(RNS) Are people with high IQs more likely to be liberal, atheist and monogamous?
They are, according to a recently published paper by Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
In a controversial article in the March issue of the journal Social Psychology Quarterly, Kanazawa suggested that young adults with higher intelligence scores are more likely to say they do not attend religious services; they also identify themselves as liberal.
His research is based on U.S. data that showed young adults who self-identify as “not at all religious” had an average IQ of 103, while those with an average IQ of 97 identified as “very religious.”
Kanazawa, who called himself a libertarian and atheist, said there are evolutionary reasons for his findings. Smarter people, he argued, are more willing to adopt “evolutionarily novel” thinking and values.
Humans, he said, are naturally designed to be conservative and put a high value on family and friends. So, Kanazawa wrote, “What is conservative in the U.S. — caring about your family and your friends and your kin — is sort of evolutionarily familiar.”
By contrast, caring about unrelated strangers (what Kanazawa calls
liberalism) is “evolutionarily novel,” as is thinking rationally about natural phenomena, like drought and pestilence, rather than seeking supernatural intentions behind such disasters.
Belief in God comes out of paranoia, he said. Hunter/gatherers needed a supernatural explanation for natural phenomena, like lightning, drought and pestilence.
“Humans are evolutionarily designed to be paranoid, and they believe in God because they are paranoid,” said Kanazawa. “So, more intelligent children are more likely to grow up to go against their natural evolutionary tendency to believe in God, and they become atheists.”
The study also found that men with higher IQs tended to be monogamous.
Since it was released, Kanazawa’s research has been criticized for his use of IQ scores as a measure of intellect and for his limited sample of American young adults who self identified as liberal or conservative and “very religious” or “not at all religious.”
– Leanne Larmondin
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted March 3, 2010 at 7:00 pm
nnmns, this article is for YOU!!!
posted March 3, 2010 at 7:50 pm
The researcher, his methodology, and his data set may be sketchy, so the test would need to be independently verified and reproduced using a larger data set before any conclusions could be made. Even then, at best you could only say this is only true on average, since there will be some people on both ends of the bell curve in both the theist and non-theist camps.
Nevertheless, one thing is more likely true. Non-theists tend to be more rational. I see nothing more irrational than the theistic belief in an imaginary friend (…or foe, depending on the scripture), since there is not a single verifiable shred of proof in “his/her/its/their” existence.
posted March 3, 2010 at 9:03 pm
I do believe in a benevolent God; therefore I don’t factor paranoia into the equation, but what do I know?
…and yes, nnmns; congradulations on your massive brain!
posted March 3, 2010 at 9:34 pm
This man who did this study is so sure he has it all figured out. The kids that had super high IQ’s in H.S. that I knew always seemed to be on the outside of everything, just an observation.
posted March 3, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Yes!
And thanks ps and Tom (very much doubting you meant the massive brain part, which is just as well because it isn’t).
And Dave, you are right.
posted March 3, 2010 at 10:10 pm
For starters, we liberals and atheists mostly didn’t vote for arguably the worst US president ever, GWB.
posted March 3, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Who cares who might be smarter let them have all the brain power for this very short time on earth I WANNA GO TO HEAVEN…………
posted March 4, 2010 at 7:11 am
It’s a good thing they mentioned the criticisms that have already sprung up.
First off, IQ doesn’t actually measure intelligence – just literacy. It’s also impossible to make an IQ test that is either culture-free or culture-fair. So if the same IQ test is given to non-literate tribal peoples and to the height of the sophisticated and cultured world, you will see different results, which doesn’t reflect intelligence. This is a known fact, and this psychologist should have known that.
It’s really a case of this researcher projecting his own biases onto the sample populations and using that to “prove” his thesis.
posted March 4, 2010 at 9:45 am
Christopher-
You may want to go back and actually review what you believe are “known facts”.
First, there are a variety of different IQ tests. Some are and can be given to people who can not read, write, nor speak.
Second, IQ is not simply about knowledge/literacy….there is also an aspect often referred to as “Fluid Reasoning” or cognitive abilities.
Unfortunately, from the article we are not able to know what testing the author employed. Therefor, we do not know how complete the testing was. You may be correct, this may be: “…a case of this researcher projecting his own biases onto the sample populations and using that to “prove” his thesis.” Or, it may be a well done study. Since the findings are somewhat controversial it should be no surprise that there will be criticisms no matter how well done or how poorly done the study was.
Either way the results do not surprise me. They seem pretty reasonable and explain every day life as we know it.
Peace!
posted March 4, 2010 at 10:22 am
As an atheist libertarian myself.. I have strong disagreements with Kanazawa’s methodology, analysis and conclusions.
The quotes make him sound biased and his work cooked up… is this accurate reporting or is he really that… off?
posted March 4, 2010 at 2:57 pm
“Who cares who might be smarter let them have all the brain power for this very short time on earth I WANNA GO TO HEAVEN…………”
i hope you don’t breed
posted March 5, 2010 at 2:05 am
I don’t know who is the bigger fool those who took this serious or the writer.
posted March 16, 2010 at 11:43 am
You may be interested in our new review of American attitudes toward atheists.
Rita Handrich, Editor
The Jury Expert