Intelligence as a Function of Conservatism among White South African Students

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between general conservatism and components of intelligence in a White South African student sample. The results indicated no significant difference for full-scale IQ as measured by the South African Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) between subjects who achieved higher or lower scores on the conservatism variables. However, those subjects who had more conservative scores on measures of sociopolitical attitudes and traditionalism achieved higher scores on the block design and digit symbols subtests of the scale. A similar pattern emerged for performance IQ, with those with more conservative scores on the measure of traditionalism achieving higher scores than the less conservative subjects. In addition, disordinal interactions emerged when the relationship between the significant variables underlying conservatism and scores on the South African WAIS was examined.

Problematic constructs and cultural-mediation: A comment on Heaven, Ciarrochi and Leeson (2011)

“…Martin and Ray (1972) found that amongst a demographically representative Australian sample (N= 460) there was a negative correlation between IQ and agreement with egalitarian anti-rational authoritarian items. Katz (1990) observed direct positive correlations between scores on measures of traditionalism and the Wilson-Patterson conservatism scale and performance IQ amongst a sample of white Afrikaner students (N=100) in the 1980s. Kemmelmeier (2008) has found that amongst a sample of college students (N=7279) verbal ability is strongly predictive of belief in the desirability of the free market.…”

Political orientations, intelligence and education

“…Heaven, Ciarrochi, and Leeson (2011) also showed support for this in their finding of a negative relationship between right-wing authoritarianism and intelligence. Other research (see: Katz, 1990;Kemmelmeier, 2008) has found mixed evidence including positive correlations between IQ and adherence to certain right-wing views. Deary et al (2008b) presented data on a UK sample that support the centrist-extremist model of Eysenck: The study found that when the three major British parties are compared the supporters of the centrist Liberal Democrats exhibited the highest childhood intelligence (in the 2001 and 2004 political support surveys a mean IQ of 107.…”

Are high-IQ individuals deficient in common sense? A critical examination of the ‘clever sillies’ hypothesis

“…Indeed there is a study that provides some evidence for this, namely that of Katz (1990), which found positive correlations between aspects of cognitive ability, such as performance IQ, and conservative traditionalism (measured using the social-religious-political and WilsonPatterson Conservatism scales) amongst a sample of 100 white South African students. In an earlier study, Katz (1988) reported that Afrikaans speaking white South Africans (the dominant political group at the time) were considerably more conservative and traditionalistic than English speakers.…”

“…conservative and traditionalistic), embracing those values is a function of cognitive ability (Katz, 1990)? One possibility is that novelty seeking stemming from Openness to Experience is not the key variable mediating this relationship.…”