There’s A Direct Correlation Between Who You Hate & How Smart You Are

Haters gon hate, so you might as well do it intelligently.

Admit it: You hate someone. Sure, “hate” is a strong word, but let’s face it — this person really bugs the hell out of you in a way no one else can. There’s a fire inside your soul that burns every time he or she speaks.

It’s okay, friend. It’s normal. We all hate someone, whether we’d like to admit it or not.

But what makes us hate someone? What makes that fire burn with the intensity of a UTI when you pee? Well, it all goes back to science.

Turns out, your loathing is affected by your intelligence level. Previous scientific studies determined that those with lower intelligence levels had a high level of prejudice, but in a recent study, researchers Mark Brandt and Jarret Crawford found that doesn’t tell the whole story.

According to their study, those with high and low intelligence levels show prejudice. The difference is against whom these people express prejudice.

In their study, those with lower cognitive abilities tended to be prejudiced against “low choice” groups — those who are defined by their ethnicity or sexual orientation, for example. In other words, they hate people who are different from them. Their prejudice stems from a lack of exposure.

Typically, these people tend to stay in their own mental environments by separating themselves from those different from them. You could assume that these are the types of people who argue the number 6 is written in the sand, refusing to recognize it could be a 6 or a 9.

“People dislike people who are different from them,” Brandt and Crawford told Broadly. “Derogating people with different worldviews can help people maintain the validity of their own world view.”

In contrast, those with higher cognitive abilities tend to hate, as well, but they hate those people with conservative views, who have a “high choice” in determining with whom they’ll associate. In an ironic way, smartypants hate people who are not accepting of others—but it makes sense. Those with higher intelligence are more empathetic toward others, understanding that their lifestyles may differ from others’.

So next time you start to get that hate fire burnin’ inside of you, ask yourself: Am I being a smartypants or a dumbass?