Biology and Politics (SB2)

Why does one person vote republican and another democrat? Why do some people tend to trust a stranger more readily than a spouse?

Answers aren’t found just in a person’s environment, experiences or genes, but in a combination of many influences. An innovative new initiative – Systems Biology of Social Behavior – is bringing together UNL researchers from diverse disciplines to explore complex social dynamics.

"It’s a little weird to have political scientists working with geneticists," admits the initiative’s director, political scientist Kevin Smith. "But there’s a growing recognition that we’re unlikely to fully understand why people or animals do the things they do socially within the confines of a single discipline."

This research one day could expand knowledge about how we learn and make decisions, and help people understand each other’s differences, which might help us better manage conflicts.

For example, Smith and colleagues study the roots of ideologies. "There’s a lot of work indicating that political attitudes are partially inherited. It’s not just what mom and dad talk about at the dinner table."

By studying identical twins and physiological responses such as visual tracking and brain activity, researchers are linking ideological beliefs across a wide spectrum, from social interactions to cognition and even to DNA.

While research often focuses on narrow aspects of human social behavior, this initiative envisions a comprehensive approach. Researchers will incorporate genetics, neuroscience, physiology, affect/emotion, cognition and group dynamics to understand the systems biology behind human social behavior.

UNL is well positioned to tackle such complex questions, thanks to nationally known researchers in biology, neuroscience, cognition and political science who are willing to work collaboratively outside their disciplines, Smith said.

UNL also plans to train a new generation for cross-disciplinary research through a graduate program that will require students to take classes and work outside their fields.

"This is a way to make disciplinary boundaries a little more permeable," said Smith, and to prepare students to work collaboratively.