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. Well that is very satisfying to read now isn’t it? So what about religion? 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. Seeing things that are new and different as a threat may have much to do with why many conservatives are so freaked out by having Obama in the White House. I do have to disagree with one point made in this article. I have read extensively about the origins and purpose of religion, and have come to believe that it DID play a significant role in the survival and dominance of humankind. The idea of religion provided people with the belief that they were entitled to the rewards found on this planet, and that other creatures, or even fellow humans of a different ethnicity or faith, were not favored by their God(s) and therefore less worthy of survival. This feeling of exclusivity kept early humans in closely knit groups which were more than willing to fight and die for their tribe and their God(s). It also impacted reproduction in that many religions contain very strong language encouraging large families and instructing followers to only mate with other members of their faith. In terms of competition for food and the ability to defend themselves, having larger numbers served to ensure the survival of people, and the religion provided a conduit through which they all felt connected. Religion also promised rewards in the afterlife for those who died protecting those who shared their faith making it easier to find warriors willing to sacrifice their life for the good of those in their religious community. Other than that small disagreement I find this study to fall right in line with many of the opinions that I have formed over the years.
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Liberals have higher IQ’s than conservatives. Yeah like I needed a study to tell me that!
