Do conservatives really have an advantage in mental health? An examination of measurement invariance.

Many studies have found that conservatives show an advantage in mental health and happiness and various causes of this have been debated (e.g., religiousness, ideology, or genetics). However, not much attention has been given to examining whether this advantage is psychometrically real, or whether it is due to test bias. We analyzed data from two large Finnish surveys of adults (Ns = 848 and 4,978) from Lahtinen (2024), that measured general anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as a new wokeness scale. Using differential item functioning tests, we found no evidence for measurement bias in these scales. The correlation between index scores of wokeness and mental health (internalizing) was -0.36, which increased to -0.41 when measurement error was removed. The association between wokeness and anxiety (r = -0.33, adjusted r = 0.37) was stronger than wokeness and depression (r = 0.20, adjusted r = 0.22).

The Negative Religiousness-IQ Nexus is a Jensen Effect on Individual-Level Data: A Refutation of Dutton et al.'s 'The Myth of the Stupid Believer'.

A recent study by Dutton et al. (J Relig Health 59:1567-1579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00926-3 , 2020) found that the religiousness-IQ nexus is not on g when comparing different groups with various degrees of religiosity and the non-religious. It suggested, accordingly, that the nexus related to the relationship between specialized analytic abilities on the IQ test and autism traits, with the latter predicting atheism. The study was limited by the fact that it was on group-level data, it used only one measure of religiosity that measure may have been confounded by the social element to church membership and it involved relatively few items via which a Jensen effect could be calculated. Here, we test whether the religiousness-IQ nexus is on g with individual-level data using archival data from the Vietnam Experience Study, in which 4462 US veterans were subjected to detailed psychological tests. We used multiple measures of religiosity-which we factor-analysed to a religion-factor-and a large number of items. We found, contrary to the findings of Dutton et al. (2020), that the IQ differences with regard to whether or not subjects believed in God are indeed a Jensen effect. We also uncovered a number of anomalies, which we explore.

"Blessed are the Nations with High Levels of Schizophrenia": National Level Schizophrenia Prevalence and Its Relationship with National Levels of Religiosity.

Schizophrenia is correlated with religious delusions but, heretofore, the relationship between schizophrenia prevalence and religiosity has not been explored at the national level. Examining this relationship, we find that national level schizophrenia prevalence is correlated with national level religiosity and strongly negatively correlated with national level atheism across 125 countries. When controlling for cognitive performance and economic development in multiple regression analyses, the proportion of the variance explained was 2.9% (p < .005) for Religiousness and 5.1% for Atheism (p < .00005). Alternative causal interpretations of this association are discussed.

The Myth of the Stupid Believer: The Negative Religiousness-IQ Nexus is Not on General Intelligence (g) and is Likely a Product of the Relations Between IQ and Autism Spectrum Traits.

Numerous studies have found a negative relationship between religiousness and IQ. It is in the region of - 0.2, according to meta-analyses. The reasons for this relationship are, however, unknown. It has been suggested that higher intelligence leads to greater attraction to science, or that it helps to override evolved cognitive dispositions such as for religiousness. Either way, such explanations assume that the religion-IQ nexus is on general intelligence (g), rather than some subset of specialized cognitive abilities. In other words, they assume it is a Jensen effect. Two large datasets comparing groups with different levels of religiousness show that their IQ differences are not on g and must, therefore, be attributed to specialized abilities. An analysis of the specialized abilities on which the religious and non-religious groups differ reveals no clear pattern. We cautiously suggest that this may be explicable in terms of autism spectrum disorder traits among people with high IQ scores, because such traits are negatively associated with religiousness.

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCE IN EGYPT: A COUNTRY WHERE UPPER IS LOWER.

Two administrations of the Coloured Progressive Matrices in Egypt were compared. The first was administered to a large, representative national sample between 2011 and 2013. The second was administered to primary school pupils in villages in Menoufia in northern Egypt in 2017. Adjusting for the Flynn Effect, the IQ of the rural northern Egyptians was shown to be statistically significantly higher than the national average. It is demonstrated that this is consistent with regional socioeconomic differences in Egypt, which strongly imply that northern Egypt has a higher average IQ than southern Egypt.

National, Sex and Academic Discipline Difference in Smartphone Addiction: A Study of Students in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Sudan.

There are an increasing number of studies on smartphone addiction (SA) among students, and also a number of cross-cultural ones. We add to this body of research by presenting, for the first time, a cross-cultural study comparing students in four Middle Eastern countries: Sudan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. In this context, we also attempt to replicate findings-in other studies-that there are differences in smartphone addiction prevalence along the lines of sex, culture and subject of study. These findings were indeed replicated in a Middle Eastern context. We found significant differences between the Jordanian sample and the other three samples, with Jordanians displaying higher SA. The Sudanese displayed higher SA than the Yemenis, and the Saudis higher than the Sudanese or the Yemeni. We also found that females displayed greater SA than males and humanities students greater SA than science students.

Intelligence, competitive altruism, and "clever silliness" may underlie bias in academe.

Why is social bias and its depressing effects on low-status or low-performing groups exaggerated? We show that the higher intelligence of academics has at best a very weak effect on reducing their bias, facilitates superficially justifying their biases, and may make them better at understanding the benefits of social conformity in general and competitive altruism specifically. We foresee a surge in research examining these mechanisms and recommend, meanwhile, reviving and better observing scientific ideals.

Even "Bigger Gods" developed amongst the pastoralist followers of Moses and Mohammed: Consistent with uncertainty and disadvantage, but not prosocality.

The gods of monotheistic religions, which began amongst pastoralists and defeated exiles, are closer to Big Gods than those associated with ancient city-based polities. The development of Big Gods is contingent upon a need to reduce uncertainty and negative feelings in combination with a relatively high level of prosociality, rather than a need to induce or assess prosociality.

The General Factor of Personality (GFP) is associated with higher salary, having a leadership position, and working in a social job.

Previous studies have suggested that a general factor exists at the top of the hierarchal structure of personality. One interpretation of this General Factor of Personality (GFP) is that it reflects social effectiveness. Accordingly, in a large employee sample (N = 1267), we tested whether the GFP relates to several outcomes assumed to be linked with social effectiveness. Specifically, we examine whether the GFP is positively related to salary and to obtaining a leadership position. Additionally, we test whether high-GFP employees more often work in social occupations. Controlling for demographics and background variables, it was found that the GFP is indeed positively related to monthly (gross) salary. Moreover, employees occupying leadership positions in organizations scored higher on the GFP. GFP scores of employees in more social occupations (e.g., education, health care) were higher than of employees in other types of jobs (e.g., construction). GFP scores were also positively associated with the extent to which one has to relate to others in the job. Overall, the pattern of findings is in line with the notion of the GFP as relating to social effectiveness or adaptiveness, which are assumed to play a significant role in occupational outcomes.

International differences in the speed of cognitive development: A systematic examination of the existence of the Simber Effect.

The Simber Effect refers to the phenomenon whereby, in Arabic countries, young children have an IQ that is little different from that of Western children but that these differences increase throughout childhood culminating in a difference of around 20 points by adulthood. The true nature of this phenomenon is revealed by an examination of 125 samples from all around the globe measured with Raven's Progressive Matrices. We show that in many cases different speeds of cognitive development increase the IQ score differences between countries mostly between 4 and 9 years of age, and that these increases can in part be explained by poor environmental conditions. However, the patterns are not completely clear, either in terms of regularity or strengths. Methodological problems, in particular the cross-sectional designs of the included samples, as well as the significance of the Simber Effect for country comparisons in intelligence are discussed.

Sex and national differences in internet addiction in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Understanding individual differences in psychology, and how they relate to specific addictions, may allow society to better identify those at most risk and even enact policies to ameliorate them. Internet addiction is a growing health concern, a research focus of which is to understand individual differences and the psychology of those most susceptible to developing it. Western countries are strongly overrepresented in this regard. METHOD: Here, sex and national differences in internet addiction are measured, using Young's 'Internet Addiction Test,' in two non-Western countries, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. >800 students aged 18 and 35 years (M = 20.65, SD = 1.48) completed a multidimensional internet addiction instrument. The instrument measures traits such as Withdrawal and Social Problems, Time Management and Performance and Reality Substitute. RESULTS: Analyses revealed that males scored higher than females and Saudis higher than Egyptians on nearly all scales, including the total score. Factor analysis of the 20-item instrument revealed three factors, all exhibiting sex and culture differences. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add to the body of evidence that males are higher than females in problematic internet use, as they are in addictive behaviors in general. Our findings may also imply that restrictions on male-female interaction, which are more pronounced in Saudi Arabia, may elevate the prevalence of internet addiction. The internet is also easier and cheaper to access in Saudi Arabia than in Egypt.

Decreases in divergent thinking across age groups from 2005 to 2018 amongst school children in Sudan.

Performances on tests of creativity have been found to be in decline in the USA. Here, we explore scores on divergent thinking tests in private schools in Khartoum State in Sudan by comparing a 2005 and a 2018 administration of the Torrance Standardized Circles test to 8- to 12-year-olds of both sexes. We find a decline across the period in all three dimensions of the test (Fluency, Flexibility and Originality), as well as in the overall index of divergent thinking. In line with much previous research, females consistently outperform males. Examining previous studies that report Negative Flynn Effects on IQ in Arab countries, we conclude that our results most likely reflect highly localized and exclusively environmental causes, and caution against assuming that the same processes that underlie Negative Flynn Effects in the West, whether on IQ or any trait correlated with it, also underlie it in the Arab World.

Spare the rod and spoil the group's cultural fitness? Conditions under which corporal punishment leads to detrimental and beneficial outcomes.

Corporal punishment of children is common across human history, and the specific practice of striking the buttocks, known as spanking, seems to have developed independently across a number of separate cultures. This pattern suggests adaptive value, posing a paradox in view of the many reviews stating that spanking has purely negative outcomes on future mental health, and the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics that it be outlawed. We purport to resolve this paradox by separating this particular type of corporal punishment from less controlled lashing out in anger, and we reanalyze these reviews in terms of psychological and physical health outcomes. We find that spanking is associated with positive mental health outcomes when (1) performed by calm parents in a (2) ritualized, structured fashion and combined with (3) other disciplinary techniques within (4) a loving relationship with the child, typically (5) as part of the practice of moral, collective religiosity, and when (6) controlling for confounding variables. In that spanking is noticeably practiced by conservative religious cultural groups, we hypothesize that it can be a fitness-promoting form of behaviour in line with religiousness being an example of a group-fitness-promoting adaptation.

Sinistrality is associated with (slightly) lower general intelligence: A data synthesis and consideration of the secular trend in handedness.

The relationship between the general factor of intelligence (g) and handedness is investigated using a combined sample of 23511 respondents from three large databases: the NLSY'79 (US), NLSY'97 (US) and NCDS (UK). Dextrals - those who use their right hands were found to be 1.22 IQ points higher than sinistrals (left handers) after controlling for sex and age and correcting for sources of measurement error. To see if the association between IQ and handedness was strongest on the abilities that were the best measures of g, the method of correlated vectors was used to test for moderation. Across the three studies, g was found to very weakly negatively moderate the association between ability measure and handedness (ρ = -.023, K = 3, N = 23511), however in the NLSY'79, the coding speed subtest was an outlier in terms of the strength of its association with handedness. Its removal yielded indications of positive moderation in this dataset, which when aggregated boosted the overall vector correlation value to .539 (K = 3, N = 23511), suggesting that g might be an important moderator of this relationship. Secondary analysis of secular trend data on the changing percentage of sinistrals in Western populations indicates that overall, sinistrality has increased, entailing a g decline of .106 points over 150 years (.006 points per decade). The secular increase in sinistrality is consistent with other data indicating long-term declines in developmental stability and may stem from some combination of increasing mutation load and environmental stress in Western populations.