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.”

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100’s free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

  • DieguiTux8623
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    12
    ·
    1 year ago

    They were the majority and they had the right to vote for themselves. If they thought Europe was a sinking ship (even before the recent wars at its borders) and decided to jump away before drowning, that seems legit.

    • damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      if they thought

      You mean “if they were made to think”. They didn’t suddenly have this brilliant idea en masse that EU is a sinking ship. They were fed that horseshit over years by liars and grifters and scumbags.

      • DieguiTux8623
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        11
        ·
        1 year ago

        History will prove them right or wrong. I think I can not judge and hope the best for them.

        • Zorque@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I mean, of the promises made by those liars, grifters, and scumbags… most of them have proven false by now. It’s not difficult to see it was most likely the wrong decision based on the factors that most touted as benefits.

    • theodewere@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      it’s specifically not legit because they made their decision based on lies they were unable to discern