Does science really confirm that Republicans suffer from a lower IQ than Democrats do? Well, according to Psychology Today, several studies have found correlations between low intelligence and people with Conservative ideologies.
This would be due to a person with a lower IQ lacking reasoning skills who would favor uncomplicated, conservative standpoints, as well as racism and homophobia:
“Hodson and Busseri (2012) found in a correlational study that lower intelligence in childhood is predictive of greater racism in adulthood, with this effect being mediated (partially explained) through conservative ideology. They also found poor abstract reasoning skills were related to homophobic attitudes which was mediated through authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact.”
Basically, people who lack a cognitive ability to grasp the complexities of our world might find right wing ideologies more appealing because they are easier to understand.
Lead researcher Gordon Hodson of another study at Brock University in Ontario confirms that low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, according to LiveScience. Hodson said in an email:
“Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice.”
Of course, people can choose to be conservative or liberal for a number of reasons, which doesn’t necessary have to do with their intelligence. Hodson reassured this, and 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.”
Still, the study found that low intelligence in childhood corresponded with racism in adulthood, and the relationship between the two variables was political,
“When researchers included social conservatism in the analysis, those ideologies accounted for much of the link between brains and bias.”
The studies are a few years old, but has received recent attention due to the current, unprecedented political situation with real estate tycoon Donald Trump as the unlikely Republican presidential nominee.
More recent studies studies have found that many of Trump’s followers who embrace his controversial racist and misogynistic comments, indeed are uneducated with strong conservative, anti-foreign, and extreme patriotic views.
To quote Jason Unruhe who summarized the studies at MRN News,
“If you’re conservative, or you’re prejudiced towards homosexuals or ethnic minorities, you just might be dumb. [sic]”
Featured Image Via YouTube Video Screenshot.
