Over many years, the argument has been put forward that progressives are more intelligent than conservatives. In fact, popular culture assumes that conservatives have conservative views because they are either one of two things: stupid, bad or both.
This article [link to: Study links low intelligence with right-wing beliefs] is a classical example of the slap-dash research arguing that conservatives as not just ill-informed, but downright Dumb.
However, a 2012 survey of social psychologists in America found a fourteen-to-one ratio of Democrat to Republican voters.
Link to: Is social psychology biased against Republicans?
Given this stacking-of-the-deck it is difficult not to conclude that there is some kind of confirmation bias in these studies, which only serve to reinforce the views of the researchers, as well as reflecting the presently dominant view in popular culture and those constantly espoused in the progressive media.
What is rather interesting are studies recently carried out by researchers at Denmark’s Aarhus University and the University of California that found that men with “strong upper body strength are more likely to vote conservative while physically weaker males have a greater tendency towards left-leaning views.”
“The scientists say men’s upper body strength predicts and influences their political opinions and this link reflects psychological traits that evolved in response to our early ancestral environments and continue to influence behaviour today.”
It will be interesting to see if there is any truth to the conclusions found in this research, or whether it reflects the same kind of confirmation bias in other studies which ought to be taken with a grain of salt.
Until then, I’ll arm wrestle you for it.
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