Bright Minds and Dark Attitudes
Lower Cognitive Ability Predicts Greater Prejudice Through Right-Wing Ideology and Low Intergroup Contact
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23367285 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gordon Hodson (0000-0001-9699-9098, Brock University), Michael A Busseri (0000-0001-8110-8213, Brock University) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 187-195 |
| Publication date | 2012-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychological Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0956-7976 • E-ISSN: 1467-9280 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0956797611421206 |
| PMID | 22222219 |
| OpenAlex | W2137079503 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 69 |
| References cited | 34 |
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.
Authoritarianism · Cognition · Conservatism · Developmental psychology · Empathy · Ideology · Interpersonal communication · Mediation · Prejudice (legal term) · Social cognition · Socioeconomic status · Cultural Differences and Values · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology
The relationship between emotional abilities and right-wing and prejudiced attitudes
Enhancement and Civic Virtue
The politics of gaydar
Partisan ideological attitudes
Genetic Hypotheses of Homophobia
Advances in Intergroup Contact
The inherence heuristic
False Equivalence
Why do right-wing adherents engage in more animal exploitation and meat consumption?
The Association of Cognitive Ability with Right–Wing Ideological Attitudes and Prejudice
Ideology and Prejudice
The psychological causes and societal consequences of authoritarianism
Intergroup Contact as an Agent of Cognitive Liberalization
Political diversity will improve social psychological science
The Dual Process Motivational Model of Ideology and Prejudice
Targeted Critical Thinking Intervention Reduces Prejudice Against Lesbians and Gay Men
Political knowledge of youth and their proneness to prejudice
A Psychology of Ideology
Who is satisfied with life? Personality, cognitive flexibility, and life satisfaction
Is Progressive Ideology on the Test? Education and Intelligence in the Development of Nontraditional Attitudes
Rumors in Retweet
Do Smarter People Have More Conservative Economic Attitudes? Assessing the Relationship Between Cognitive Ability and Economic Ideology
View From the Right
Skepticism Motivated
The role of motivation in the association of political ideology with cognitive performance
Stepping out of the Shadows
Beyond shifting intergroup attitudes
Group Status Modulates the Associative Strength Between Status Quo Supporting Beliefs and Anti-Black Attitudes
Answering Unresolved Questions About the Relationship Between Cognitive Ability and Prejudice
Toward an Integrated Cognition Perspective on Ethnic Prejudice
Cognitive Ability and Personal Values
Sociocultural and individual manifestations of sexual stigma
Not All Education is Equally Liberal
How contact is related to awareness of discrimination against women of color
What do interviewer intelligence ratings actually measure
Looking my enemy (?) in the eyes
Beijing winter Olympic games
The ideological basis of antiscientific attitudes
Do sleep disruptions promote social fragmentation
Both‐Sideology Endangers Democracy and Social Science
How Ideology Has Hindered Sociological Insight
No Time Like The Present
Interrogating Boundaries against Animals and Machines
Ideological Asymmetries and the Essence of Political Psychology
The Ideological-Conflict Hypothesis
Can Aids education reduce HIV stigma? Evidence from Zimbabwe
Channeling Good Images but Not Substantive Blessings? Education and Social Contact on Pro-Migrant Sentiments in an Internal Migration Setting
The Impact of Open Classroom Climate and Classroom Socio-economic Composition on Civic Knowledge and Attitudes towards Voting
The person-based nature of prejudice
How does education have an impact on ethnocentrism? A structural equation analysis of cognitive, occupational status and network mechanisms
Dangerous and competitive worldviews
Field of study, political attitudes, and support for the radical right in Sweden and Europe
Individual Psychological Factors and Complex Interpersonal Conditions that Predict LGBT-Affirming Behavior
Technological and analytical advancements in intergroup contact research
How do we get people into contact? Predictors of intergroup contact and drivers of contact seeking
Understanding and Reducing Sexual Prejudice in Jamaica
Manipulating the role of cognitive control while taking the implicit association test
Growing Up as a European? Parental Socialization and the Educational Divide in Euroskepticism
Applying Multilevel Modeling to Understand Individual and Cross-Cultural Variations in Attitudes Toward Homosexual People Across 28 European Countries
National frenemies
Russia’s “conservative turn” after 2012
Political Ideology in Early Childhood
Authoritarianism, Affective Polarization, and Economic Ideology
Are Smart People Less Racist? Verbal Ability, Anti-Black Prejudice, and the Principle-Policy Paradox
Social Class and Ethnocentric Worldviews
Populism Versus Nativism
Perpetrator Religion and Perceiver's Political Ideology Affect Processing and Communication of Media Reports of Violence
Social determinants and psychological distress among Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander adults in the Australian state of Victoria
Linking political and feminist ideology with openness towards non-binary gender
Interpersonal Disgust, Ideological Orientations, and Dehumanization as Predictors of Intergroup Attitudes
The Impact of Need for Closure on Conservative Beliefs and Racism
Social status, cognitive ability, and educational attainment as predictors of liberal social attitudes and political trust
Attitudes Toward Homosexuality
Personality and Prejudice
Do Ideologically Intolerant People Benefit From Intergroup Contact?
Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies
The authoritarian personality
Links between Educational Status and Prejudice
Social Dominance
When Prejudice Does Not Pay
The Relationship Between Social‐Cultural Attitudes and Behavioral Measures of Cognitive Style
A randomized‐response investigation of the education effect in attitudes towards foreigners
The relation of formal education to ethnic prejudice
How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta‐analytic tests of three mediators
Independent benefits of contact and friendship on attitudes toward homosexuals among authoritarians and highly identified heterosexuals
Symbolic Racism
Experiencing Alien-Nation
Can imagined interactions produce positive perceptions
The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research
The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research
Education and Prejudice or Education and Response-Set
The Authoritarian Specter
Racism, conservatism, Affirmative Action, and intellectual sophistication
A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory
Cognitive Functioning and Sociopolitical Ideology Revisited
Political conservatism as motivated social cognition
Generalized mental rigidity as a factor in ethnocentrism
Reasoning as a Predictor of Attitudes Toward Gay Men
| Unique citing works | 69 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,93 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2026 (15) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 65 |