XPost: alt.california, or.politics, ca.politics
XPost: rec.artistic.tv, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
George Plimpton wrote:
No more so than your shit-4-braincell left-wing sentiments
Science says rightists are born inferior.
Study links low intelligence with right-wing beliefs
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.
.
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