Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ

[Teacher Mark 53]

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

February 26, 2010 5:03 p.m. EST

(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.

The study looked at a large sample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), which began with adolescents in grades 7-12 in the United States during the 1994-95 school year. The participants were interviewed as 18- to 28-year-olds from 2001 to 2002. The study also looked at the General Social Survey, another cross-national data collection source.

Kanazawa did not find that higher or lower intelligence predicted sexual exclusivity in women. This makes sense, because having one partner has always been advantageous to women, even thousands of years ago, meaning exclusivity is not a "new" preference.

For men, on the other hand, sexual exclusivity goes against the grain evolutionarily. With a goal of spreading genes, early men had multiple mates. Since women had to spend nine months being pregnant, and additional years caring for very young children, it made sense for them to want a steady mate to provide them resources.

Religion, the current theory goes, did not help people survive or reproduce necessarily, but goes along the lines of helping people to be paranoid, Kanazawa said. Assuming that, for example, a noise in the distance is a signal of a threat helped early humans to prepare in case of danger.

"It helps life to be paranoid, and because humans are paranoid, they become more religious, and they see the hands of God everywhere," Kanazawa said.

Participants who said they were atheists had an average IQ of 103 in adolescence, while adults who said they were religious averaged 97, the study found. Atheism "allows someone to move forward and speculate on life without any concern for the dogmatic structure of a religion," Bailey said.

"Historically, anything that's new and different can be seen as a threat in terms of the religious beliefs; almost all religious systems are about permanence," he noted.

The study takes the American view of liberal vs. conservative. It defines "liberal" in terms of concern for genetically nonrelated people and support for private resources that help those people. It does not look at other factors that play into American political beliefs, such as abortion, gun control and gay rights.

"Liberals are more likely to be concerned about total strangers; conservatives are likely to be concerned with people they associate with," he said.

Given that human ancestors had a keen interest in the survival of their offspring and nearest kin, the conservative approach -- looking out for the people around you first -- fits with the evolutionary picture more than liberalism, Kanazawa said. "It's unnatural for humans to be concerned about total strangers." he said.

The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106.

It also makes sense that "conservatism" as a worldview of keeping things stable would be a safer approach than venturing toward the unfamiliar, Bailey said.

Neither Bailey nor Kanazawa identify themselves as liberal; Bailey is conservative and Kanazawa is "a strong libertarian."

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.

None of this means that the human species is evolving toward a future where these traits are the default, Kanazawa said.

"More intelligent people don't have more children, so moving away from the trajectory is not going to happen," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/26/liber...dex.html?hpt=C2

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Makes sense to me...but then again I'm a sexually exclusive, semi-liberal atheist.

I've never liked the IQ scale as a measure of intelligence though. True intelligence requires a balance of knowledge and experience about MANY things, in my opinion. One can ace an IQ test by having very specialized aptitudes.

[Susita 175]

very interesting

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I'll have to read it closer a second time, but it seemed like they are associating atheism to anyone who doesn't follow a specific religion, when it would be more accurate to call them agnostic, unless they believed unequivocally in no existence of God, which, IMO, follows the same principle of a belief in God - embracing an unprovable certainty.

[dakay ♥ 10]

...

The study found that young adults who said they were "very conservative" had an average adolescent IQ of 95, whereas those who said they were "very liberal" averaged 106.

....

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.

Vegetarianism + be liberal = highest IQ

[Teacher Mark 53]

Religion, the current theory goes, did not help people survive or reproduce necessarily, but goes along the lines of helping people to be paranoid...

Makes sense to me.

Edited February 27, 2010 by Mr. Saigon

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Religion, the current theory goes, did not help people survive or reproduce necessarily, but goes along the lines of helping people to be paranoid...

Makes sense to me.

I disagree with that. Religion serves an important role in social evolution or it wouldn't exist - to help people grapple with the mystery of creation as well as their own mortality. There's something very nihilistic to the notion that your life doesn't matter beyond the here and now.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

I'll have to read it closer a second time, but it seemed like they are associating atheism to anyone who doesn't follow a specific religion, when it would be more accurate to call them agnostic, unless they believed unequivocally in no existence of God, which, IMO, follows the same principle of a belief in God - embracing an unprovable certainty.

I disagree. Atheism = not theistic. Theistic = believing in the existence of a god or gods. Therefore atheism is a disbeliever in the existence of god or gods. It doesn't equate with a dogmatic assertion that there is no god...it's just a lack of belief in any. I'm completely comfortable with calling myself an atheist, simply because I don't believe in a god, God or gods or goddesses. That's different from me saying they unequivocally don't exist. I don't believe in God. I very strongly don't. But I'm willing to admit that I might be wrong. It IS a belief...which is different from being agnostic, which is essentially saying, "Well, we just can't know!" In a way, I don't believe in agnosticism, since I think everyone has an opinion on the matter on some level.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

There's something very nihilistic to the notion that your life doesn't matter beyond the here and now.

Nihilistic? How? Hell, I think there's something downright comforting to the thought that this is the only life we have. It compels one to be one's best in this life, since this is our only kick at the can! There are no do-overs in an illusory heaven...there's just Life. So live it well!

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Agnostics/Athiests tend to be more 'open-minded' for the most part on things... Well, agnostics more.

So intelligence should fit the bill pretty well.

The amusing part being is "very conservative" people aren't smart because they fall into the 'social conservative' mantra...

a 'true' conservative by constitutional standards in this nation is actually socially liberal... i/e - all men created equal.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

...people who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs.

This just confirms what we knew all along.

[Ban Hammer 12,886]

This just confirms what we knew all along.

yes, it does.

Bailey also said that these preferences may stem from a desire to show superiority or elitism,

[luckytxn 2,263]

Evolutionary psychologist

Why even give a degree in something like this?

[scandal 951]

I disagree with that. Religion serves an important role in social evolution or it wouldn't exist - to help people grapple with the mystery of creation as well as their own mortality. There's something very nihilistic to the notion that your life doesn't matter beyond the here and now.

What is 'social evolution'? I'm not familiar with the concept.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

What is 'social evolution'? I'm not familiar with the concept.

Forgive my wikiness, but this sums it up nicely:

Social evolution is also often regarded (especially, in the field of social anthropology) as evolution of social systems and structures ^[1]