Democrats' IQ

I haven't found anyone writing about this subject and I was reluctant to write about it until I solved a problem.

What people don't write about and discuss is that the average IQ of Democrats is lower than the IQ of Independents, Non-Voters and definitely lower than Republicans. Yes, categorically.

Here is the data on education which is highly correlated with IQ:

                                Not HS Grad              College Grad & Post-grad
% of Democrats            32%                           15%
% of Independents       22%                           18%
% of Republicans          19%                           23%

Here is the data on people who earn incomes over $75,000 which is also highly correlated to IQ:

                        Income under $75,000        over $75,000
% of Democrats            74%                             26%
% of Independents        72%                             28%
% of Republicans           57%                             43%

Those are the facts.  Many studies have been done on non-voters level of income and education; non-voters match independents exactly. 

To recapitulate: The Republican average IQ is higher than non-voters and independents and all three are higher than the Democratic average IQ.

I was reluctant to publish this data because I couldn't figure out a way to substantiate it by survey research since it is well nigh impossible to test adults for IQ.  I figured out how to do it.

Proposed IQ/political affiliation test: take a fairly stable city (low population turnover) with a representative population, such as Fresno, California. Go back to the Elementary Schools IQ tests of the early 1980s and then track down the students and look at their current party registration.  The whole project could be done without any one person knowing the actual connection of the IQs and the final party affiliation.  One person keeps the key to the school data secret but passes on the names and addresses to the person who leads a team to find the people and determine their party registration. A final person puts the names into categories without identifying the categories and gives the material to the first person to match the original IQ data with the categories without ever revealing the secret name/IQ data.

Such a survey could cost upwards of several hundred thousand dollars, but it can be done and I am sure it will substantiate my claim in this blog that Republicans are the political cohort that has the highest average IQ.

Comments

[nicholasjh]

1. these statistics are not related.... so what if a higher percentage of republicans have high education? There are more democrats with a high level of education simply because there are more democrats... a higher percentage of the total
2. Of course people with low education are more likely to be democrat (in fact the majority are). This is because they are in fact not completely stupid, they know that democrats support the programs that help them. You assumption that they would be stupid only highlights your shortsightedness, yes they may not have quite as high an IQ, or genius IQ, but that doesn't mean they can't make good decisions.

[Hank Ashley]

This just says that a person with a higher IQ can still be an idiot.

[Jebsaaa]

So Mr. 170 IQ, are you basing your claim that the intelligent population leans invariably right on the fact that, of your 20 intelligent high school friends, 90% identify as concervative? Haha you might want to check the standard deviation on that one buddy. Furthermore, you are making an unqualified generalization that the conservative population is generally NOT of a rich (or pampered) upbringing. However, the stats which you so reverently uphold, tell me that 43 percent of republicans are making more than 75,000 dollars a year, versus only 26% of Democrats. While I'm not contesting the fact that this stat clearly correlates with intelligence, I am suggesting that perhaps more of your conservative friends are from high class households than you may want to consider. Also, as we have seen in the past eight years, the conservative doctrine plays heavily to rich people's incentives, another explanation aside from intelligence that may contribute to wealthy people being conservative. You have completely warped the statistics which you have been trying to use in your favor. And you might want to look at this link....http://chrisevans3d.com/files/iq.htm

[Fungus O'Flannery Sprite]

To sailfish:

A) you have made no arguement

B) I got a 170, the paper said genius level was 150.... i don't see how anybody could spin that any other way?

C) I an a supporter of GWB and believe him to be a better president than Mr. Obama could "hope" to be

D) Also, congratulations on your ability to lob meaningless ad hominem attack, they really qualify your arguement, good show

Cheers

[sailfish]

Fifty eight years ago, when I was born, I began my own study of this topic. Along the way I learned that the presence of intellegence, along with the lack of it, can be intuited very easily, always appearing with obvious tell-tale signs.

I guess everyone wants to be a part of the crowd that gets the recognition. But honestly, can't you all tell at a moment's notice who the bright and the not so bright among us are? Common sense will tell you that some of both exist on both sides of issues. Common sense and experience will likewise teach you that people with very very high IQ's do not lean to the right. It is a physical and mental impossiblity. If you think your right leaning mind is genius strength, then you are a freak or someone lied to you about the results of your test. The mistake arises from the fact that you can recognize people on your own level and those who are below your level of intellegence. Anything higher than your level is merely a mystery and confusion to you. The left leaning folks are on a different level and you cannot see or understand them.
Look at the actions of the right leaning folks lately. Can you honestly claim intellegence is leading their behavior and beliefs? If you think this is intellegence, what is there to say about you?. It is quite the opposite. Far from appearing intellegent, they appear to by very young very unintellegent children. The type that was always interrupting class with their nonsense and kept others from progressing.
Who do you think is likely the most intellegent, the right leaning GWB or the left leaning President O'bama?
Your bulb was never lit, kiddo.

[Fungus O'Flannery Sprite]

First, for dan, 138 is not genius range, but "high to very high," genius is over 150 (I know this because I have deeply studied standard deviation based IQ tests and administered one.) Now, as a tested 170 IQ and absolutely staunch Republican, I wish to forever disqualify this unholy belief that to be educated is to be liberal. I am a extremely conservative individual... that being said, I am not the rich progeny of a high-class conservative upbringing... rather, my father and mother, both rather moderate republicans, work in the education system, my father as a public servant high school teacher, and I have lived my entire life on modest means. I attended a very liberal public high school in an urban area of Los Angeles County. I currently attend Harvard University. All this to show that the idea that conservatives are unintelligent and/or wealthy, pampered products of upbringing is false. In addition, upon consultation with the twenty or so most intelligent, most academically gifted and accomplished members of my former high school class, one finds the overwhelming majority (roughly 90%) to identify as Republican, about 75% of which are far right. The upper region of intelligence is graced by both Republicans and Democrats, but the highest strata leans invariably right.

[Jack]

Also, I feel that people with American flags hanging outside their houses and wearing flag pins are SERIOUSLY overcompensating. Just saying.

[Jack]

I find this all hilarious. People really believe that one group is better or smarter than the other? This is stereotyping in the basist form. You can't label everyone in a group simply based on their ideals. I have democratic and republican friends. Both are intelligent, and don't represent the archetypes people are giving in these comments. Get some fresh air. Go out and meet some people from the other party. You'll be surprised.

I am not going to disclose which party I support, as this will automatically lead some people to take a bias against me.

[dan]

I think this study is rather interesting. I must say that I am an avid supporter of the democratic party and I have an IQ of 138 (genius range), however, it depends on who you consider a democrat/republican/independent. If you are choosing random people off the street, I'd agree you are probably right, seeing as how many poorer people and (I'm not trying to be racist in the least) most minorities have statistically lower IQ's and also happen to have more liberal views. I would be interested in having elected officials be administered official WAIS 2 IQ tests, to see the average IQ of educated party members only. That would be more indicative of the average IQ for real democrats, republicans and independents. If any of you have any info on such a test, please post it. (I'm just biased, but I'd either have to say democrats or independents would have the highest IQ's. The reason for suggesting the independents would be because they're smart enough to stay away from politics. Smarter than I am in that respect.)

[Scott]

If statistics are ever compiled on this issue I really doubt there will be any significant difference in IQ over such broad swaths of population. If there were I'm sure we could tweek the tests to even things out. That's not the point. The point is that Republicans almost never call Democrats stupid, yet Democrats call Republicans stupid every chance they get.
Does "character" correlate to IQ?

[Jason]

"The dems gladly trade liberty for security because they are afraid to make it on their own or are too lazy to take advantage of the free education given them."

1. Who the hell in the USA really gets a free education? My familys about to lose their house and yet our income doesnt even fit the bracket to get a $2000 pell grant. $2000 by the way doesnt even pay for a year at a community colledge.

2. Trading liberty for security... Hmmm... Did my democratic administration give us the patriot act or deny people habious corpus?

3. How much money you make or what school you get to graduate from on daddy money has nothing to do with your IQ. You think that since daddy paid for bushes trip to yale that it had anything to do with the mans inteligence? THE MAN CAN BARELY READ.

4. Nobodys being dummed down, we're just put in to fear by war mongers and make rash decisions. Or for some of us, we believe everything we hear on FOX news.

5. It also seems like republicans really show their "inteligence" by grouping people together and then percicuting them like:

a. Islam=Terrorist
b. Rich=Smart
c. Democrat=Pussy

Think about it, human beings dont just fit into these catagorys and its stupid to even hint at it. It almost sounds like some things that used to be said in the old days like:

a. Black=Stinky
b. Chinese food=Cat

The truth is rich=GREEDY, war=MURDER, hate=EVIL no matter which way you put it.

[cyclopia]

I am not aware of any study that correlates IQ to income over $75,000. That is a function of what job you have.

There is one job that correlates with high I.Q. though, and that is Research Scientist.

I've never met a Research Scientist who was a Republican. Have you?

"76 American Nobel Laureates in Science Endorse Obama."

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/36033

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=5552

http://www.the-scientist.com/article/daily/24892/

[Amanda]

I apologize--the names are below the posts, not above. The format of the site does not readily lend itself to that conclusion. My admiration was for Jacob's post.

[Amanda]

There may be some merit to this. I'm a Mensa member and almost every one of the folks I know from there are either Republican or right-leaning moderate.

And Adam Chamberlain (the first post anyway, the second rather contradicts the first)... That post is one of the best angles on the situation that I've ever seen. Also explains why I've always had the feeling that most liberals were spoiled and/or felt an undue sense of entitlement. I was raised believing that if you wanted something, you had to work for it, and it wasn't always going to be easy. Your take on it makes a lot of sense.

[bposton]

I'm not trying to pick sides or argue, but where is the data for IQ? Of course Republicans are going to make more money, but that is why the rich are voting republican in the first place. You can look up studies to show that money doesn't bring IQ or happiness into the picture. Graduating from High School doesn't make you have a higher IQ by any means; situations of the students play a big role, what state you were born in or even level of poverty/families occupation. You are coming to a conclusion that the statistics don't even support or conclude to. There are way to many lurking variables.

[Dr. Nick Campos]

This should sum it up:

"I think there's no way they should have to teach [math] now. We have computers. We no longer need to know why 3x = (2y)/4."
---Talk-show host and celebrated Democrat, Rosie O'Donnell, arguing that there's no place for math in the curriculum.

And to think that this is a highly revered role model to our current society. Add Lindsay Lohan, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Sean Penn, Alec Baldwin--brain trusts,all--and you can see who's influencing our culture, and "dumbing down" society.

[M. Phillips]

In response to Adam on 'why this matters.'

The current political discussion is not civil. Democrats never hesitate to call Republican Presidents 'stupid'. President Reagan and President Bush are called stupid by 3 out of 4 Democrats. This is rude, uncivil and wrong.

Democrats also believe (3 out of 4) that there is no intelligent alternative to the Democrat ideology. The issues are closed and Democrats can see no reason for debate or open minded discussion. Very rude, uncivil and wrong.

With a reliable study of the actual IQ of the average Republican and the average Democrat, I believe this persistent nastiness would decline.

[Adam Chamberlain]

Also Jacob it's called 'Inheritance tax' NOT 'Death tax.' That is a term used to brainwash people into thinking its scary. I believe the term is called 'framing.'

[Adam Chamberlain]

I'm still trying to work out why this matters? I'm a Democrat and I have a Masters Degree in History and Politics...sadly I am British so I guess my opinion on the matter doesn't count...although I do pay taxes in your country.

[Jacob]

Democrats are obviously the most misguided people on earth. They have abandoned all common sense and reason. Every issue they champion has either been proved through past history as a complete failure or has been on the side of America's enemies. They only want to destroy the three pillars of America's foundation. E pluribus Unum, from many one - the dems feed on dividing Americans into separate groups and pitting them against each other. Such as all the hyphenated Americans and socioeconomic groups. The racist groups La Raza(The Race) and the Black Caucus which won't allow elected Anglos representing majority black neighborhoods to join are obvious examples. In God we trust is the second pillar the dems try their damndest to break down, with banning religion where ever and when ever they can. Liberty is the third. They will tax citizens at gun point to redistribute hard earned income and they want to steal the assets accumulated by hard working families upon the death of elders(The Death Tax). They have considered Communism benign even though it has murdered 10's of millions. They refuse to let American's grow up. They want to be treated like children. The most extreme libs/dems stay in school for their whole lives. They trade adult hood and the real world for the sanctuary and security of the education environment. Conservatives want to be treated as adults. They want their liberty. Libs/Dems want to be treated as children, they want to be taken care of. They want Government to be their eternal parent, taking from the earners and giving to them free meals and never ending handouts. The dems gladly trade liberty for security because they are afraid to make it on their own or are too lazy to take advantage of the free education given them. Dems are pathetic cry babies who never grew up and have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by losers who believe equality is greater than justice. What's right or just, never is weighed in a dems mind, only what is equal matters. Dems are the hugest hypocrites there ever were. They espouse tolerance yet only conservative speakers require security details when speaking on campuses. They constanty say they are for black rights yet when a successful black judge makes it to the highest court in the land he is considered a traitor rather than a role modle because he isn't a leftist. When a black woman becomes the Secretary of State she is mocked rather than admired because she is not a leftist. When a woman becomes a Vice Presidential nominee, instead of being held as a role modely to young women, she is belittled and cast aside by women's rights groups because she is conservative. Dems will only support blacks if they are liberal and dems will only support liberal women as well. They are absolute traitors to minority groups unless they too desire the end of Americas principles. Conservatives rarely put campaign bumper stickers on their cars because low life, poor, lazy, drop out, wanting handout, hateful, intolerant dems will key their cars. Regarding the comments of Cris above, the Democratic party has historically been the party of racists. Lincoln was a Republican and yes, he fought to free the slaves and keep the United States united. George Wallace was a huge opponent of integration, he was a Dem. Robert Byrd was a KKK leader, yet the stupid dems still continue to elect the scum. The Dems have no ability to judge right from wrong, everything is relative because they have abandoned God and the teachings of the Bible. They have no moral compass other than that which was corrupted by higher education and their longing desire to be loved. Dems will sacrifice the principals of what is right to be loved. Doing the right thing and doing the thing that will make others love you is almost always mutually exclusive. Dems are children only wanting to be loved and gladly sacrificing moral certainty in the process. I could go on and on with this diatribe. Bottom line is that dems are pathetic ingrates that have been brainwashed to hate the only country that actually gives a damn about right and wrong. Dems are too blind to see that only the leftist countries dislike America and that is the way it has been throughout history. No country is perfect, but to want to destroy the foundation of everything America was built upon in order to promote leftist ideology is sick. The dems need to grow up and let citizens take care of themselves. Stop treating Americans as children. They must give up their childish desire of security for the adult aspiration of liberty.

[Captian Obvious]

According to the site you link about educational achievement the Democrats dominate the most intelligent bracket:

Graduate Level Education:
Democrat: 50
Republican: 38.4
Independent: 9.6
Other: 2.1

Clearly the democrats are smarter, right?

Its all about how you look at the statistics.

[Jonathan - PhD]

How can you make the assumption that education and average income are highly correlated to IQ? It seems you don't back that claim with anything other than your word, which appears to be a heavily biased and destructive one.

Many people with the highest IQ's drop out of school because they see knowledge as more important than a piece of paper achieved by cheating and bullshitting in between hangovers which is what the majority of United States colleges have become. (i.e Bill Gates, Maynard James Keenan etc.)

All of your assumptions are faulty, your statistics are unsound and your conclusion is at best wrong and at worst the opposite of the truth. When Republicans are wrong (which is most of the time) they just make shit up with a nice suit and tie and expect non-critical thinkers to think it's chocolate and swallow, and sadly, many times they succeed.

There is a great chasm between what is popular and what is right and true, and this is why the United States Poly-cracy fails its citizens.

[Jay]

Some of the alleged core values or beliefs of the ordinary Republican are; wealth over happiness, prestige over character, manipulation over ethics, I got mine screw everyone else, mindless nationalism, wave that flag like a magic wand, fist over hand, fantasy over science, invisible master deities, creationism, etc...
Am I wrong? How can these things be the traits of an intelligent person? Look at the photo of the guy who started this blog, his hat says 'Pro Commerce'. This is so important to him that he needs to advertise it. If he could, he'd sell the copyright of the American flag to China and then sell his cheap Chinese made flags inside his church.

[Jake]

This is hilarious! Love the kids comment about people wanting him to "support homosexuality" As a gay Republican myself, I'm not sure what that means, but I'm all for it.
Just goes to prove we can all come up with ridiculous studies on ANY subject to arrive at whatever conclusions we want them to.

[chris]

first of all IQ does not tell how smart you are....so you cant call democrats stupid...second the purpose of the democratic party since 1828 has been to represent the common man........whos the common man in america? middle and lower class americans.....and to Michael Turner the reason you fellow classmates support ending the war in iraq is because it is WRONG......and as for homosexuality yea i dont think its right but i know its not my right to press my views upon them...thats why im proud to say im a "Liberal"