Toward an Integrated Cognition Perspective on Ethnic Prejudice

Abstract

Both ability and motivation aspects of cognition have been shown to relate to ethnic prejudice. In line with recent theorizing, the present study advances an integrated cognition perspective on ethnic prejudice by examining the interplay between cognitive ability (measured with the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test) and cognitive motivation (measured with the Need for Cognitive Closure [NFC] Scale) in a Belgian, heterogeneous adult sample (N = 315). Path analysis revealed that intelligence and NFC each have unique and independent effects on ethnic prejudice, and that both right-wing authoritarianism and essentialist thinking play a mediating role in these effects. Hence, although cognitive abilities and motivations are to some extent interrelated and operate in similar ways, they uniquely and additively contribute to the explained variance in ethnic prejudice.