The Relationship Between Genes, Impulsivity, and Voter Turnout

Recent research has shown that impulsivity is negatively related to political participation. Since the costs of engaging in politics are paid before the policy benefits are realized, impulsive individuals are theorized to be... [ view full abstract ]

Recent research has shown that impulsivity is negatively related to political participation. Since the costs of engaging in politics are paid before the policy benefits are realized, impulsive individuals are theorized to be less likely to participate.  In this study, we test whether genes associated with impulsivity predict voter turnout.  To do so, we construct a polygenic score for impulsivity based on a genome-wide association study of the delay discount task.  Further, we test whether impulsivity mediates any significant association between the polygenic score and voter turnout. 

We conduct our analysis based on two US samples (Minnesota Twin and Family Study and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health).  We find that the polygenic scores for impulsivity is significantly associated with some measures of voter turnout but not others.  However, the strongest relationship we observe is between the score and whether individuals register to vote in the first place.  This finding is consistent with the fact that registering to vote tends to take more planning than voting.