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Will Intelligent Latter-day Saints and Smart Conservatives Inherit the Earth? Differential Selection for Intelligence in the USA Based on Religiosity and Conservatism

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Abstract

There is solid evidence that human populations have been selecting against intelligence-related genetic variants since the mid to late 1800s. The selection is generally weak, but varies by ethnic group and sex. Since religious teachings usually include strong pro-natalist components, we investigated whether this might also affect the selection for intelligence among different religious groups. We found that Latter-day Saints in the USA show slightly positive selection for intelligence, whereas all other religious groups examined did not robustly differ from the average. We similarly found that conservatives, in general, show a weaker selection against intelligence than do liberals.

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Notes

  1. This is the church’s full official name. In accordance with recommended usage, we will refer to it elsewhere in this article as “the Church” and its members as “Latter-day Saints.” Colloquially, this group is often known as “Mormons,” but this historic terminology is not preferred. See https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/style-guide for details.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank peer reviewer Dr Russell Warne for his comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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  1. Ulster Institute for Social Research, London, UK

    Emil Kirkegaard

  2. Asbiro University, Lodz, Poland

    Edward Dutton

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  1. Emil Kirkegaard
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Emil Kirkegaard: method and results. Edward Dutton: introduction and discussion.

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Correspondence to Edward Dutton.

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Kirkegaard, E., Dutton, E. Will Intelligent Latter-day Saints and Smart Conservatives Inherit the Earth? Differential Selection for Intelligence in the USA Based on Religiosity and Conservatism. Evolutionary Psychological Science 9, 26–37 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-022-00327-y

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