Does Lower Cognitive Ability Predict Greater Prejudice?

Abstract

Early empirical evidence (Adorno et al., 1950) Abstract Historically, leading scholars proposed a theoretical negative association between cognitive abilities and prejudice. Until recently, however, the field has been relatively silent on this topic, citing concerns with potential confounds (e.g., education levels). Instead, researchers focused on other individual-difference predictors of prejudice, including cognitive style, personality, negativity bias, and threat. Yet there exists a solid empirical paper trail demonstrating that lower cognitive abilities (e.g., abstract-reasoning skills and verbal, nonverbal, and general intelligence) predict greater prejudice. We discuss how the effects of lower cognitive ability on prejudice are explained (i.e., mediated) by greater endorsement of right-wing socially conservative attitudes. We conclude that the field will benefit from a recognition of, and open discussion about, differences in cognitive abilities between those lower versus higher in prejudice. To advance the scientific discussion, we propose the Cognitive Ability and Style to Evaluation model, which outlines the cognitive psychological underpinnings of ideological belief systems and prejudice.

Need for Closure and Perceived Threat as Bases of Right-Wing Authoritarianism: A Longitudinal Moderation Approach

“…Applied to the relationship between RWA and perceived external threat, people higher in RWA tend to seek confirmation and justification for their beliefs and look for signs that their surrounding external world is indeed dangerous and threatening. Such a bidirectional path seems much less likely in the case of NFC, where there is a broad consensus that dispositional epistemic needs lie at the basis of socio-ideological attitudes such as RWA (see e.g., Dhont & Hodson, 2014;Jost et al, 2003;Roets & Van Hiel, 2011a;. Exactly because of the lack of a theoretical rationale for the reverse path, we did not include a measure of NFC in the second wave of data collection.…”

The Role of Personality, Authoritarianism and Cognition in the United Kingdom’s 2016 Referendum on European Union Membership

“…Moutafi et al (2004Moutafi et al ( , p. 1015 proposed that people with lower intelligence "become more conscientious in order to cope with their disadvantage" or that "more intelligent individuals do not become so conscientious, as they can rely on their fluid intelligence to accomplish most tasks". Research has also found that lower cognitive abilities predict higher RWA scores (Deary, Batty, & Gale, 2008;Heaven, Ciarrochi, & Leeson, 2011), higher levels of conservatism (Hodson & Busseri, 2012;Stankov, 2009) and greater prejudice (Dhont & Hodson, 2014). The latter is of some relevance as there is evidence that individuals who identified more with their nation tended to express greater prejudice against non-nationals (Tajfel & Turner, 1979).…”

The person-based nature of prejudice: Individual difference predictors of intergroup negativity

“…A reanalysis by Hodson and Busseri (2012) specifically focusing on racial prejudice confirmed that, in two large-scale datasets (Ns > 7000), lower generalised THE PERSON-BASED NATURE OF PREJUDICE 15 intelligence in childhood predicts increased adult racism in both men and women, even after statistically controlling for educational level and socioeconomic status (SES). Given that the prejudice measures in such studies are explicit, and that social norms regarding prejudice are also explicit and do not require sophistication for people to follow them, it is unlikely that such findings are due to differences in social desirability concerns between those lower vs. higher in cognitive abilities (see Dhont & Hodson, 2014a;Hodson & Busseri, 2012). These relations are also robust: A recent meta-analysis investigating the association of cognitive ability with right-wing ideological attitudes and prejudice (Onraet et al, 2015) revealed an average effect size of −.28 for studies on generalised prejudice (see our Table 2).…”

“…Relatedly, Wilson (1973) operationalised conservatism as "a generalized susceptibility to experiencing threat or anxiety in the face of uncertainty" (p. 259). As such, those higher in conservatism, particularly social or cultural (vs. economic) conservatism, 2 are predisposed towards prejudicial orientations regarding lower status outgroups (see Cornelis & Van Hiel, 2006;Dhont & Hodson, 2014a;Hodson, 2014). Cast in contemporary terms, the "core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and justification [or acceptance] of inequality" (Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, & Sulloway, 2003, p. 339).…”

“…However, contemporary theoretical frameworks explaining prejudice pay little or no attention to cognitive ability (Dhont & Hodson, 2014a;Hodson, 2014;Hodson & Busseri, 2012). Yet cross-sectional studies with various intelligence measures across different age groups reveal differences in cognitive abilities between those lower vs. higher in prejudice (see Dhont & Hodson, 2014a). For example, Costello and Hodson (2014a) asked 6-10-year-old White children (Study 1, n = 20; Study 2, n = 53) to complete measures of cognitive ability and child-suitable measures of anti-Black racism.…”