Anti Intellectualism As a Social Problem Other (not Listed Above)

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Laverghetta, A., Stewart, J. & Weinstein, L. (2007). Anti-intellectualism and political ideology in a sample of undergraduate and graduate students. Psychological Reports 2007(101): 1050-1056.

Primary sources include original research like a study by Laverghetta, Stewart & Weinstein (2007). Starting with the hypothesis that anti-intellectualism will have correlates in political conservatism, economic conservatism, and religiosity, the authors used a survey methodology and all hypothesized correlations were confirmed. That is, anti-intellectualism is correlated with political conservatism, economic conservatism, and religiosity. The reason I chose this primary source is that I believe that these three variables (political conservatism, economic conservatism, and religiosity) are stereotyped as being linked with anti-intellectualism. Rather than rely on stereotypes or assumptions, I believe it is important to check the empirical studies that actually measure whether there is a correlation; not to do so would actually be anti-intellectual.

The study has some weaknesses, mainly in that the sample size was limited to 235 American college students. Therefore, the results are not totally valid or reliable, but they do offer researchers and sociologists data that substantiates the commonly-held belief that people who are anti-intellectual tend to be conservative rather than liberal. Another potential weakness with this study is that the authors do not suggest what causal variables might be linked with anti-intellectualism, or whether there are extraneous variables. As preliminary research, the Laverghetta, Stewart & Weinstein (2007) study is helpful.

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There is also very little actual primary or experimental research done on anti-intellectualism, which is another reason why I chose this source. Anti-intellectualism seems to be a problem that many analysts know exists, and it is a subject discussed in the mainstream as well as scholarly media but with little substantial evidence to back it up.

From this study I learned that there are some specific variables that are linked with anti-intellectualism. In fact, the authors also found that freshmen students are more likely to be anti-intellectual than graduate school students, which seems obvious given the latter has decided to pursue an advanced degree. However, it might also suggest that the university experience tends to dismantle some of the anti-intellectual beliefs a student might have inherited from family or being in a conservative community. It would be interesting to see if there are any race, ethnicity, or gender variables that are also liked with anti-intellectualism, and whether similar results are evident in other countries and cultures.

As this is a psychological study, the goal of the research was not to discuss the ramifications of anti-intellectualism, which is my intent in the research. Most secondary sources I am consulting for the research do address the consequences of anti-intellectualism. It is helpful to examine the phenomenon from a totally….....

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