Worry not; you still have free will, and no, not everything is predetermined by the DNA baggage you were born with.
Nevertheless, a new international study shows that our genes can explain up to 60 percent of our political actions: our political commitment, who we vote for and what ideology we support.
Klemmensen and his international research colleagues used data from a combined sample of over 12,000 twin pairs, pooled from nine different studies conducted in five western democracies (Australia, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, and the US), and sampled over the course of four decades.
The study shows that identical twins – i.e. twins with 100 percent identical genes – agree far more on questions about e.g. redistribution, political participation, freedom and equality than fraternal twins – i.e. those with fewer identical genes.
Read the full, original story here: Political colour is half genetic
Additional Resources:
- “Can Your Genes Predict Whether You’ll Be a Conservative or a Liberal?,” Atlantic
- “Are Our Political Beliefs Encoded in Our DNA?,” New York Times
- “Political Preference Is Half Genetic,” LiveScience
