WTF
Science - is it really??
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Science 19 September 2008:
Vol. 321. no. 5896, pp. 1667 - 1670
DOI: 10.1126/science.1157627
Political Attitudes Vary with Physiological Traits
Douglas R. Oxley, Kevin B. Smith, John R. Alford, Matthew V. Hibbing, Jennifer L. Miller, Mario Scalora, Peter K. Hatemi, John R. Hibbing
Although political views have been thought to arise largely from individuals' experiences, recent research suggests that they may have a biological basis. We present evidence that variations in political attitudes correlate with physiological traits. In a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs, individuals with measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism, and gun control, whereas individuals displaying measurably higher physiological reactions to those same stimuli were more likely to favor defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism, and the Iraq War. Thus, the degree to which individuals are physiologically responsive to threat appears to indicate the degree to which they advocate policies that protect the existing social structure from both external (outgroup) and internal (norm-violator) threats.
http://www.sciencemag.org.proxy.library.cornell.edu/cgi/content/full/321/5896/1667 for those who have access.
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Where is the control for nature vs. nurture in this population? If you're going to argue against it, don't you have to account for its possible effects?
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Science 19 September 2008:
Vol. 321. no. 5896, pp. 1667 - 1670
DOI: 10.1126/science.1157627
Political Attitudes Vary with Physiological Traits
Douglas R. Oxley, Kevin B. Smith, John R. Alford, Matthew V. Hibbing, Jennifer L. Miller, Mario Scalora, Peter K. Hatemi, John R. Hibbing
Although political views have been thought to arise largely from individuals' experiences, recent research suggests that they may have a biological basis. We present evidence that variations in political attitudes correlate with physiological traits. In a group of 46 adult participants with strong political beliefs, individuals with measurably lower physical sensitivities to sudden noises and threatening visual images were more likely to support foreign aid, liberal immigration policies, pacifism, and gun control, whereas individuals displaying measurably higher physiological reactions to those same stimuli were more likely to favor defense spending, capital punishment, patriotism, and the Iraq War. Thus, the degree to which individuals are physiologically responsive to threat appears to indicate the degree to which they advocate policies that protect the existing social structure from both external (outgroup) and internal (norm-violator) threats.
http://www.sciencemag.org.proxy.library.cornell.edu/cgi/content/full/321/5896/1667 for those who have access.
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Where is the control for nature vs. nurture in this population? If you're going to argue against it, don't you have to account for its possible effects?