end is the end. A daunting prospect. How much better to embrace a primitive divine origin mythos that guarantees you eternal life.
The very big contradiction in the study is that Liberals conducted the study and got the conclusion wrong because they're stupid!
These comments confirm the results of the study.
All you god fearing, gun toting, mysogynist, conservatives have been outed!
Congratulations!
10:37, the two researchers who conducted the study were either Conservative of Libertarian.
4:58
Satoshi Kanazawa is a Conservative or Libertarian?
BWAhahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
You libtards are funny if not so stupid
As a liberal and an Atheist, I can say I am so happy and satisfied in life. I know that my action are my own and that a super power in the sky isn't making me do it or interfering. I hear Christians tell me I just don't understand how happy you can be if I "believed".. truth is they don't know how free and happy they can be if they didn't.
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