XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, can.politics, alt.politics.liberalism
XPost: alt.politics.democrats, alt.politics.usa.republican
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797611421206
Bright Minds and Dark Attitudes: Lower
Cognitive Ability Predicts Greater Prejudice
Through Right-Wing Ideology and Low Intergroup
Contact
Abstract
Despite their important implications for
interpersonal behaviors and relations, cognitive
abilities have been largely ignored as
explanations of prejudice. We proposed and tested
mediation models in which lower cognitive ability
predicts greater prejudice, an effect mediated
through the endorsement of right-wing ideologies
(social conservatism, right-wing authoritarianism)
and low levels of contact with out-groups. In an
analysis of two large-scale, nationally
representative United Kingdom data sets (N = 15,874),
we found that lower general intelligence (g) in
childhood predicts greater racism in adulthood, and
this effect was largely mediated via conservative
ideology. A secondary analysis of a U.S. data set
confirmed a predictive effect of poor
abstract-reasoning skills on antihomosexual prejudice,
a relation partially mediated by both
authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact.
All analyses controlled for education and
socioeconomic status. Our results suggest that
cognitive abilities play a critical, albeit
underappreciated, role in prejudice. Consequently, we
recommend a heightened focus on cognitive ability in
research on prejudice and a better integration of
cognitive ability into prejudice models.
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