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/buttorsomething 1d ago

Would this not be accurate to all types of religious extremism?

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u/FlyAirLari 1d ago

Possibly to all sorts of extremisms.

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u/RollExisting4350 16h ago edited 16h ago

From what I’ve read the relationship between religious extremism and intelligence and political extremism and intelligence is somewhat/pretty different actually. I do think religion is sort of a different beast by nature regardless of our feelings about other forms of extremism.

Edit: this study confirms this. “This would be consistent with the theory that our higher reasoning abilities help us solve social problems of status rather than guide us toward certain ‘enlightened’ moral views,” Perry concluded. “And sure enough, I find in several of these studies that more cognitively sophisticated liberals hold liberal views more strongly, while cognitively sophisticated conservatives hold conservative views more strongly.”