… Who could have guessed?
This is another one of those "studies" which find only confirms what everyone already knows to be true. However they are defined – social conservatives, the Republican Base or Evangelical Christians – they will completely ignore this because it is "a study" and "studies" are like "science," just a pile of theoretical Godless crap.
Since the coming of Sarah Palin, those angry Town Halls, the Tea Party and the more recent rise of so many clowns in the Republican primary debates (along with Republican Base audiences booing and applauding for all the wrong things), this study is long over due to make the headlines in every newspaper and website in America! Just kidding…
As I have been shouting into the wind now for a few years, it is no longer left versus right, or red versus blue, or even urban versus rural but SMART VERSUS STUPID. Here in the United States of Duh.
I must also toot a horn for the 17 years this website has been shouting into the wind that the main problem in the human condition is a "genetic" condition that does not allow some people to see things from any point of view other than their own. What I have called the POV GENE. It seems that genetic condition has now been found to be an inborn cognitive disability. Is Conservatism Genetic?
Brock University in Ontario has released an in depth study following the lives of three groups of people, two in England and one in the Untied States. Published recently in Psychological Science, the review can be found at the website Live Science. Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice.
Here are some of the findings:
People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb.
The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults.
Strict right-wing ideology might appeal to those who have trouble grasping the complexity of the world.
The study compared 254 people with the same amount of education but different levels of ability in abstract reasoning. They found that what applies to racism may also apply to homophobia. People who were poorer at abstract reasoning were more likely to exhibit prejudice against gays.
Prejudice is of particular interest because understanding the roots of racism and bias could help eliminate them. For example many anti-prejudice programs encourage participants to see things from another group’s point of view. That mental exercise may be too taxing for people of low IQ.
There may be cognitive limits in the ability to take the perspective of others, particularly foreigners.