Researchers Can Predict Whether Liberal Or Conservative Using Disgusting Pictures

Roanoke, VA - An international team of scientists say, with near perfect results, they can tell whether your political ideology is either conservative or liberal just by showing you a picture of maggots or an animal carcass and watching how your brain reacts.

That's the focus of a recently published study led by a researcher at the Virginia Tech-Carilion Research.

Researchers say that by simply showing a test subject a disgusting image... like a dirty toilet or a maggot infested carcass, as much as 98% of the time they are able to tell whether one is a conservative or liberal by watching how the brain reacts. The more images used the higher the chance of a successful prediction.

"In the negative pictures the responses that are engendered in their brain... the conservatives have a stronger reaction to it - conservative brains do. But they're not aware of this. This isn't something that pipes through their awareness,"said Dr. Read Montague who led the study.

Researchers would expose test subjects to the graphic images mixed with neutral or pleasant images. The theory is -- the way your brain reacts to the images is predisposed to primal instincts of survival - which shapes your ideology.

Researchers believe that similar to characteristics like height, ideology is actually greatly influenced by genetics.

"These things became, we think, instinctual responses on top of which cultural sensibilities grew. So out of cultural sensibilities grew political sensibilities and the game was a foot,"said Montague.

Montague believes the research could actually be applied to modern day politics by adding a little "bi" to the current state of partisanship.

"If you recognize that some of that is like a reflex you might be able to take a breath and think about that a little bit. That is... maybe you're one of those types of people who reflexively reacts to that and needs a little extra time to think about it."

The survey subjects completed after the brain scan included answering questions about how often they discuss politics as well as their thoughts on divisive issues including same sex marriage and school prayer.