Are Politics Rooted In Your Genes?

[debrand]

http://articles.cnn.com/2008-02-11/heal ... =PM:HEALTH

I went through a period in which I was very conservative. During that period, I listened to right wing radio host and surronded myself with people who agreed with me. Over time, i grew more and more fearful and judgmental. One day, I woke up and realized that I didn't like myself.

This doesn't mean, these scientists say, genes dictate how we think; environment clearly plays a huge role. Nor does it mean there's a Republican gene or a Democrat gene. Scientists who espouse the genetics-politics connection say that probably hundreds of genes influence how we think and how we see the world. Watch more about how your genes can influence how you vote.

"Political tendencies are like being left-handed or right-handed -- you're born feeling more natural using one hand or the other," says John Alford, a political scientist at Rice University. "It doesn't mean you can't switch -- for many years lefties were taught to be righties. But it's not easy."

I realize that he isn't saying that you're automatically doomed to be either right or left leaning. However, I think that it is easier for people to change than he seems to believe.

Reading alternate views on line, even if I didn't agree at the time, did influence me. There is no way for me to pinpoint the exact argument that made me question my views but it did happen. Perhaps I should point out that I was never a Rick Santorum type conservative. Using legal means to force people to follow my morals went against what I thought was the basic message of Christianity. Maybe I wasn't as far right as the people in the study(although I was pretty conservative)

So, why do you all think? Have any of you changed your politics and if so, why?

In a study published last year in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the researchers found that liberals and conservatives processed information differently. Specifically, they found differences in activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, an area of the brain that processes conflicting information.

David Amodio, an assistant professor of psychology at New York University, and lead author of the study, says these results suggest that liberals and conservatives have some basic brain differences -- and those differences are influenced by our genetic makeup.

This is fascinating but how do they know that your politics don't change the way that your brain processes conflicting information? Shouldn't the study include people who have made changes in their politics?

[browngrl]

I wouldn't say I have changed my politics so much as become aware of politics. For a long, long time I was immersed in my own little world of studying and work and it was a long time before I finally had the time and energy to look up and around. That is when I realized that there was a lot of crazy stuff going on and it took some time after that to read up on all the political/historical stuff I had missed during what I call "the lost decades". It has taken even longer to come around to the idea that I need to be more pro active. So, really it has been a process rather than a sudden change.

I think that genetics can predispose people to being more or less comfortable with change but environment will affect what you do with that predisposition. I think that if someone is genetically predisposed to greatly fearing or being uncomfortable with change - it would take either a very supportive environment or a very big negative impetus for them to change. So I do think that people can change but some will find change much much harder than others.

edited for riffle

[PBrooke]

I was always very liberal in my politics. This really had nothing to do with parental influence, as one of my parents was a Democrat, one was a Republican, and they pretty much never talked about politics in the house; but as soon as I cared enough to form an opinion (around the end of high school) it was pretty far left. If anything, I think I've become more moderate in some areas over the years, and I think it's mostly due to pressure from "the world" - but when I question myself about what I think is right I go right back to the left. And I've ALWAYS been very liberal on social issues; I can't imagine that changing.

[smores]

I find it odd that brain activity is attributed to genetic makeup in that above paragraph. ETA: I believe that the physical matter of the brain is obviously due to genetic code. I don't believe that brain activity is shaped primarily by the genetic structure of the brain.

No, I don't follow my parents' views (or any of my relatives, really). They are very conservative Christians (not quite evangelical). I am moderate, and tend Libertarian in some ways.

[freejoytoo]

Interesting...both my parents have always supported our Labour party. Labour has become more centre focused, which both my parents and I dislike, and I voted for a more left-leaning party in the last election. I would say my mother is slightly more conservative than I am and my father is more liberal (he wants to get rid of the monarchy) but our core political views are the same, and my both my mother and agree that we cannot physically vote Conservative :lol:

I don't think that is true of all families though.

[emmiedahl]

I have gone back and forth, as have my parents.

When I was born, my father was conservative, at least as conservative as a California hippie can be, and my mother was far, far left wing. My father gradually became a moderate Democrat and my mother a weird blend of Libertarian and Green Party. Politics was discussed constantly in my home. I was taken to protests and rallies as a child, I grew up in California's ultra-activist Humboldt county. I ended up pretty conservative, although with caveats like I was pro-gay and pro-environment. GWB's message in his first election of compassionate conservatism really resonated with me. I'll be honest, I had high hopes for that guy.

The only thing that has drastically changed about my beliefs are my views on abortion. I started adulthood with the classic "abortion is okay in some cases and I personally know what those cases are". Basically, I thought I was so brilliant that I could tell people what to do with their bodies. It's despicable, really, but it sums up the attitude of most Americans toward abortion. I'm glad I gave that up.

In other areas, I have glided to the left gradually as American politics moved to the right. In most cases, I simply experienced new ideas and found them more logical and compassionate. I have not changed that much, but the definitions have.

The reason for my political beliefs has never changed. I have always been and remain a "what about the baybeeeeeez???" person but I have come to see socialism and reproductive rights as a means to this end. I care about what happens after people are born. Taking good care of children in the US and around the globe is probably my top political concern and my key motivator in voting. I think a lot of other problems would clear up organically if children were safe and educated with their needs met.

I am always open to new ideas, I am not frightened by dissenting viewpoints and I love to argue. So I expect that my political beliefs will continue changing throughout my lifetime. I don't view a political label as a major part of my identity.

[JenniferJuniper]

There are lots of factors in play, of course, but I think genetics play some role in determining personality type and that personality type can play a role in shaping one's general political orientation. Progressive vs. conservative for instance.

Using Jungian/Myers Briggs terms, a more rigid, black and white thinking ISTJ would probably be more likely to identify as conservative than say a more intuitive, less rigid ENFP would.

[jaynie]

I did read a study once that suggested lefties tend to value things like justice and fairness, whereas right-wingers tend to value authority and obedience. I wonder if the brain plays into those values, and the politics are just a result (eg. if you value fairness over authority, you're more likely to favour socialist principles than purely capitalistic ones). I can see how those tendencies might be inborn. But the brain is plastic, and adapts to the environment (within the limits of its genes) so I think it's a mistake to try and conclude too much too soon about how such-and-such a trait is genetic because of one study that found minor differences that could have been a statistical fluke.

[Dev83]

My family is interesting. My Mom is very moderate, and my Dad is a blue dog democrat - but pretty traditional about a lot of things.

My sister and I are both die-hard bleeding heart liberals.

My views have changed over time - I was much more moderate when I was younger (high-school and first year of college), probably because of my parents beliefs. But when I really started getting into politics myself I shot straight over to the left and have stayed there ever since. In fact, if anything, I have become more liberal as I have gotten older.

[Linnea]

I did read a study once that suggested lefties tend to value things like justice and fairness, whereas right-wingers tend to value authority and obedience. I wonder if the brain plays into those values, and the politics are just a result (eg. if you value fairness over authority, you're more likely to favour socialist principles than purely capitalistic ones). I can see how those tendencies might be inborn. But the brain is plastic, and adapts to the environment (within the limits of its genes) so I think it's a mistake to try and conclude too much too soon about how such-and-such a trait is genetic because of one study that found minor differences that could have been a statistical fluke.

Jaynie, were you thinking of this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Politics_%28book%29

I haven't read this book, but I've read about it (you know, the internet). It's kind of a chicken-and-egg problem: does a more authoritarian upbringing lead to more conservative politics, or do conservative politics lead you to be a more authoritarian parent? His description of the "strict father" family sounds just like a lot of our fundies.

[Shirley MacLaine]

My parents are fairly liberal. My dad's family is extremely conservative; I never met his father but my grandmother was very, very conservative (and also convinced Obama is a SEKRIT MOOSLIM!). His living siblings (I suspect my uncle that died was rather more liberal, but he died when I was in junior high and I don't really know) and their spouses all worship at O'Reilly's altar. My mother's family is very religious, but more liberal. My grandfather on my mother's side is extremely religious and a judge, but very much values separation of church and state, and I've always admired that about him. He used to tell me 'just because it's a sin doesn't mean it's a crime' all the time. I'm more liberal than my parents. I have one rather liberal brother and one rather conservative brother.

[Kelya]

I was like 9 and saw some joke about "democrats sit here, republicans sit here." I asked my mom was the differences were and she said "democrats are for poor people and republicans are for rich people." Later it was expanded to, "we're independent because we don't like anyone telling us what to do, but we always vote democrat."

I've always been left and have only gone more left...or politics has drifted more right. I'm not a Democrat, I'm too far left for them, but I vote Democrat as the lesser of two evils. My mom is very liberal but in an older generational way, and she isn't as radical of a feminist. My dad tries to be apolitical but my mom won't let him. My nana is like two generations back, she still uses racist terms and is very politically incorrect, but she's a very pro birth control/abortion catholic and was a union organizer. So we're a weird mix. I'm definitely the most left in the family, but they're very left for their generations/circles.

[valsa]

I have to actively fight my own nature for my politics. I was raised in a household that, politically, was very conservative. My dad is the kind of idiot who would parrot back everything Glenn Beck says if he cared at all about being politically informed (as it is, I don't think he watches the news at all) I'm also pretty harsh and judgmental by nature. It's taken a long, long time to get over what I was raised with (luckily I started in my mid-teens) It helps the crap was mostly from my dad, who I hate.

Even now, I sometimes find my first reaction to things is in my father's voice "all the illegals and their anchor babies should be deported", "welfare queens should just get off their lazy asses and work for a living", "those girls should know better than to dress that way if they don't want trouble", "we should just bomb the Middle East to glass and sort 'em out later" (last one is an actual quote from him from when we entered the war in Iraq) It can take a second to disengage the stupidity I was raised in and reengage my common sense.

[bananacat]

In college I took a class that really changed my perspective, social psychology. I took it as an elective and basically chose it because it would fit in my schedule, but I learned so much. People, all of us, have a lot of innate cognitive processes. We all tend to do certain things, and even the most rational person still has plenty of bias. But a lot of these conflict with each other to some extent. I think that which ones we favor can influence politics, and that may be somewhat hereditary. For example, we're all authoritarians to some extent. Nearly all of us will pay more attention to someone in a white lab coat than someone in dirty jeans, but we don't even realize this. However, the extent to which we do this varies drastically. Conservatives tend to be much more authoritarian as a whole. This isn't meant to be insulting because we all do it. We also all feel empathy (except sociopaths), and we also all want to see "justice" or revenge, even sometimes to our own detriment. But this can really come into conflict. Do you allow that cheater to get food stamps they don't qualify for, or do you cut off genuinely needy people to prevent that fraud? Do you care more about empathy or justice? A big factor here is in-group/out-group thinking. We all do it to some extent. We all feel closer to people in our own group, and are often afraid of or dislike people in our out-group. At the very least, it's easy to see "others" as less than us. And liberals tend to consider a much, much larger population as part of their in-group. In the most extreme cases, you can get a few weirdos who think Obama is both atheist and Muslim, or both communist and socialist. In their eyes, all of those labels are part of the out-group and so they're just all the same. Of course that's the extreme but just an example. I think people differ on how easily the accept others into their in-group, and while that certainly is influenced by experience, heredity may play a small part.

[alphaeta08]

Hmm, my parents are both pretty conservative, but I suspect they're more liberal than they let on, especially my dad (like, he'd probably vote "yes" on something like gay marriage, or just not care one way or the other). My mom, I think, just doesn't give politics a lot of thought. My dad's family are quite conservative, and my mom's parents are what I guess you'd call old school Democrats. I've always been liberal on social issues like abortion and gay marriage because that just seemed like common sense to me, but more fiscally conservative. At this point, I probably qualify as sliiiightly left-of-center with regards to U.S. politics.

[Maude]

Interesting. I'm a social democrat in a rather solid line of social democrats (4 or 5 generations, at least), so this study could easily apply to me. That said, I've never really been able to tell if my situation is one of nature or nurture (I suspect both).

[daharyn]

Such an interesting idea.

I'm the product of liberal parents, and I'm more liberal than both of them. My two younger siblings are both more conservative than our parents. I'm pretty sure everyone generally votes Democrat--but of the five of us I alone openly protest vote 3rd party when appropriate (such as when the supposedly "left" candidate is really "center"--looking at you, Gov. Cuomo). And my sibs tend to cast ballots on economic rather than ideological terms--i.e., they vote for the person they think will cut their taxes. Now, we were all raised on labor politics in the upper midwest--my parents are/were unionized state workers, and my dad helped run his local for a while--but I am also the only one of three kids who lives in an urban area and/or has a union job. That may well push me to the left of my sibs.

[JenniferJuniper]

Can't rule out the role of time and place either.

My parents grew up in the 50's and seemed to miss the 60's entirely. My mother has turned out pretty liberal in her later years - never misses Bill Maher - and my father is some weird libertarian/moderate hybrid. I've never had any idea who he actually votes for.

My grandparents were another story . They lived through the Depression, and in later years, remembered Herbert Hoover as the devil incarnate and Franklin Roosevelt as their savior. My father was even named after Roosevelt. All four were hard core Democrats, and one of my grandmothers was an extreme leftist. I remember her telling me Reagan's trickle down economics theory was designed to permanently destroy the middle class. She used to cut out negative articles about him from Mother Jones and The Nation and mail them to me in college. I wish I could tell her how right she turned out to be. My other grandmother died a couple of weeks after Obama's election. One of the last times I her, she was still complaining about Hillary not being the nominee. She was born before women had the vote, and as a huge Hillary fan was hoping she'd live to see her elected president.

[Dinaberries]

Wow, this is really interesting and has given me a lot to think about. If people are born with the propensity towards certain political views, can they be blamed for those views? Can they truly change? If they do change, was the propensity for their new found beliefs always there? Hmm...

Anyway, pretty much all of my family members are Republicans, although I grew up in a blue state. My grandmother's family were old-school Repubs and my grandmother has actually said things like, "People like us, who come from money, are Republicans". Strangely, she was actually a Union negotiator for many years. Now, my aunt has turned into a crazy Tea Party style Republican, and my mother has become more moderate in her views (she was pretty fundamentalist in her beliefs when I was a kid). Still, I was raised around a lot of outspoken conservatives. However, some of my earliest memories are of hearing family members talking about politics, and me thinking to myself "Well, that just isn't fair!". The entire reason why I am liberal in my political views, is because I think that liberal ideas are fair. Perhaps the fact that I place importance on fairness and the very things I consider to be fair, were always a part of me. However, judging by the family I come from, I don't think it's genetic. =p

[marmalade]

My political life is a mindfuck.

Adopted, I have no idea what my parents' politics were. They were in their 20's in the previous presidential election; I imagine they both voted for Kennedy.

I formed my political views at a very young age and I do blame early 70's TV for the jumping off point. I nailed my dad as "prejudiced" when I was 8. He was a farmboy Republican. NEVER crossed party lines. His first wife was a drunk. No influence from either of them, other than negative. I "campaigned" for McGovern at school in the 4th grade. I even had stars and stripes bell bottoms, bitches! :D

After alcoholic mother succumbed to the disease when I was 10, the next mother (who legally adopted me) was a died in the wool liberal, high school dropout in WWII due to a pregnancy, raised almost since birth in foster care with 3 sisters. That made her easily swayed because before my dad, she apparently never felt validated, although her second husband loved her enough to raise her 3 daughters (a true story of a dropout, husband with PTSD, abuse, sneaking out in the night, etc) didn't take her water skiing enough or something. Once the girls moved out, that marriage was over.

My dad was the keeper. She bent to his politics sometimes, but at others, like when she said she could never vote for Reagan because "He fucked up California. He'll fuck up America" she kept to her word. BUT environment got to her with the church and AIDS. I had to literally scream it into her that it wasn't a gay disease. How do you explain the babies if it's just gay? etc etc etc....

She crossed party lines when it suited her for small things, but for the important stuff, she always was a social liberal because, frankly, she needed the system to survive and realized, after she got over the fundie arrogance, that other people needed help too. And she provided it; young pregnant women with nowhere else to go slept in my old bedroom (strings attached, but she was really sincere in the care).

My dad was a saint for putting up with his alcoholic 1st wife for over 20 years. No adoption agency today would have let them adopt my brother and/or me into that Draper-esque household. I knew early on I'd have to learn from the world because what I had at home was lacking (although I do remember bedtime stories, by Dad, of course) and no memory of dinners. I was an upper middle class (at that time, not the standard of mcmansions it is today) "gang" member. Those kids and their parents were my family. My piano teacher combed tangles out of my hair for crying out loud.

I learned that anyone can be oppressed but that Republicans liked to keep people's mouths shut. Watergate lesson. Now know that shit has no party lines, but as a kid watching Watergate unfold and cheering when Nixon resigned (I was 11) I was an entrenched liberal.

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

Hmmm, it's interesting to think genetics could affect politics and I agree people whose political view have changed should have been included.

My dad is a hardcore Republican, and I think it has a lot to do with his upbringing. He comes from money, and his dad, like his dad before him, was heavily involved with the Republican party. My grandpa went to White House parties, and was acquaintance-type friends with Bush Sr. My mom just agrees with everything my dad thinks so I'm not really and truly sure how she feels about it, I suspect she doesn't actually care all that much. I'm pretty sure my maternal grandparents, who did not come from money and never had much of it, voted democrat (although they were pro-life) based on economic stances. My husband's entire family are all atheists and huge Obama supporters. When we all get together I put a ban on all political discussion because I'm afraid our fathers will kill each other. We are very conservative, but don't really consider ourselves Republican. I don't agree wholeheartedly with any of the parties, but I wanted to be able to vote in primaries, and since I'm most likely to vote Rep I'm registered as such.So even though we're both conservatives, my dad and I disagree on a lot of issues....my husband and I even disagree on some. For instance, I'm pretty sure my dad is on the Romney bandwagon right now, while I favor Ron Paul.

I think at this point in my life most of the things I read that are contrary to my views only reaffirm them, as opposed to changing my mind. I do question things, though, which I think is good. I really want to spend more time studying political issues, but I find that raising three little ones, and all of the time it takes to educate them, leaves less time for my own continuing social education. Am I the only one who feels this way?

(disclaimer: I totally forgot that I'm adopted :-) so sharing conservative views with my folks may be more nurture than nature)

[JesusFightClub]

It's a fascinating question...

My dad and my mum's dad used to be at daggers drawn about unions. My dad's side of the family are old school Labour and my mum's side are pretty far right wing. (Not my mum herself, she is a sort of centre leftist). I can remember as a little girl watching my dad and grandpa argue about this and about politics in general. It got pretty fierce!

I was brought up to know that you always join the union. My mum and dad are/were union reps. My granddad on my dad's side was a miner, a union member and a Labour party member, my nan belonged to the party too. I got improving kids' books about workers' solidarity as a child from them ;)

I am the furthest left in my family by quite a way, (and I have pals who think I am hopelessly right wing ;) ) but I wonder cause I could have been attracted to the real right wing. Logic prevents it, but as a teenager I was not over endowed with logic. Still, I always knew it was wrong.

Hmmm....

[No Fun My Babe]

Quite interesting read! My dad is fairly liberal, despite his religious views. I don't know about my mother because I don't know her that well, but I imagine she's too fucked up to have much to do with politics. I never met my dad's father and don't know much about my mother's parents so I can't say there. My dad's mother has liberal views for the most part and is not particularly religious, but she's also old school in some of her ways. We're very close and I keep trying to get her to vote, as my grandfather did for years. She has never voted in her life, which is a shame. She likes Obama, though.

I guess my grandfather (my grandmother's third husband) who pretty much raised me along with her is the one I take after the most. He died a few years ago, but he was a super liberal atheist who voted democratic. Pro-choice, universal healthcare, didn't understand why gay marriage was even an issue, was all for legalizing weed, etc. I grew up attending a lot of rallies and speeches, some of which he spoke at. He was awesome.

Anyway, I'm a registered as a democrat, but I disagree with a lot of things. If there was an actual Liberal McLeftypants party, I would register with them.

[chemist1217]

I'm a very liberal product of an incredible conservative father and a hippie mother. I grew up with my mother, but visited my dad on and off as a child and I can say with absolute certainty that it was those visits that solidified my political opinions at a very young age. My father is a combative, angry man who hates everyone who doesn't agree with him. He lived several hours away from me and those 5 hour car trips generally consisted of 5 minutes of "how are you?" and another 4 hours 55 minutes of "the liberals are taking over the country", "don't become one of those horrible liberals", and "if you vote democratic, you are no daughter of mine." Let's just say, this combined with the fact that my father is a horrible abusive sorry excuse for a man, made me realize very young that I wanted to be everything that was completely opposite of him. Luckily, I also tended to have liberal leaning naturally, but his ranting just made me even more liberal as the years went on. So, I guess my politics ARE a result of my genetics- just completely opposite to what the study says!

[LilMissMetaphor]

Politics is boooooooooooooooring. I'd rather peel the wrappers off a thousand Crayolas than listen to anyone espouse their political beliefs. I'm thinking of defriending all the people on facebook who keep putting up their stupid links to something someone in the American government said about something. Uh, first of all I'm Canadian so I have no idea what you're on about. Secondly even if it were a Canadian-related link (since I do have one politically-minded Can friend) it would still bore the everloving shit out of me.

Still, I have another couple of friends who do NOTHING but post pictures of their newest nail polish and that's just about as bad.