Something we’ve known to be true for quite a while has now been vindicated in two studies published recently. The first was published in Psychological Science and indicated that children who score lower on intelligence tests are more likely to exhibit conservative social and political views as adults. The second, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, indicated that, “when under time pressure or otherwise cognitively impaired, people are more likely to express conservative views.”
This makes perfect sense when given a few moments of thought (plenty of conservative denial can be expected, then), because conservatism is intellectually easy to handle. “Conservatism” by definition means holding to the way things were–and not changing anything is pretty easy. Actually giving social and political concerns some thought can be difficult for those who don’t like to think. It was suggested by the authors of the first mentioned study that this may be because, “conservative ideologies stress ‘structure and order’ that make it easier to understand a complicated world.”
Some people we would consider to be “Conservatives” would question the underlying premise of this study. To them, it’s mainstream Liberals who are mired in “conventional thinking” and don’t want anything to change. They, on the other hand, are bold fighters for change: get rid of Social Security and Medicare! Get rid of Unions! Get rid of the Minimum Wage! They are the real radicals, at least in their imagination, and Liberals are the real “Conservatives”. Quite a few Republicans truly believe that they are on the side of the less fortunate in this society. They truly do believe that “Free Markets” will help all Americans achieve a better life. They really believe that is the Democrats that are racists, not the Republican Party. I know some these people personally; they are honest, intelligent and idealistic. They are also totally deluded.