DoD
2015-11-24 21:54:33 UTC
Modern day American rightists are no better than simple minded,
gullible savages.
Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice
There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism
and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study
that is bound to stir public controversy.
The research finds that children with low intelligence are more
likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings
point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon
Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario.
Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially
conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in
turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that
can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to
LiveScience.
"Prejudice is extremely complex and multifaceted, making it
critical that any factors contributing to bias are uncovered
and understood," he said.
Controversy ahead
The findings combine three hot-button topics.
"They've pulled off the trifecta of controversial topics," said
Brian Nosek, a social and cognitive psychologist at the
University of Virginia who was not involved in the study. "When
one selects intelligence, political ideology and racism and
looks at any of the relationships between those three
variables, it's bound to upset somebody."
Polling data and social and political science research do show
that prejudice is more common in those who hold right-wing
ideals that those of other political persuasions, Nosek told
LiveScience. [7 Thoughts That Are Bad For You]
"The unique contribution here is trying to make some progress
on the most challenging aspect of this," Nosek said, referring
to the new study. "It's not that a relationship like that
exists, but why it exists."
Brains and bias
Earlier studies have found links between low levels of
education and higher levels of prejudice, Hodson said, so
studying intelligence seemed a logical next step. The
researchers turned to two studies of citizens in the United
Kingdom, one that has followed babies since their births in
March 1958, and another that did the same for babies born in
April 1970. The children in the studies had their intelligence
assessed at age 10 or 11; as adults ages 30 or 33, their levels
of social conservatism and racism were measured. [Life's
Extremes: Democrat vs. Republican]
In the first study, verbal and nonverbal intelligence was
measured using tests that asked people to find similarities and
differences between words, shapes and symbols. The second study
measured cognitive abilities in four ways, including number
recall, shape-drawing tasks, defining words and identifying
patterns and similarities among words. Average IQ is set at
100.
Social conservatives were defined as people who agreed with a
laundry list of statements such as "Family life suffers if mum
is working full-time," and "Schools should teach children to
obey authority." Attitudes toward other races were captured by
measuring agreement with statements such as "I wouldn't mind
working with people from other races." (These questions
measured overt prejudiced attitudes, but most people, no matter
how egalitarian, do hold unconscious racial biases; Hodson's
work can't speak to this "underground" racism.)
As suspected, low intelligence in childhood corresponded with
racism in adulthood. But the factor that explained the
relationship between these two variables was political: When
researchers included social conservatism in the analysis, those
ideologies accounted for much of the link between brains and
bias.
People with lower cognitive abilities also had less contact
with people of other races.
"This finding is consistent with recent research demonstrating
that intergroup contact is mentally challenging and cognitively
draining, and consistent with findings that contact reduces
prejudice," said Hodson, who along with his colleagues
published these results online Jan. 5 in the journal
Psychological Science.
A study of averages
Hodson was quick to note that the despite the link found
between low intelligence and social conservatism, the
researchers aren't implying that all liberals are brilliant and
all conservatives stupid. The research is a study of averages
over large groups, he said.
"There are multiple examples of very bright conservatives and
not-so-bright liberals, and many examples of very principled
conservatives and very intolerant liberals," Hodson said.
Nosek gave another example to illustrate the dangers of taking
the findings too literally.
"We can say definitively men are taller than women on average,"
he said. "But you can't say if you take a random man and you
take a random woman that the man is going to be taller. There's
plenty of overlap."
Nonetheless, there is reason to believe that strict right-wing
ideology might appeal to those who have trouble grasping the
complexity of the world.
"Socially conservative ideologies tend to offer structure and
order," Hodson said, explaining why these beliefs might draw
those with low intelligence. "Unfortunately, many of these
features can also contribute to prejudice."
http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelligence-social-
conservatis
m-racism.html
gullible savages.
Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice
There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism
and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study
that is bound to stir public controversy.
The research finds that children with low intelligence are more
likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings
point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon
Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario.
Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially
conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in
turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that
can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to
LiveScience.
"Prejudice is extremely complex and multifaceted, making it
critical that any factors contributing to bias are uncovered
and understood," he said.
Controversy ahead
The findings combine three hot-button topics.
"They've pulled off the trifecta of controversial topics," said
Brian Nosek, a social and cognitive psychologist at the
University of Virginia who was not involved in the study. "When
one selects intelligence, political ideology and racism and
looks at any of the relationships between those three
variables, it's bound to upset somebody."
Polling data and social and political science research do show
that prejudice is more common in those who hold right-wing
ideals that those of other political persuasions, Nosek told
LiveScience. [7 Thoughts That Are Bad For You]
"The unique contribution here is trying to make some progress
on the most challenging aspect of this," Nosek said, referring
to the new study. "It's not that a relationship like that
exists, but why it exists."
Brains and bias
Earlier studies have found links between low levels of
education and higher levels of prejudice, Hodson said, so
studying intelligence seemed a logical next step. The
researchers turned to two studies of citizens in the United
Kingdom, one that has followed babies since their births in
March 1958, and another that did the same for babies born in
April 1970. The children in the studies had their intelligence
assessed at age 10 or 11; as adults ages 30 or 33, their levels
of social conservatism and racism were measured. [Life's
Extremes: Democrat vs. Republican]
In the first study, verbal and nonverbal intelligence was
measured using tests that asked people to find similarities and
differences between words, shapes and symbols. The second study
measured cognitive abilities in four ways, including number
recall, shape-drawing tasks, defining words and identifying
patterns and similarities among words. Average IQ is set at
100.
Social conservatives were defined as people who agreed with a
laundry list of statements such as "Family life suffers if mum
is working full-time," and "Schools should teach children to
obey authority." Attitudes toward other races were captured by
measuring agreement with statements such as "I wouldn't mind
working with people from other races." (These questions
measured overt prejudiced attitudes, but most people, no matter
how egalitarian, do hold unconscious racial biases; Hodson's
work can't speak to this "underground" racism.)
As suspected, low intelligence in childhood corresponded with
racism in adulthood. But the factor that explained the
relationship between these two variables was political: When
researchers included social conservatism in the analysis, those
ideologies accounted for much of the link between brains and
bias.
People with lower cognitive abilities also had less contact
with people of other races.
"This finding is consistent with recent research demonstrating
that intergroup contact is mentally challenging and cognitively
draining, and consistent with findings that contact reduces
prejudice," said Hodson, who along with his colleagues
published these results online Jan. 5 in the journal
Psychological Science.
A study of averages
Hodson was quick to note that the despite the link found
between low intelligence and social conservatism, the
researchers aren't implying that all liberals are brilliant and
all conservatives stupid. The research is a study of averages
over large groups, he said.
"There are multiple examples of very bright conservatives and
not-so-bright liberals, and many examples of very principled
conservatives and very intolerant liberals," Hodson said.
Nosek gave another example to illustrate the dangers of taking
the findings too literally.
"We can say definitively men are taller than women on average,"
he said. "But you can't say if you take a random man and you
take a random woman that the man is going to be taller. There's
plenty of overlap."
Nonetheless, there is reason to believe that strict right-wing
ideology might appeal to those who have trouble grasping the
complexity of the world.
"Socially conservative ideologies tend to offer structure and
order," Hodson said, explaining why these beliefs might draw
those with low intelligence. "Unfortunately, many of these
features can also contribute to prejudice."
http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelligence-social-
conservatis
m-racism.html