What is it about?
Using a nationally representative sample of 6,366 individuals from 3,183 heterosexual couples collected as part of a large survey called Understanding Society, we show that cognitive skills including memory, verbal fluency, fluid reasoning and numerical reasoning, were correlated with how people decided to vote in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union Membership. We found that of the people with the lowest cognitive ability, only 40% voted Remain, whereas 73% of those with the highest cognitive ability voted Remain.
Featured Image
Photo by Elliott Stallion on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Evidence has been put forward that information provided to the public in the months leading up to the referendum was contradictory, false and often fraudulent, especially regarding the pro-Leave campaign, and that this information proliferated on social media platforms. This study adds to existing academic evidence showing that low cognitive ability makes people more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation. People with lower cognitive ability and analytical thinking skills find it harder to detect and discount this type of information. The study highlights how the rise in misinformation and disinformation, and people’s inability to counter this information, is undermining the democratic process and can be used to influence democratic outcomes.
Perspectives
Depending on which side of the debate you fall, reading this may fill you with anger or joy. However, both these emotions are an error of judgement. It is important to understand that findings are based on average differences between large groups of voters: there exists a huge amount of overlap between the distributions of Remain and Leave cognitive abilities. Indeed, we calculated that approximately 36% of Leave voters had higher cognitive ability than the average (mean) Remain voter.
Chris Dawson
University of Bath
The study highlights how the rise in misinformation and disinformation, and people’s inability to counter this information, is undermining the democratic process and can be used to influence democratic outcomes
Paul Baker
University of Bath
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cognitive ability and voting behaviour in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership, PLoS ONE, November 2023, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289312.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
