From: Mike Racippio <x@y.com>
Newsgroups: alt.politics.trump,alt.politics.liberalism,alt.politics.democrats,alt.politics.usa.republican,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,can.politics
Subject: Re: Conservatism is raging hypocrisy Re: Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2025 19:42:35 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Study links low intelligence with right-wing beliefs
Wency Leung
Health Reporter
Researchers have found a possible explanation for why
certain people are
prejudiced: they're less intelligent.
Children with lower general intelligence are more
likely to become
prejudiced
as adults, according to a Brock University study.
The study, published in the journal Psychological
Science, examined data
from
two large-scale British studies, and found lower
intelligence scores in
childhood were predictors of greater racism in
adulthood, which the
researchers controversially explain is brought about
by adopting right-wing
ideologies.
A secondary analysis of data from a U.S. study also
showed those with poor
abstract-reasoning skills were more likely to have
anti-homosexual
prejudice,
partially linked to authoritarian attitudes.
Lead researcher Gordon Hodson told LiveScience that
the results of the
study
indicate a vicious cycle, in which people with low
intelligence are drawn
to
socially conservative ideologies. In turn, those
ideologies can contribute
to
prejudices.
"Socially conservative ideologies tend to offer
structure and order," he
said, explaining why those with lower intelligence
may gravitate toward the
right. "Unfortunately, many of these features can
contribute to prejudice."
The researchers found that people with lower
intelligence also tended to
have
less contact with other races and groups, which, Dr.
Hodson said, supports
previous research that determined interacting with
other groups is mentally
challenging and cognitively draining.
Dr. Hodson explained the findings do not mean all
liberals are smart and
all
conservatives are stupid, LiveScience.com reports.
"There are multiple
examples of very bright conservatives and not-so-
bright liberals, and many
examples of very principled conservatives and very
intolerant liberals," he
said.
Previous research has suggested that the brains of
conservatives and
liberals
are wired differently.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-
button/study-links-low-
intelligence-with-right-wing-beliefs/article543361/