New scientific research has found that less intelligent people were more likely to vote for Brexit. According to a new study, people who voted for the leave campaign are more likely to have had lower cognitive abilities.This may have made them more susceptible to disinformation, the authors of the s...

indy100.com Scientists discover that less intelligent people voted for Brexit Harry Fletcher ~2 minutes

New scientific research has found that less intelligent people were more likely to vote for Brexit.

According to a new study, people who voted for the leave campaign are more likely to have had lower cognitive abilities.

This may have made them more susceptible to disinformation, the authors of the study claim.

The new research comes from the University of Bath. As the study found, 73 per cent of the UK voters in the top 10 per cent of cognitive performance were remain voters.

Only 40 per cent of the people in the bottom 10 per cent of cognitive performance voted to remain in the EU.

The findings were published in the academic journal PLOS One are were based on analysis of 3,181 couples in the UK from an longitudinal study called Understanding Society.

iStock

The study was led by authors Chris Dawson and Paul Baker. The pair claim that the findings show “low cognitive ability makes people more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation”.

The pair list the rhetoric from leave campaign leaders claiming that the UK would be able to “take back control of our borders” as an example of disinformation, as well as the claim about the £350m Brexit windfall being used to fund the NHS.

Speaking to the Times, Dawson said: “It’s an uncomfortable thing to say, but I think it’s important to be said. We have increasing amounts of fake news and it’s getting more and more sophisticated.”

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    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      617·
      11 months ago

      Let’s not make the mistake of thinking they’re all dumb. Of the handful of Trump supporters I know, none are less than average intelligence.

        • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
          73·
          11 months ago

          Well of course! You and I know that.

          But again, let’s not paint 10’s of millions of Americans as dumb. They are not, and the threat is more real when we consider that.

          I’d also argue for ignorance. How could anyone be that detached you might ask.

          My wife is Philippina. Her ex brainwashed her into Trump, and she knows nothing about him except what she saw on Fox News. This guy is a 72-yo man who cried when Trump lost. He may be a mess in other ways, but he runs a successful business. And he votes.

          My 69-yo sister only had the notion that Trump was kind of a bad man, but she didn’t really know anything about him until we started talking politics. If she caught a FB post saying that Biden kicks puppies, she’s voting Trump.

          In spaces like this, it’s easy to misunderstand how ignorant the rest of the electorate is.