THE DEPARTMENT OF I TOLD YOU SO: ¨Lower Cognitive Abilities Predict Greater Prejudice Through Right-Wing Ideology.¨

Do Racism, Homophobia, Conservatism, and Low I.Q. Go Hand in Hand?

¨Hodson and Busseri (2012) found in a correlational study that lower intelligence in childhood is predictive of greater racism in adulthood, with this effect being mediated (partially explained) through conservative ideology. They also found poor abstract reasoning skills were related to homophobic attitudes which was mediated through authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact.

What this study and those before it suggest is not necessarily that all liberals are geniuses and all conservatives are ignorant. Rather, it makes conclusions based off of averages of groups. The idea is that for those who lack a cognitive ability to grasp complexities of our world, strict-right wing ideologies may be more appealing. Dr. Brian Nosek explained it for the Huffington Post as follows, “ideologies get rid of the messiness and impose a simple solution. So, it may not be surprising that people with less cognitive capacity will be attracted to simplifying ideologies.” For an excellent continuation of this discussion and past studies, please see this article from LiveScience.

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THANKS TO Goal Auzeen Saedi, Ph.D. - Psychology Today:

http://endbigotryinvenangocounty.blogspot.com/2013/04/do-racism-homophobia-conservatism-and.html