IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v614y2007i1p6-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Biology of Political Behavior: An Introduction

Author

Listed:
  • John R. Hibbing

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

  • Kevin B. Smith

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

Abstract

A broad cross-section of the social sciences is increasingly turning to biology and evolutionary theory to help explain human behavior. Political science is a notable exception to this trend, even though there are sound conceptual reasons for expecting biological processes to play an important role in explaining political behavior. While agreeing with the conceptual arguments, the authors believe original empirical research is the most persuasive means of convincing political science to incorporate biology in explanations of political behavior. Techniques developed in neuroscience, behavioral genetics, agent-based simulation, experimental economics, and other fields offer exciting research opportunities to explore questions of central interest to political scientists. The research presented in this volume provides examples of replicable, empirical evidence that political beliefs and behavior are a product of biological as well as environmental factors.

Suggested Citation

  • John R. Hibbing & Kevin B. Smith, 2007. "The Biology of Political Behavior: An Introduction," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 614(1), pages 6-14, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:614:y:2007:i:1:p:6-14
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716207305471
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716207305471
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716207305471?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wahlke, John C., 1979. "Pre-Behavioralism in Political Science," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(1), pages 9-31, March.
    2. Madsen, Douglas, 1986. "Power Seekers are Different: Further Biochemical Evidence," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(1), pages 261-269, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wil Dijkstra, 1987. "Interviewing Style and Respondent Behavior," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 16(2), pages 309-334, November.
    2. Peter K. Hatemi & John R. Hibbing & Sarah E. Medland & Matthew C. Keller & John R. Alford & Kevin B. Smith & Nicholas G. Martin & Lindon J. Eaves, 2010. "Not by Twins Alone: Using the Extended Family Design to Investigate Genetic Influence on Political Beliefs," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(3), pages 798-814, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:614:y:2007:i:1:p:6-14. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.