Cognitive ability and political beliefs in the United States

• Cognitive ability is positively related to socially liberal beliefs.
• It is also positively related to fiscally conservative beliefs.
• Some of the relationships with fiscally conservative beliefs are non-monotonic.
• Controlling for SES reduces cognitive ability’s effect on fiscal conservatism.

Recent evidence indicates that cognitive ability has a monotonically positive relation to socially liberal beliefs and some measures of fiscally conservative beliefs, and that it has a non-monotonic relation to other measures of fiscally conservative beliefs. This study examines the relationship between cognitive ability and political beliefs in a recent, nationally representative sample of American adults. It finds that cognitive ability is positively associated with both socially liberal beliefs and fiscally conservative beliefs. The relationships with socially liberal beliefs are monotonically positive. In contrast, some of the relationships with fiscally conservative beliefs are non-monotonic: Americans of highest ability are less fiscally conservative than those of high ability. The association between cognitive ability and a dimension of fiscal conservatism is reduced substantially when controlling for socio-economic position.