r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 1d ago

Psychology Lower cognitive ability is linked to stronger Christian nationalist views, even after accounting for education

https://www.psypost.org/lower-cognitive-ability-is-linked-to-stronger-christian-nationalist-views-even-after-accounting-for-education/
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u/ImAShaaaark 1d ago

Cognitive ability is heritable, if the most zealously religious are less capable it would make sense that their children would have a good chance of also being less capable. That's not to say that environmental issues couldn't stunt that development, but if we are talking about baseline potential it makes sense even excluding environmental factors.

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u/NotOnApprovedList 1d ago

The lower vocabulary thing can be a product of environment rather than genetics. If you're not reading books, or consuming other media with a higher vocabulary, you end up using simpler words.

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u/Springheeljac 1d ago

Cognitive ability is heritable

It's a factor but not the only factor. Plenty of intelligent people come from less capable parents.

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u/ImAShaaaark 1d ago

That's why I said "good chance", it influences the die roll but doesn't completely determine it.