How intelligence mediates liberalism and prosociality

    Authors

    I. S. Solon

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Intelligence

    Keywords

    Intelligence; Liberal; Conservative; Locus of control; Self-interest; POLITICAL ORIENTATION; POLICY ATTITUDES; EXTERNAL CONTROL; EDUCATION; ADULTS; PARTICIPATION; CONSERVATISM; RELIGIOSITY; AMERICANS; IDEOLOGY; Psychology, Multidisciplinary

    Abstract

    Individuals of most or least intelligence consistently orient further left politically than those of middle intelligence, producing a U-shaped curve. Evidence advanced to support alternative intelligence-moderation and political typing hypotheses is explained mainly in terms of that U-shaped curve. The lower intelligence extreme orients toward the left because it is populated disproportionately by leftist beneficiaries (e.g., economic and racial minorities). The leftist vote by leftist beneficiaries strictly on issues on which they are leftist beneficiaries is attributed to personal experience, rather than self-interest. While self-interest alone is a weak influence, personal experience with a segment is a liberalizing factor on issues involving that segment because it increases the likelihood of one's attributing the stations of individuals in that segment to external causes and of one's being empathetic and trusting toward that segment's individuals. Intelligence confers leftist tendencies primarily for the same reasons, which explains the leftism of the higher intelligence extreme. Unlike the lower intelligence extreme, the higher intelligence extreme is broadly leftist, self-identifies as liberal, and is strongly prosocial overall. An explanatory costly signaling hypothesis is superfluous. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Intelligence

    Volume

    47

    Publication Date

    1-1-2014

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    44

    Last Page

    53

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000345948400007

    ISSN

    0160-2896

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