From LiveScience:
Fierce individualists, Americans figure that we choose our own political beliefs, but actually it could come down to biology.
Individuals who are more easily startled by threats are more likely than others to support protective policies, such as military spending, the Iraq War and the death penalty, finds a new study.
Researchers over the years have put forth several factors to explain a person’s political beliefs, including religion, culture, genetics and everyday experiences.
While the new study involved a relatively small number of participants and doesn’t topple any of these ideas, it adds physiology as another driver of political leanings. It suggests, at least for those with strong political views, that some people are somehow built differently than others, either through genetics or life experiences or both.