A new study performed by psychologists Mark Brandt and Jarret Crawford involved nearly 6,000 people, an IQ test, and questions about prejudices. The outcome: morons and eggheads are both equally prejudice … just not in the same way. People with lower cognitive abilities were more likely to be prejudiced against groups that have little choice about their status, mainly people of a different sexual orientation or race. They also display higher amounts of prejudice against groups they perceive as liberal or non-conventional in some way.
On the other hand, smarter people were shown to have a tendency for prejudice against groups that have a high amount of choice regarding their status. One example of such a group includes conservatives, which individuals with higher cognitive skills believe have the ability to choose better social and political views but opt not to. As the researchers told Broadly:
“People dislike people who are different from them. Derogating people with different worldviews can help people maintain the validity of their own world view.”
What does it all mean? Everyone hates you probably, so drink up.
