Die-hard liberals and conservatives aren’t made; they’re born. It’s literally in their DNA.
That’s the implication of a study by a group of researchers who wanted to see if there was a biological basis for people’s political attitudes.
They found to their surprise that opinions on such contentious subjects as gun control, pacifism and capital punishment are strongly associated with physiological traits that are probably present at birth.
The key is the differing levels of fear that people naturally feel.
“What is revolutionary about this paper is that it shows the path from genes to physiology to behavior,” said James H. Fowler, a political science professor at UC San Diego who was not involved in the research.
