The Molecule of More

York Times reported that “spending childhood nearly anywhere in blue 
America—especially liberal bastions like New York, San Francisco, 
Chicago, Boston and Washington—makes people about 10 percentage 
points less likely to marry relative to the rest of the country.” In addi-
tion, when liberals marry, they’re more likely to cheat.
In addition to charitable giving, the General Social Survey also 
tracks the sexual behavior of Americans. Starting in 1991 they began 
asking the question, “Have you ever had sex with someone other than 
your husband or wife while you were married?” Dr. Kanazawa, who 
evaluated the relationship between political ideology and intelligence, 
analyzed this data to find out who was most likely to answer yes to the 
question. Among those who identified as conservative, 14 percent had 
cheated on their spouses. The number fell slightly to 13 percent among 
those who identified as very conservative. Among liberals 24 percent 
reported cheating, and 26 percent of those who described themselves as 
very liberal reported cheating. The same trend was seen when the data 
for men and women were analyzed separately.
Conservatives have less sex than liberals, possibly because conser-
vatives are more likely to be in companionate relationships in which 
testosterone is suppressed by oxytocin and vasopressin. Though the sex 
may be less frequent, it’s more likely to end in orgasm for both partners. 
According to a study called “Singles in America,” a survey of more 
than 5,000 adults designed by the University of Binghamton’s Institute 
for Evolutionary Studies, conservatives are more likely to experience 
climax during sex than liberals.
Dr. Helen Fisher, chief scientific advisor at Match.com, speculated 
that conservatives are better at giving up control, an activity necessary 
for orgasm to occur. She attributed this ability to having clearer values, 
which makes it easier to relax. This explanation, which relies on a con-
nection between clear values and disinhibition during climax, may not 

---

159
POLITICS
be the most straightforward explanation. There may be simpler ones 
based on what we know about the neurobiology of sex. Most obvi-
ously, letting go of control, which is necessary for climax to occur, is 
easier within a trusting relationship. This type of relationship is more 
common among stability-seeking H&N conservatives compared to 
novelty-seeking dopaminergic liberals. Additionally, the ability to enjoy 
the physical sensations of sex in the here and now requires suppression 
of dopamine by H&N neurotransmitters such as endorphins and endo-
cannabinoids. Greater activity in the H&N system relative to dopamine 
makes that shift easier to achieve.
The dating website OkCupid did their own survey on sex, and 
found an intriguing piece of data with regard to what kind of people 
valued, or did not value, orgasms. They asked, “Are orgasms the most 
important part of sex?” They divided up the data based on political 
and professional affiliation. Those most likely to answer no to the ques-
tion were politically liberal writers, artists, and musicians.
If you’re highly dopaminergic—as writers, artists, and musicians tend 
to be—the most important part of sex probably occurs prior to the main 
event. It’s the conquest. When an imagined object of desire turns into a 
real person, when hope is replaced with possession, the role of dopamine 
comes to an end. The thrill is gone, and orgasm is anticlimactic.
Finally, as would be expected when comparing liberals (with their 
elevated dopamine) with conservatives (with their elevated H&N neu-
rotransmitters), conservatives are happier than liberals. A Gallup poll 
conducted from 2005 to 2007 found that 66 percent of Republicans 
were very satisfied with their lives compared to 53 percent of Demo-
crats. Sixty-one percent of Republicans described themselves as very 
happy, but fewer than half of Democrats were able to say the same. In 
a similar vein, people who were married were happier than those who 
were single, and people who went to church were happier than those 
who did not.
The world is rarely simple, though. Despite higher rates of marital 
satisfaction, more reliable orgasms, and less cheating, couples in red 
states are more likely to get divorced than those in blue states. They 
also consume more pornography. Although these findings appear to 

---

160
THE MOLECULE OF MORE
be counterintuitive, one explanation is that they are the result of a 
greater cultural emphasis on organized religion. Red state couples are 
pressured to marry sooner, and they are less likely to live together or 
have sex prior to marriage. Consequently, the average red state couple 
has less opportunity to get to know each other before getting married, 
which may destabilize their marriage. Similarly, disapproval of premar-
ital sex may lead to greater use of pornography to obtain sexual release.
HIPPIES AND EVANGELICALS
Adding to the complexity, political parties are heterogeneous, composed 
of groups who have conflicting beliefs. Among Republicans, there are 
the small-government advocates who believe that individuals should be 
left alone to make their own choices, free from controlling laws and 
regulations. But there are also the politically active evangelicals who 
want to make the country a better place by legislating morality. It’s not 
surprising that a group that defines itself by its worship of a transcen-
dent entity and emphasizes abstract concepts such as justice and mercy 
would have a more dopaminergic approach to life. Their attention to 
continual moral growth and the afterlife also reveals a focus on the 
future. They are the progressives of the right.
On the left there are the hippies who value sustainability and often 
frown on technology, preferring to live a life that’s deeply connected 
to the earth. They favor the experience of the here and now over the 
pursuit of what they do not have. They are the conservatives of the left, 
rejecting the progressive arrow in favor of the conservative circle.
This complexity reminds us that when studying social trends, it’s 
important to be careful and to maintain an open mind. The complete 
reversal of the results of the politics and personality traits study demon-
strates that data can be mistakenly interpreted and still be accepted as 
correct. Even worse, the quality of data is always imperfect, and the 
information gathered from surveys given to thousands of people will 
have more errors in it than data from closely supervised clinical trials. 
Surveys also depend on the truthfulness of the respondents. It’s possible 

---

161
POLITICS
that conservatives were less willing than liberals to admit to marital infi-
delity or unhappiness with life, which would have skewed the General 
Social Survey results.
Another problem is that scientific research can be inconsistent. 
Some studies on the neuroscience of political thought have an “evil 
twin,” so to speak, that looked at the same question and found the 
opposite result. Overall, though, the data support a tendency toward a 
progressive political ideology among people with a more dopaminergic 
personality and a conservative one for those people with lower levels of
dopamine and higher H&Ns.
The big picture might look something like this: On average, liberals 
are more likely to be forward thinking, cerebral, inconstant, creative, 
intelligent, and dissatisfied. Conservatives, by contrast, are more likely 
to be comfortable with emotions, reliable, stable, conventional, less 
intellectual, and happy.
THE RELIABLY IRRATIONAL VOTER
Although very conservative and very liberal people tend to vote the