People "on the left" are smarter

People who support political ideology on the right tend to be less intelligent than those on the left, and people with low intelligence during the childhood, when they grow up, they have racist opinions and against homosexualssays a controversial study recently conducted in Ontario, Canada.

Political ideology and intelligence: is there a relationship?

It seems that people on the left are smarter, and those on the right less. At least, this is what one controversial study claims.

Conservative politicians are facilitators of prejudice against other individuals or groups, say Canadian scholars. The paper analyzes massive studies from the UK (of more than 15,000 people) in which the child intelligence with the political opinions in adulthood of these subjects.

The authors affirm that people with low intelligence position themselves with the political right because they feel more secure with that line of discourse. Fundamentally, the educational level of the people is not what determines whether they are racist or not, but rather it is the innate intelligence, according to the authors.

Belonging to a certain social class does not predict ideology

Social status does not play an important role as a predictor either. The study, published in Psychological Science, states that right-wing ideology forms a way for people with low reasoning ability to become racist and xenophobes.

The researchers affirm that cognitive abilities are fundamental in the formation of impressions of other people, and they are key when it comes to having an open mind.

"Individuals with lower cognitive abilities tend to defend more conservative right-wing ideologies, as they maintain the status quo. The right provides a sense of order, of continuity with what is established. A higher cognitive level is required to detect what works badly in a political system and therefore to be able to make a criticism and a proposal for improvement "

Research and results

The study, conducted by Brock University in Ontario, Canada, used information from two studies from the United Kingdom. Kingdom that were carried out in 1958 and 1970, where the intelligence of several thousand children of 10 and 11 years old was evaluated. When they turned 33 they answered questions about politics, and from there the bulk of the data could be extracted to prepare the report.

In the first British study, which was carried out in 1958 by the National Organization for Child Development, 4,267 men and 4,537 women who were born in 1958 participated.

The second research conducted in the UK, the British Cohort Study, involved 3,412 men and 3,658 women who were born in 1970.

When they were adults, they were asked if they agreed with statements such as: "I would not mind working with people of other races ", and" I would not mind if a family of a different race lived with me side."

They were also asked if they agreed with the political ideology of the conservative right, such as, "It would give lawbreakers harsher sentences," and "Schools must teach children to obey the law. authority".

Bibliographic references:

• Original study: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/2/187.full.pdf