Intelligence and conservative ideology

anterior cingulate and the amygdala

Lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario completed a study that was featured in LiveSceince. The study concluded:

Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.

Low intelligence in childhood also had a strong correlation to racism in adulthood.

But the factor that explained the relationship between these two variables was political: When researchers factored social conservatism in the analysis, those ideologies accounted for much of the link between brains and bias.

Rightardia has seen a similar studies in the UK which indicated conservatives have lower IQs. The brain structure of the left and right wingers are also diffrent.

Right-wingers had a more pronounced amygdala - a primitive part of the brain associated with emotion.

This may explain why conservatives are fearful of change, of other cultures and of other religions.

Those on the left had thicker anterior cingulates - which is an area associated with anticipation and decision-making.

The recent study suggests that political messages to conservatives should have a simple basic message that will elicit an emotional rather than a rationale response.


source: http://www.livescience.com/18132-intelligence-social-conservatism-racism.html

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