The Daily Mail reports that a study found “Men who are physically strong are more likely to have right wing political views”. Although, the article says that they used data on “bicep size, socio-economic status and support for economic redistribution”.  Bicep size doesn’t always correlate perfectly with strength–strength lifters who can lift more weight may not have biceps as large as bodybuilders who deliberately sculpt their arms. I actually wonder if this could skew their results, because it’s probably mostly rich guys who have time to body-build, as opposed to guys who just become strong working construction or something.  But whatever.

I haven’t actually read the study, just the press reports on it.  Maybe they misinterpreted it.  But I think people are too quick to assume that physically sculpted bodybuilders are “strong”, when they may not actually be that capable. Bodybuilding is a fine activity, but it’s not the same as achieving peak physical ability.

Also, none of the articles I read said anything about what other variables the researchers took into account.  I can only assume that they controlled for things like “age” as well.  Maybe I’ll try to find the study, although the whole thing seems kind of silly to me.