How intelligence mediates liberalism and prosociality

Intelligence and gender (in)equality: Empirical evidence from developing countries

“…Certainly, if traditional patriarchal societies ignored the role of women in the community, then intelligence is a potential determinant of modern values as it nurtures 'a habit of critical thinking, questioning religious dogmas and other sources of traditional authority' (Meisenberg, 2004 p. 139). While Solon (2014) highlights that intelligent individuals are more likely to provide greater freedom to less represented groups of society, there is also evidence that intelligence leads to liberalism, prosociality (Solon, 2014) and generosity (Millet & Dewitte, 2007). Therefore, a positive link between intelligence and pro-gender institutions is predictable as intelligence 'broadens man's outlook, enables him to understand the need for norms of tolerance, restrains him from adhering to extremist doctrines, and increases his capacity to make rational electoral choices ' (Lipset, 1960 p. 54).…”

Scholarly elites orient left, irrespective of academic affiliation

“…The first part of this delineation appears consistent across issues: liberals exhibit greater willingness to impart rights to segments that are less represented from the observer's perspective 4 -which results from their more external control ideology 5 (Levenson & Miller, 1976;Silvern & Nakamura, 1971; Thomas, 1970), empathy (Hirsh, DeYoung, Xu, & Peterson, 2010) and trust (Solon, 2014) held for less represented 6 segments. However, the second part of this delineation-the notion that conservatives adhere more to orthodoxy-is challenged by multiple counterexamples.…”

“…Carl (2015) argued, in accord with Solon (2014), that individuals of moderate intelligence more frequently orient toward social liberalism and economic conservatism than those of lower intelligence, but he argued, in contention with Solon, that 1) highly intelligent individuals in the United States do not necessarily prefer the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, and that 2) even if highly intelligent individuals in the United States orient toward the Democratic Party, they do because the Democratic Party is center-right on a historical scale and not because their Democratic orientation is reflective of a global leftist orientation by highly intelligent individuals. This is consistent with Carl's (2014a) previously articulated suggestion that intelligence is associated with classical liberalism (i.e., social liberalism and economic conservatism).…”

“…In a well-researched, helpful comment, Carl (2015) questioned a couple of Solon's (2014) findings. In review, Solon primarily advanced three related hypotheses:…”

“…There is, heretofore, no consensus (including the citations provided by Carl, 2015) regarding the common elements of the liberal and conservative position clusters into which individuals in many countries have assembled. Indeed, Carl (2015) cited McLean and McMillan (2009), who noted, "What it is to be 'left(-wing)' varies so much over space or time that a definition is very difficult … " Solon (2014) delineated 3 between liberals and conservatives in the following manner: "Compared to conservatives, liberals are characterized by a tendency to demonstrate consideration toward the less represented, whether the less represented comprise minority demographic segments (e.g., homosexuals on gay marriage, pregnant women on abortion, convicted criminals on capital punishment, the poor on fiscal policies and health care, immigrants on immigration, citizens of other countries on foreign policy issues) or less represented alternatives to religious, governmental, or cultural orthodoxy. "…”