Brock U study: right-wingers less intelligent, more prejudiced?
Fuente: Drive-by Times.
4 del 2 de 2012
A Brock University study on intelligence has come up with findings guaranteed to ignite a few fires on the net. Put in the most basic terms the research finds that people who are prejudiced towards gays and races other than their own are likely to be less intelligent and attracted to right-wing ideologies.
In the past, there has been less focus on intelligence as a determinant of how prejudiced a subject might or might not be, so it isn't surprising that the findings of the Brock study have generated a lot of attention.
Researchers conducted in-depth analysis on data from British and US studies and found that lower intelligence scores in childhood is an indicator of racism in later life. Findings also indicate that racist attitudes may be compounded or 'mediated' by the adoption of right-wing beliefs.
It seems reasonable to extrapolate that the above traits could dispose individuals to take meaning and identity from right-wing ideology - a reassuring 'big daddy' solution to life's problems. Right-wing ideology after all is structured, ordered, resists radical change (even when that change may be critically important) and in some cases actively promotes prejudice as a virtue.
Course there's always a danger of drawing hard and fast conclusions from a study like this. There are many variables to consider. There are also individuals whose right-wing politics pretty clearly isn't related to an intelligence deficit.
The late Christopher Hitchens by any measure was a brilliant thinker yet he supported a hardline conservative agenda. He backed the invasion of Iraq and hyped the rhetoric when it came to strategies for defeating what he dubbed "Islamofascism." His reactionary stance on some issues often seemed at odds with his impressive analytical skills and capacity to think outside the box.
In general terms though as it applies to most mortals, the Brock study lends weight to a common perception - namely that right-wingers often seem less smart and more inclined to prejudice. It isn't just a hunch either. Polling data... social and political science research... has repeatedly demonstrated that people who support right-wing parties are more likely to hold prejudiced views than people of more liberal political persuasions.
A recent study out of the University of London offers physiological 'evidence' that the brains of conservatives and liberals are structured differently. Researchers found that liberals have a larger anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the brain that has to do with how information is processed. Conservatives have a larger amygdala, connected with emotional responses, especially threat.
All things considered the Brock study seems headed in the right direction - no pun intended.
More on the study from Live Science.
