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Strong men more likely to vote Conservative
Physically strong men are more likely to hold right wing political views because they believe society should be geared to personal struggle and self-preservation, an academic study claims.
3:03PM BST 11 Apr 2012
Researchers cite muscle-bound Hollywood action heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone as evidence that aggression is linked to conservative politics.
And it may all stem from the hunter-gatherer instincts of macho men - which are a hangover of out cavemen origins when the strongest ruled the roost.
The ultimate example is Schwarzenegger who went from muscular action hero to Republican governor of California, the experts say.
Researchers from Griffith University in Australia said the Hollywood examples were typical of a phenomenon among modern men with an aggressive side.
They tend to build up their upper body strength and become subconsciously obsessed with their fighting ability, they told the journal Human Nature.
Lead researcher Aaron Sell said men were 'designed for fighting' and the tougher they are, the more this influences their behaviour and attitudes.
Men are better designed to respond rapidly to threats, avoid something that is thrown at them or be able to catch it, and are better at taking a punch, he said.
This comes from their ancestral roots where physical aggression was used to establish status within a community.
And many men still do this, believing that if they are better at fighting and look more menacing, then their status is elevated.
Sell looked at studies from the US as well as India, South America and Central Africa to find that physically strong men feel they have a 'greater sense of entitlement.'
They are more likely to get angry and then get aggressive and in terms of attitude, they believe that aggression is a better way or resolving disputes.
In political terms they tend to take the more right wing view - be it Conservative in the UK or Republican in the US.
The researchers looked at the political attitudes of actors in Hollywood and found those who played action stars were more likely to support military action by the US overseas.
The study said: "Those actors known for their physical strength and formidability, among them Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone, were more likely to support military action.
"Generally speaking, Hollywood actors are left wing, but the action stars among them were more likely than not to support the Republican position on foreign policy.
"Upper body strength in adult males is a crucial variable that appears to have impacts on a wide range of mental mechanisms.
"These mechanisms were designed by natural selection at a time when personal physical aggression was far more common and individual differences in fighting ability were far more relevant for the resolution of conflicts.
"Despite the steady decline in physical aggression and violent deaths that have accompanied Western civilization, the human mind is still designed for ancestral environments."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopi...nservative.html
Physically strong men are more likely to hold right wing political views because they believe society should be geared to personal struggle and self-preservation, an academic study claims.
3:03PM BST 11 Apr 2012
Researchers cite muscle-bound Hollywood action heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone as evidence that aggression is linked to conservative politics.
And it may all stem from the hunter-gatherer instincts of macho men - which are a hangover of out cavemen origins when the strongest ruled the roost.
The ultimate example is Schwarzenegger who went from muscular action hero to Republican governor of California, the experts say.
Researchers from Griffith University in Australia said the Hollywood examples were typical of a phenomenon among modern men with an aggressive side.
They tend to build up their upper body strength and become subconsciously obsessed with their fighting ability, they told the journal Human Nature.
Lead researcher Aaron Sell said men were 'designed for fighting' and the tougher they are, the more this influences their behaviour and attitudes.
Men are better designed to respond rapidly to threats, avoid something that is thrown at them or be able to catch it, and are better at taking a punch, he said.
This comes from their ancestral roots where physical aggression was used to establish status within a community.
And many men still do this, believing that if they are better at fighting and look more menacing, then their status is elevated.
Sell looked at studies from the US as well as India, South America and Central Africa to find that physically strong men feel they have a 'greater sense of entitlement.'
They are more likely to get angry and then get aggressive and in terms of attitude, they believe that aggression is a better way or resolving disputes.
In political terms they tend to take the more right wing view - be it Conservative in the UK or Republican in the US.
The researchers looked at the political attitudes of actors in Hollywood and found those who played action stars were more likely to support military action by the US overseas.
The study said: "Those actors known for their physical strength and formidability, among them Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone, were more likely to support military action.
"Generally speaking, Hollywood actors are left wing, but the action stars among them were more likely than not to support the Republican position on foreign policy.
"Upper body strength in adult males is a crucial variable that appears to have impacts on a wide range of mental mechanisms.
"These mechanisms were designed by natural selection at a time when personal physical aggression was far more common and individual differences in fighting ability were far more relevant for the resolution of conflicts.
"Despite the steady decline in physical aggression and violent deaths that have accompanied Western civilization, the human mind is still designed for ancestral environments."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopi...nservative.html
