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Intelligence Study Links Low I.Q. To Prejudice, Racism, Conservatism

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Adrienne
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« on: August 25, 2012, 08:45:30 pm »

Intelligence Study Links Low I.Q. To Prejudice, Racism, Conservatism, Racism Iq


The Huffington Post   Rebecca Searles   First Posted: 02/ 1/2012 8:52 am Updated: 02/ 4/2012 9:58 am


Are racists dumb? Do conservatives tend to be less intelligent than liberals? A provocative new study from Brock University in Ontario suggests the answer to both questions may be a qualified yes.

The study, published in Psychological Science, showed that people who score low on I.Q. tests in childhood are more likely to develop prejudiced beliefs and socially conservative politics in adulthood.

I.Q., or intelligence quotient, is a score determined by standardized tests, but whether the tests truly reveal intelligence remains a topic of hot debate among psychologists.

Dr. Gordon Hodson, a professor of psychology at the university and the study's lead author, said the finding represented evidence of a vicious cycle: People of low intelligence gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, which stress resistance to change and, in turn, prejudice, he told LiveScience.

Why might less intelligent people be drawn to conservative ideologies? Because such ideologies feature "structure and order" that make it easier to comprehend a complicated world, Dodson said. "Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice," he added.

Dr. Brian Nosek, a University of Virginia psychologist, echoed those sentiments.

"Reality is complicated and messy," he told The Huffington Post in an email. "Ideologies get rid of the messiness and impose a simpler solution. So, it may not be surprising that people with less cognitive capacity will be attracted to simplifying ideologies."

But Nosek said less intelligent types might be attracted to liberal "simplifying ideologies" as well as conservative ones.

In any case, the study has taken the Internet by storm, with some outspoken liberals saying that it validates their suspicions about conservatives and conservatives arguing that the research has been misinterpreted.

What do you think? Do conservatives tend to be less intelligent? Or is this just political opinion masquerading as science?
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-Thomas Paine

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Adrienne
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« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2012, 08:46:39 pm »

Well, this will blow your minds:
A study from the University College, London (see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1012/1012/10122301) strongly suggests that the brain structures of liberals and conservatives are different. "People with liberal views tended to have increased grey matter in the anterior cingulated cortex, a region of the brain linked to decision-making." Conservatives have "increased grey matter in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with processing emotion." So conservatives tend to get angry and frightened more easily and do not reason as well.

Check out the study for yourselves. I always thought conservatives seemed less able to deal with facts that conflicted with their childhood programming; this study seems to say why. Put these 2 studies together, and you have a picture of people with lower IQs who adopt conservative philosophies and have smaller ability to understand the complexities of our world. Interesting, yes?
A different breed of human? Feels like it to me.
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"In a monarchy, the king is law, in a democracy, the law is king."
-Thomas Paine
Volitzer
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« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2012, 02:13:10 pm »

That's true, conservatives are the absolute worst at trying to present new information to.

You'll get only 10 posts on a conservative site versus at least 100 on a liberal site before getting banned.   Grin

Try questioning the FED around a conservative and they'll call you a terrorist.

At least liberals hear you out and generally are anti-exploitation when it comes to economic systems.  Conservatives pretty much do whatever they are paid to do.  This is why they get usurped by closet-kleptocrats way too often.
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