Analytic cognitive style and cognitive ability differentially predict religiosity and social conservatism

- Religion may be embedded more in Type 1 intuitions relative to politics.
- Processing liberal political arguments may require cognitive ability.
- Religious belief should be predicted uniquely by analytic cognitive style.
- Conservatism should be uniquely predicted by cognitive ability.
- Findings from a U.S. sample support both predictions.

Motivated by the dual-process model of the mind, recent research has tested the relationship between cognitive variables and sociopolitical attitudes. There are reasons to believe that religiosity and conservatism may be differentially predicted by analytic cognitive style (ACS) and cognitive ability (CA), respectively. We collected data with three ACS measures, two CA measures, and separate measures of social and economic conservatism. ACS uniquely predicted religiosity and CA uniquely predicted social and general, but not economic, conservatism, controlling for demographic variables. Further research and theorizing are needed to establish the potentially closer coupling between ACS and religiosity and CA and conservatism.