Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice

[Vypernight]

And in a sense of irony, those same people want to cut funds to education.

[StallChaser]

And in a sense of irony, those same people want to cut funds to education.

It's not irony if it's obvious.  Authoritarians place little value on knowledge, and a lot on staying with the group.  In their minds, it's better for someone to be ignorant than for them to leave the group.

[Vene]

How much os this is genetic and how much of this is related to their upbringing.

That's a good question.

I'm pretty sure conservatism doesn't directly cause low IQ, so I'm not sure why it matters in this context. You can probably search pubmed for studies related to the genetic portion of IQ. Also, just a heads up, you're forgetting environment (which really is different than upbringing).

I thought the article said low IQ causes conservatism.

They found a connection between the two, as in a correlation. We can't say anything about causation other than what is fueled by our personal prejudices. In my case, I'm inclined to believe it is low IQ causing people to believe right wing rhetoric.

I think conservative political views and religious fundamentalism are not due to a low intelligence, but rather a lack of education stemming from a lack of resources in that country. Countries with a low average IQ are also poorer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_Global_Inequality

The global examples are better explained through poor nutrition, which is known to have a negative influence on IQ. The IQ test is also culturally biased, meaning it is nowhere near as useful as it could be in nations that don't have exposure to western culture, as a result it is a poor tool for international comparisons.

As for education, this could be a factor, but it doesn't explain the relationship very well between the two. What the researchers did was take IQ data from when the participants in the study were 11 and compared that to political views at age 33. They looked at over 4000 men and 4000 women, so the sample size was plenty large. This was also done in the UK, so you're not having a case where a significant portion of low IQ people were from someplace like Alabama and high IQ were from a place like New York. Educational differences are going to result from IQ differences, not the other way around.

[Lithp]

It doesn't identify a cause, it says that there's a correlation. The author/researcher/whatever (don't remember if they're the same person) postulated that the reason for this is because people with low IQ gravitate towards belief systems that "explain everything," but that's not the same as identifying a cause.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

And in a sense of irony, those same people want to cut funds to education.

You saw that Rick Santorum quote on the front page, right?  I've heard of ridiculous bullshit, but that takes the cake.

Then again, I guess reality has a liberal bias!

[Sylvana]

It makes sense though. IQ is basically learning potential. As such people with a lower IQ can be intelligent but have trouble learning. As such, the simple answer such as god-did-it and such are easier for them to learn and bring more comfort. People in general really do not like leaving their comfort zones, it is easier to accept something someone says than think about it.

One of the most important aspects of the study was the part where it said that people with the prejudices and low IQs do not mix with others as much. If we consider that being faced with a contradiction to their assumed knowledge would create conflict in their experiences it makes sense for them to remain socially isolated. The less that challenges their world view, the less they need to learn and thus the less their low IQ influences their lives.

Interesting correlation in the study. I wonder if more such correlations will be uncovered with time.

[Eniliad]

This just bolsters what I already suspected. Though there is a problem with that... not everyone who is liberal is smart, and not everyone who is conservative is dumb.

Still makes a nice general rule.

[Kain]

This just bolsters what I already suspected.

Pretty much this.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

This just bolsters what I already suspected. Though there is a problem with that... not everyone who is liberal is smart, and not everyone who is conservative is dumb.

Still makes a nice general rule.

Granted.  If you were to believe that, you'd be prejudiced.  That'd make you dumb. 

[MaybeNever]

This just bolsters what I already suspected. Though there is a problem with that... not everyone who is liberal is smart, and not everyone who is conservative is dumb.

Still makes a nice general rule.

This objection is addressed explicitly in the article. Actually I think it's addressed explicitly in the OP, but I'm a busy man with many important bits of being lazy that I need to get to, so I'm afraid I can't check right now.

[Oriet]

That's why it's seen as a correlation and not a strict causation.

[Vene]

That's why it's seen as a correlation and not a strict causation.

Well, there still could be causation and a bimodal distribution. Comparing it to height, sex causes men to be taller than women, but there is a region in the middle where some women are taller than some men. Taken as a whole, men are taller than women; likewise liberals appear to be more intelligent than conservatives.

[Barbarella]

"Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice"

WHY AM I NOT SUPPRISED?!

[Eldalar]

I am rather ... lets say suspicious about such studies, I am not saying it is obviously wrong, I am just in general inclined to believe that there was a bias in the study (either wanted or unwanted) whenever someone is linking high or low intelligence or other (un)desirable attributes to a certain group of people.

So, interesting study but I will take it with the usual grain of salt of a study being made about a subject, that many people feel very strongly about.

[Lithp]

There wasn't. It's hard data. IQ. Surveys to determine beliefs. There's no room to influence it, all you can do is look at the statistics. Interpreting it is a little different, but the scientist himself even prefaced his explanations with the statement that they're merely possible explanations for the facts.

Honestly? A better example of bias is taking data with "a grain of salt" because it's about "a subject that many people feel very strongly about." Should I doubt that women, on average, live longer than men because I feel it would be better if lifespans were equal?

The only real weakness in the study is that it's culture-relevent. You can't use this study to say, for example, that the leaders of the Wodabe Tribe in Africa have low IQs. Compared to whom? By what test?