The opposite effects of actual and self-perceived intelligence on racial prejudice

Previous research has already firmly established the negative relationship between intelligence and racial prejudice. Yet, so far, the role of self-perceived intelligence in explaining racial prejudice remains uninvestigated. The present study therefore compared the effects of intelligence test scores and self-perceived intelligence on racial prejudice using a Belgian community sample (N = 183). Our results revealed opposite relationships: whereas individuals who scored higher (vs. lower) on an intelligence test showed lower levels of racial prejudice, individuals who perceived themselves as being more intelligent compared to others showed higher levels of racial prejudice. Additional mediation analyses showed that the negative relationship between actual intelligence and racial prejudice was mediated by essentialist thinking whereas the positive association between self-perceived intelligence and racial prejudice was mediated by Social Dominance Orientation. The present results indicate that being more intelligent is related with less racial prejudice, but judging that one is more intelligent than others is related with more racial prejudice.