NEW STUDIES: Low IQ Leads to Conservatism, Dems Have Sex Problems, Politicians Love Marijuana // NOT SAFE FOR WORK

NOT SAFE FOR WORK  //  DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED

Maryland Juice has stumbled upon three provocative new surveys that are criss-crossing the Interwebs:

1. Political preferences and sexual behavior,
2. Racism/Conservatism and IQ, and
3. The DC-Metro region and marijuana. 

The three studies' methodologies range from completely anecdotal to well-grounded in the scientific method, but I make no claims about the accuracy of the research below:

Study 1: Politics & Sex // Republicans Don't Have Sex, Democrats Don't Have Orgasms

Match.com recently partnered with a number of academics to produce a large survey of relationship and sexual preferences, as they relate to politics. The Daily Caller received an advance copy of the results and published the following summary (full details at Match.com):

DAILY CALLER: The survey of over 5,000 singles offered some interesting revelations about the differences in the sex lives of Democrats and Republicans....

According to the survey, conservative Republicans are more likely than any other group to be very satisfied with sex once married — however, in the last 12 months the group had the least amount of sex.

The Daily Beast, which got an advanced look at the total results, further reported that more than half of respondents identified as conservative Republicans said they climaxed almost every time they had sex — as opposed to just 40 percent of liberal Democrats....

Nine out of ten respondents further noted that there are “no acceptable excuses” for politicians who cheat on their spouses.

Promo Trailer for Match.com's Politics & Sex Survey

Study 2: Politics & IQ // Low Childhood IQ Leads to Conservatism & Prejudice

Researchers from Brock University in Ontario have released new findings linking political conservatism and prejudice to low childhood IQ. The Huffington Post published the following wild findings:

HUFFINGTON POST: Are racists dumb? Do conservatives tend to be less intelligent than liberals? A provocative new study from Brock University in Ontario suggests the answer to both questions may be a qualified yes.

The study, published in Psychological Science, showed that people who score low on I.Q. tests in childhood are more likely to develop prejudiced beliefs and socially conservative politics in adulthood....

Dr. Gordon Hodson, a professor of psychology at the university and the study's lead author, said the finding represented evidence of a vicious cycle: People of low intelligence gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, which stress resistance to change and, in turn, prejudice, he told LiveScience.

Why might less intelligent people be drawn to conservative ideologies? Because such ideologies feature "structure and order" that make it easier to comprehend a complicated world, Dodson said. "Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice," he added....

"Reality is complicated and messy," he told The Huffington Post in an email. "Ideologies get rid of the messiness and impose a simpler solution. So, it may not be surprising that people with less cognitive capacity will be attracted to simplifying ideologies."

Study 3: Politics & Marijuana //  D.C. Metro Residents Love Marijuana  

Montgomery County native and best-selling author Alexandra Robbins (ie: Quarterlife Crisis, Pledged, Overachievers, etc) has a provocative new investigative piece that landed her on the cover of this month's Washingtonian Magazine. (Full disclosure: Her brother is a friend of mine, and her father was my soccer coach). Ms. Robbins' article is a well-researched piece that touches on a number of themes: 1) the area's white collar workforce loves marijuana, 2) marijuana law enforcement only targets African Americans, and 3) apparently, many politicians love pot. I am not doing justice to the article, which also includes surveys acomparing use in Montgomery County vs. D.C. and more:

WASHINGTONIAN: The marijuana use cuts across racial and socioeconomic lines.

“This is a town where I could probably kill 200 major careers if I wanted to be a complete prick,” says Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which is headquartered on K Street. “Politicians, members of Congress and the Senate, many of their principals—legislative directors, chiefs of staff, communications directors—people in the private sector, Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Brookings, police, any number of notable journalists from television, print, radio, many brand names most Americans would recognize pretty quickly—I’ve smoked with all of them. There is more smoke in DC closets than there is sex.”

Marijuana shows up at high-society parties in DC’s tony Kalorama and on back patios at embassy functions. It’s a staple at both a guys’ poker night for well-known DC power players and a moms’ Friday-night get-together in Bethesda...Almost every weekend, one fortyish lawyer puts her toddler to bed (“he’s a good sleeper”) and then hosts a gathering in her million-dollar Northern Virginia home for about 15 friends—mostly lawyers, executives, and “leisure class” thirty- and fortysomethings. Sometimes she serves wine and cheese, sometimes she cooks, and sometimes they make pizza. Always by the end of the night, a bong appears on her kitchen island.