Scientists Find “Liberal Gene”?

[DearAbby]

ScienceDaily (Oct. 28, 2010) — Liberals may owe their political outlook partly to their genetic make-up, according to new research from the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University. Ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4. The study's authors say this is the first research to identify a specific gene that predisposes people to certain political views.

Appearing in the latest edition of The Journal of Politics published by Cambridge University Press, the research focused on 2,000 subjects from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. By matching genetic information with maps of the subjects' social networks, the researchers were able to show that people with a specific variant of the DRD4 gene were more likely to be liberal as adults, but only if they had an active social life in adolescence.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter affecting brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain. Previous research has identified a connection between a variant of this gene and novelty-seeking behavior, and this behavior has previously been associated with personality traits related to political liberalism.

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101027161452.htm

[mrs_p]

1. i wonder if it is a dominant gene

mom liberal + dad rightwingnut = 2 children very liberal

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Interesting...

But this gene apparently kicks in only if you had a lot of friends as a teenager. I'm the product of two Republican parents (actually, Republicans on both sides of the family for as long as anyone can remember) and, being a total nerd, I had hardly any friends in high school. And yet I've been a liberal since I was old enough to vote. So if I don't fit the genetic/environmental profile, I must have just learned to be liberal on my own?

[DearAbby]

4. I didn't have that many friends either

always the outsider looking in. Very observant of others behavior. And felt empathy for those like me. I don't fit it either. Wondering the same thing

[bobw999]

6. Sounds like my childhood as well.

Guess we're lucky.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. Maybe your daddy was the milkman. I think this is junk science,

or there is much more to it. I also had a limited social life in adolescence, although the few friends I had were hippy-types, very liberal. I call what make a liberal "empathy". And us geeky people understand what others feel.

[FormerDittoHead]

3. It's called "A Brain". n/t

[onestep]

5. Mmmmm....... Dopamine!

[pacalo]

8. The emphasis on social criteria is based on the subjects' access to

many different points of view & particularly the exchange of ideas. Liberals are interested in different ideas, & so are predispositioned to seek out opposing views.

In other words -- or Jack Nicholson's -- We can handle the truth!

[Bonhomme Richard]

9. I always thought right wingers were missing a gene relating to

the way the brain processes information. I still do, and maybe liberals don't have a extra gene but conservative lack a normal gene.

[DearAbby]

10. I would think it has something to do

with how they were raised. Just those selfish greedy kids you used to see in school, in my case watch. They grew up to be bigger selfish greedy kids. Physically large, mentally small.

[labman57]

11. Nothing new

What this study calls the "liberal" gene is not really a revelation at all -- we usually refer to it as having a "conscience".

[CommonSensePLZ]

12. Oh please.

Is it next to the gay gene and the criminal gene? I really doubt a person's entire outlook on life is determined by a gene. It doesn't explain when people actually change their views.