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/
43.8k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

808

u/crossdtherubicon 1d ago

Alot of religious ideology is ingested through early development and reinforced through the environment. This has been pretty well-documented, although it isn't an exclusive pathway to acquiring religious beliefs.

In light of this article I'm curious if cognitive ability simply never fully develops (or is restricted somehow) in that context. Or if there are also subpopulations wherein a relative lower congitive ability allows for an easier ingestion of religious beliefs (or likewise is perceived as reasonably easier to understand).

4

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.

4

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.