Prejudice and Stupidity
http://www.ucanews.com/news/researchers-establish-link-between-intolerance-racism-and-stupidity/41572
This article from the above link really made me smile. Lol. But naturally, even smthg like this must take careful note of the context of the research. I am very reluctant to put for instance KKK racism in the same basket as say Nazi Germany racism. Dynamics involved are totally different. But I do love the hypothesis put forward and am all for establishing a limited-ranging general theory out of it. I think I can live more easily with dismissing folks I'm frustrated with as just plain dumb rather than think of them as malicious.
Researchers establish link between racism and stupidity
Findings taken from numerous research projects strongly indicate that prejudice, racism and intolerance are more likely to be present in individuals with greater cognitive rigidity, less cognitive flexibility and lower integrative complexity.
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.
This article from the above link really made me smile. Lol. But naturally, even smthg like this must take careful note of the context of the research. I am very reluctant to put for instance KKK racism in the same basket as say Nazi Germany racism. Dynamics involved are totally different. But I do love the hypothesis put forward and am all for establishing a limited-ranging general theory out of it. I think I can live more easily with dismissing folks I'm frustrated with as just plain dumb rather than think of them as malicious.
Researchers establish link between racism and stupidity
Findings taken from numerous research projects strongly indicate that prejudice, racism and intolerance are more likely to be present in individuals with greater cognitive rigidity, less cognitive flexibility and lower integrative complexity.
- Gordon Hodson and Michael A. Bussari
- Canada
- February 3, 2012
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.