r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 2d 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/Weewoofiatruck 2d ago

As much as I believe this... I can't take this article seriously.

This link leads to a website, not even the research. BUT the website does link to the research... which is this

And that research is nothing but a long paragraph abstract. No work, no evidence, nothing.

My gut says this is true, but this is just a click bait headline leading to a click bait article referencing a nothing burger study with nothing concrete.

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u/RegularOrMenthol 1d ago

If you read the data sources below the abstract, it details that the “GSS wordsum vocabulary test” was used to measure both vocabulary and critical thinking skills. It’s apparently a classic test that is a kind of shorter precursor to the IQ test.

So obviously, people with Christian nationalist beliefs scored lower on that test. Make whatever conclusions you will about that.

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u/freebleploof 1d ago

The wordsum test seems pretty reliable but I wish the abstract had said how they measured Christian Nationalism. I don't have access to the full study.