“‘Both nature and nurture play a role in voting,’ said lead author James H. Fowler, an associate professor of political science. ‘We expected genes would play a little bit of a role, but we were surprised how strong [a] role they played.’

“‘It’s not just the gene that makes you vote, but it has an impact on how susceptible you are to different kinds of environments,’ Fowler said. ‘Depending upon what kind of environment you are in, it is going to activate those tendencies you might have to cause you to participate in politics or not.’”