Monkeys Predict US Elections

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary psychology
• Political science
• Primatology

Background:

• Voting behavior is complex and not always rational.
• Physical traits can influence voter decisions more than policies.
• The evolutionary basis of human political decision-making is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if non-human primates can predict election outcomes based on visual cues.
• To explore the role of facial features in election success.
• To test the hypothesis that voting behavior is influenced by evolutionarily conserved adaptations.

Main Methods:

• Rhesus macaques were presented with pairs of U.S. gubernatorial and senatorial candidate photos.
• Monkey gaze duration towards each candidate was recorded.
• Facial features of candidates were analyzed for traits like masculinity and jaw prominence.

Main Results:

• Monkeys spent more time looking at the losing candidate than the winning candidate.
• This gaze bias accurately predicted binary election outcomes and vote share.
• More masculine facial features correlated with higher election win probability, with jaw prominence being a key factor.

Conclusions:

• Non-human primates can implicitly predict election results using only visual information.
• Human voting behavior may be influenced by unconscious responses to evolutionarily conserved cues of physical prowess.
• Ancestral adaptations shared with non-human primates appear to shape aspects of voting behavior.