According to Technology Networks there appears to be a link between cognitive ability and the voting patterns in the BREXIT referendum in the U.K.

The referendum campaign was fraught with controversy and was incredibly polarising among the British public. The results were a shock to the economy, causing one of the largest single-day losses in the FTSE markets and the value of the British Pound Sterling.

A recent survey of heterosexual couples in the U.K. revealed a strong link between higher cognitive ability test results and voting Remain.

“Our main finding is that for those lowest on cognitive ability, only 40% voted Remain, whereas 73% of those highest on cognitive ability voted Remain."

In conclusion " what our results do imply is that misinformation about the referendum could have complicated decision-making, especially for people with low cognitive ability.”

Interesting indeed.

Dear WTF? - Not Again,

Lower cognitive ability kind of goes with lower paying jobs.

The movement of people under the EU dictates threatened lower paying jobs disproportionally.

While it is a given that lower cognitive ability can mean less critical thinking skills, there is nothing wrong with taking a Brexit stance in the framing of a perceived threat to livelihoods.

For the most part it shouldn't be regarded as illogical.

Anyone with a sufficient cognitive ability should have voted 'No' on referendums which suggest doing something that is logically impossible.

For example, the suggestion to legalise same-sex marriage when it was not illegal to begin with.

I think intellectuals are more likely to sell the country out with a pro-immigration stance, whilst blue collar workers are probably more sentimental to issues of sovereignty.

I agree with SteelRedux "For the most part it shouldn't be regarded as illogical." but perhaps for different reasons.

I don't like this inference that 'dumb people voted the wrong way'.

Britain used to be an empire and global hegemon, then they were no longer an empire.
What make's you think they would be happy being a vassal state of the EU?

On balance, only people who were financially better off by this EU vassal state arrangement would be likely to support it.
You can't blame them for wanting to be independent.

We need not bother ourselves with Brexit and the assumed ‘misinformation’ involved, let alone the insults about the cognition of voters who didn't vote the way they were expected to. But, coincidentally, the foreign editor of ‘Quadrant’ writes that the UK elites think that white working class ‘racism’ did the dirty on Brexit.

Just like the ‘racists’ in Australia put paid to the Voice 60:40.

Popular electoral democracy is a big problem for “ the UN and international bodies, international and domestic courts, trans-national political elites, and above all Left progressive political movements around the world”. Those pesky voters simply won't accept what their ‘betters’ see as essential. So, they must be ignorant or racist, and led by sinister ‘misinformation’.

Fortunately there are still enough ‘deplorables’ left - 60% of the population in Australia's case - to resist blatant attempts to manipulate constitutions and replace democracy with unelected judges and bureaucrats.

It's one thing to tell people that they are misinformed and stupid; entirely another to get them to agree with you.

Professor Paul Whiteley from the UK Department of Government
uses over 10 years worth of survey data and tells us that
the British electorate voted to leave the European Union
with a vote of 52% to 48%.

He explains that from the survey done and the data collected
showed that there had been huge variations in people's
attitudes towards the economy and other factors over the
las decade.

So we can't put it down to just someone's cognitive ability.

Professor Whiteley tells us that the big picture showed that
people did support membership if they felt that the membership
was delivering what they wanted. Things like a prosperous
economy, protection against crime and terrorism, control
over immigration and efficient public services.

If people did not feel that membership helped to deliver
these things, or worse still it prevented the government from
delivering them. People opposed the membership.

Many felt left behind by the changes that were happening in
society and the economy.

There's more at the following:

http://essex.ac.uk/research/showcase/why-britain-really-voted-to-leave-the-european-union

Here's the link again:

http://www.essex.ac.uk/research/showcase/why-britain-really-voted-to-leave-the-european-union

Hello Foxy,

For me it is the conclusion of the study rather than the actual result of the referendum that I find interesting:

" what our results do imply is that misinformation about the referendum could have complicated decision-making, especially for people with low cognitive ability.”

That is a very bold statement.

Regardless of what some might say perception is not reality.

Misinformation whether as a result of lack of knowledge or manipulation is still misinformation.

Quoting a U.K. fisher from an article this year:
"Believing evocative memories of trawlers departing for distant seas might be reclaimed, Waddy (the Fisher) voted for Brexit. He said he now felt betrayed by politicians who extoled the benefits of leaving the EU but then failed to deliver.

“I wish I never,” he sighed. “They told us everything that we wanted to hear.”

Unfortunately, this person was manipulated to believe misinformation.

I do not think this reflects on the Fishers cognitive ability but it does illustrate that perception is not reality.

A very hard lesson to learn.

Good Morning WTF,

In any complex realm there are heaps of issues and
an infinite number of ways to think about them.
Yet many of our news outlets, social media
commentators, academics, and others look at things
from a one-dimensional point of view.

The labels and concepts that many use to discuss
things and think about them are misleading, causing
widespread misunderstanding and hostility. It would
help if we realized that there are thousands of issues
and an infinite number of ways to think about them.

If you go to the original paper (always good practice) you'll find how they arrived at the cognitive ability numbers. Its not surprising that WTF and the people he relied on don't actually cover what would seem to be the crux of the assertions.

Basically they gave the subjects a quick 5 question test which included things like counting backswords from 100 by 7. These sort of questions are often used to determine if there is a requirement to further investigate potential dementia in a patient but would never be relied on in a clinical sense as a final determinant. Yet that's what they did.

As with much study in the social sciences, this looks very much like a conclusion looking for supporting data. Reach the desired conclusion then go and find some data to support it.

WTF?

mhaze seems to be confused again when he says:

"WTF and the people he relied on don't actually cover what would seem to be the crux of the assertions."

I'm not relying on them for anything at all - apart from a discussion starter.

I have simply stated that I find the conclusion to be interesting and indeed bold I didn't show support for their conclusion.

I hoped to get others opinions and perhaps broaden the conservation which is exactly what has happened.

I continue to enjoy reading about how people make decisions on topics of interest and this is no different

"mhaze seems to be confused again"

I'm not confused. I completely understand what you're doing. I just enjoy exposing it.

It couldn't have been more obvious that the UK was being used as a cash cow for most of the EU, France particularly, a market for Germany, & a dumping ground for less useful population.

The only people likely to have wanted to remain were those on the EU gravy train, academics, bureaucrats, & those rent seekers on government subsidies.

His post shows us where WTF? - Not Again lives.

Britain is still part of Europe. It left the EU.
It did not leave Europe. And one day perhaps
Britain will rejoin the EU because it will
probably miss being a member.

After all the EU remains Britain's largest trading
partner. Britain's security is rooted in Europe's
security. Many thousands of their ancestors died
for it. The bonds of geography, history, climate
and culture, industry and commerce, travel and
studies will remain.

So will the huge fund of common sentiment that
transcends the differences of language and
national borders.

The British are Europeans.

Long Live Britain.

Long Live Europe.

Whenever the left gets kicked in the nuts at an election the LWNJs instead of honestly reviewing their failure collapse into denial, the common theme is that they were right but the voters were too stupid to understand.

The referendum was a prime example. The smoke and mirrors that labor employed didn't convince 2/3rds of voters who instead of taking Labor's word simply smelled a rat.

Australia didn't fail the first people Labor did.

Shadow Minister,

You accuse Labor of being - "smoke and mirrors," regarding
the Voice to Parliament.

I think you're confusing the actions of the Liberals
with those of Labor. And it should read - "Smirk and mirrors!"

Foxy,

You and those on the left have yet to identify any falsehood on the part of the coalition. However, on Labor's side, the story changed depending on who they were talking to. To the voters, it was a modest request, an advisory panel only. To Labor and indigenous audiences, it was a complete voice and co-governance at every level of government.

Smoke and mirrors are too generous. Labor's pitch was a bait-and-swap arrangement. The voters hate being lied to and the result in the polling is clear to see.