Political Evolution: Why Do Young Voters Lean Left? It's in the Genes

[MachineGhost]

Note that its epigenetic as well!

For the past 10 years, I’ve studied political divisions through the lenses of evolutionary anthropology, genetics, and neuroscience. Research reveals that during their 20s people around the world experience significant shifts in the traits biologists use to describe the human personality. Specifically, “openness”? declines and “conscientiousness”? increases. Higher openness is associated with intellectual curiosity, a preference for variety, and voting for the left; higher conscientiousness, characterized by self-discipline and dutifulness, predicts support for more conservative politics.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/20 ... key-factor

[Kshartle]

I think the simpler and more logical explanation is children by and large experience a world where they consume, almost exclusively, the production of others. They also do not bear the full consequences of their actions. Someone is there (usually parents) to clean up after them.

Many people never grow up from this childlike mentality. Since they no longer have someone doing the providing or cleaning up after their mess they think they can vote for parents who will do that. They don't concern themselves with the obvious insanity and immorality of forcing others to pay for other people (stealing). They want parents to hand out stuff, assume responsibility for everyone's lives and set the rules of the house.

It's basically Peter Pan syndrome, a bunch of adult children.

Watch the people at an Obama rally. He's the dad these adult children never had, it's pathetic.

It's especially bad for the little girls who overwhelming vote Dem. No doubt the growing number of single moms will be shaping their children this way.

[Benko]

Specifically, “openness”? declines and “conscientiousness”? increases. Higher openness is associated with intellectual curiosity, a preference for variety, and voting for the left; higher conscientiousness, characterized by self-discipline and dutifulness, predicts support for more conservative politics.[/i]

Openness i.e. open mindedness may have been true of the left in earlier times e.g. 1960s (or perhaps I'm just romanticing and would like to think so) but it does not seem to represent the left in the US as we find it today e.g. "the one"  words to the effect of R's made this mess they need to shut up and let us clean it up, global warmnng "deniers",  college students sucessfully preventing speakers they did nto like from speaking.  Mike Adams is a college prof at Univ NC.  Read some of his columns about how open minded leftist college students are.

[MachineGhost]

Openness i.e. open mindedness may have been true of the left in earlier times e.g. 1960s (or perhaps I'm just romanticing and would like to think so) but it does not seem to represent the left in the US as we find it today e.g. "the one"  words to the effect of R's made this mess they need to shut up and let us clean it up, global warmnng "deniers",  college students sucessfully preventing speakers they did nto like from speaking.  Mike Adams is a college prof at Univ NC.  Read some of his columns about how open minded leftist college students are.

Both those are extremist loud-mouthed in-your-face activists, not representative of mainstream voters.  All colleges have and always have had them.  I see them no different than, say, anti-choice protestors, etc..

The key takeaway of the article (do you guys ever read anything I post?) is that having children makes you more politically conservative.

[Kshartle]

The key takeaway of the article (do you guys ever read anything I post?) is that having children makes you more politically conservative.

I almost never read articles posted here, but I am usually an outlier.

Having children makes you realize that your resources aren't for squandering on other adults or other people's kids.....they are for you and your kids.

And I bet that having kids only makes you politically conservative if you aren't on welfare. Otherwise you go hard-core Dem.

[moda0306]

Specifically, “openness”? declines and “conscientiousness”? increases. Higher openness is associated with intellectual curiosity, a preference for variety, and voting for the left; higher conscientiousness, characterized by self-discipline and dutifulness, predicts support for more conservative politics.[/i]

Openness i.e. open mindedness may have been true of the left in earlier times e.g. 1960s (or perhaps I'm just romanticing and would like to think so) but it does not seem to represent the left in the US as we find it today e.g. "the one"  words to the effect of R's made this mess they need to shut up and let us clean it up, global warmnng "deniers",  college students sucessfully preventing speakers they did nto like from speaking.  Mike Adams is a college prof at Univ NC.  Read some of his columns about how open minded leftist college students are.

I wouldn't give "the left" any traits, overall.  I think it's almost entirely individual by individual.  Some conservatives are extremely open-minded to new ideas (though realize there's risk with the unknown and usually fall back on what has worked)... some liberals are extremely inflexible.

Hell take it back to the 1850's... Abolitionists were the "left-wing wackos" of that time... many preached violence towards their cause. John Brown was definitely not the pragmatist that others were on the topic.

Not that only "middle-of-the-roaders" are the only open-minded people, but whenever you have extremist views, from what I've seen, they're usually backed by a very rigid set of premises that allow no real "perspective."

[Pointedstick]

I read the article too (and usually do) and have to say that I largely agree with Kshartle on this one. Modern children almost universally live in a world of consumption and no consequences. As time goes in in developed countries, the age at which you have to take real responsibility for yourself keeps rising, so it would make sense that this shift has presaged a corresponding increase in the amount of liberalism. I wonder if conservatism is more common among the young in societies where responsibility is assigned earlier in life. Heck, there are still parts of America where 10 year-olds hunt game with rifles. I would imagine liberalism is not an especially appealing philosophy for such children as they age into young adults.

[Kshartle]

I read the article too (and usually do) and have to say that I largely agree with Kshartle on this one.

We'll keep this between us 

[Benko]

I did read the article, thanks.  I sometimes do depending on the topic.

As time goes in in developed countries, the age at which you have to take real responsibility for yourself keeps rising, so it would make sense that this shift has presaged a corresponding increase in the amount of liberalism. I wonder if conservatism is more common among the young in societies where responsibility is assigned earlier in life.

Make it a requirement of college graduation that you must run something like a lemonade stand, bakery thing, etc. staffed by your peers and you'll be graded on how much profit you make.  I wonder if that would change things somewhat.

[Pointedstick]

I read the article too (and usually do) and have to say that I largely agree with Kshartle on this one. Modern children almost universally live in a world of consumption and no consequences. As time goes in in developed countries, the age at which you have to take real responsibility for yourself keeps rising, so it would make sense that this shift has presaged a corresponding increase in the amount of liberalism.

But the article said nothing about an increase in liberalism over time.

No, I made that part up myself.

[FarmerD]

I think the simpler and more logical explanation is children by and large experience a world where they consume, almost exclusively, the production of others. They also do not bear the full consequences of their actions. Someone is there (usually parents) to clean up after them.

Many people never grow up from this childlike mentality. Since they no longer have someone doing the providing or cleaning up after their mess they think they can vote for parents who will do that. They don't concern themselves with the obvious insanity and immorality of forcing others to pay for other people (stealing). They want parents to hand out stuff, assume responsibility for everyone's lives and set the rules of the house.

It's basically Peter Pan syndrome, a bunch of adult children.

Watch the people at an Obama rally. He's the dad these adult children never had, it's pathetic.

It's especially bad for the little girls who overwhelming vote Dem. No doubt the growing number of single moms will be shaping their children this way.

You nailed it partner.

I was fairly liberal as a teenager when at home with mom and dad taking care of me.  But striking out on my own by going to college while working, having to start paying your own bills, constantly counting pennies to stretch your budget, then watching government tax the crap out me only to turn around and shovel my tax dollars at all the welfare deadbeats turned my political viewpoints upside down. 

[Xan]

I think it was Boortz who, when talking about setting out into the world, described a "roommate" who arrived one day without so much as a howdy-do, then helped himself to his couch and fridge, and never left.