Is Political Preference Genetic?

[Polly]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070528/sc_livescience/politicalpreferenceishalfgenetic

Apparently, I'm a freak. I like order and structure yet I'm a raving Democrat!

Polly

[gr8mommy]

Eh, I think you can make generalizations of that sort to play any way you want.

[Jejune]

That sounds like questionable methodology. I'm conservative in my own life. I never was a party girl, and I live pretty quietly, I think. I'm extremely liberal in my politics. That many in my family have shared the same political party is not genetic - it's a social tradition. If you're raised in a house of political animals who make their politics clear, you're more likely to inherit their party, I'd bet. Moreover, my Catholic and Jewish family voted Democratic for years because of ancient religious ties to the Democratic party. In her later years my grandmother became quite conservative and often voted for Republicans, but she never switched parties, because our family are Democrats.

What would this study say about the general tendency of people to become more conservative as they age, I wonder? It seems to be wholly practical and not at all about genetics. When people have more to protect than they did in their youth, when manners and social customs change, even liberals often will become considerably more conservative.

[Lori]

What would this study say about the general tendency of people to become more conservative as they age, I wonder? It seems to be wholly practical and not at all about genetics. When people have more to protect than they did in their youth, when manners and social customs change, even liberals often will become considerably more conservative.

That could also be due to the fact that, at least in the last few hundred years, society as a whole has been becoming increasing more liberal. So, beliefs that are liberal today may be quite conservative thirty years from now. I think that people are often reluctant to give up beliefs they hold dear, no matter how much the times change or even how much evidence there is to support a change, so people are probably likely to hold similar views about things throughout their lives, and those beliefs will look increasingly conservative over the years.

[Jejune]

Lori, that's what I was trying to say about social customs changing. It's difficult to see the traditions you hold dear disappearing.

[Lori]

Lori, that's what I was trying to say about social customs changing. It's difficult to see the traditions you hold dear disappearing.


Oh, I agree. I think it's more a matter of society moving towards being more liberal than individuals changing their views to more conservative ones. I imagine that what is considered a pretty liberal view about sexuality today, for example, will seem pretty conservative when Thomas is an adult.

[Polly]

It sounds like the old nature vs. nuture argument. My country-club (non-Evangelical) Republican grandparents scratched their heads over how both their kids turned out to be Democrats. LOL

Polly

[malcontent]

I'm also conservative in my personal life, but I've always voted for the Democratic party. My parents are both Democrats, as well as my paternal grandparents. My maternal grandparents always voted for the Republican party, though my maternal grandfather was inducted into the AFL-CIO Hall of Fame for his lifelong legal work on behalf of the labor rights movement. Go figure.

I am an orderly type-A, but I've also always had a lot of creative pursuits. Personalities are a little more complex than this study assumes.

[gr8mommy]

Well, there's a saying that if you aren't a Democrat at 20 you have no heart, and if you aren't a Republican at 40 you have no brain. LOL

I do think it it true generally that people become more conservative as they age---its all a matter of degree, and of the start point.

[giana]

Well my grandparents are fascists so I hope not lol

[Polly]

I do think it it true generally that people become more conservative as they age---its all a matter of degree, and of the start point.


That's why I also think my mom is weird. She just gets more liberal every year. Now she thinks drugs and prostitution should be legal and taxable. :rolleyes

Polly