Bright Minds and Dark Attitudes: Lower Cognitive Ability Predicts

Low Intergroup Contact." [This latter means the problematic "information bubble" conservative leaders are trying to deal with and refers to those who avoid contact with people who aren't "like" them, who search out fellow believers on the web while cutting off discussion with neighbors, fellow workers, and relatives, as well as their exposure to mainstream sources of information.]

Report of study from Journal of Psychological Science:

Abstract

Despite their important implications for interpersonal behaviors and relations, cognitive abilities have been largely ignored as explanations of prejudice. We proposed and tested mediation models in which lower cognitive ability predicts greater prejudice, an effect mediated through the endorsement of right-wing ideologies (social conservatism, right-wing authoritarianism) and low levels of contact with out-groups.

In an analysis of two large-scale, nationally representative United Kingdom data sets (N = 15,874), we found that lower general intelligence (g) in childhood predicts greater racism in adulthood, and this effect was largely mediated via conservative ideology.

A secondary analysis of a U.S. data set confirmed a predictive effect of poor abstract-reasoning skills on antihomosexual prejudice, a relation partially mediated by both authoritarianism and low levels of intergroup contact. All analyses controlled for education and socioeconomic status.

Our results suggest that cognitive abilities play a critical, albeit underappreciated, role in prejudice."

Link to the site and study is below. 

Other studies have found a new phenomenon of a widening geographic separation of population by INTELLIGENCE. We're used to poor and undereducated people in some rural areas and urban neighborhoods, but in the past intelligence was more homogenous -- found in all areas. Increasingly over time, however, the more intelligent people of lower income areas are being drawn out permanently to tech, financial, education, and industry centers. This is resulting in an increasing, measurable gap in IQ between geographic areas we have never had before. How will this affect political distributions of prejudice in future? Examining maps of conservative and less conservative/liberal distributions already reveals a strong rural distribution for strong conservativism and active authoritarianism.