Americans with lower scores on a vocabulary test commonly used to measure cognitive ability are more likely to endorse Christian nationalist beliefs, even when accounting for their overall level of education.
To the extent that belief systems like Christian nationalism appeal to those Americans who for whatever reason tend to be less adept at thinking carefully and effectively, it suggests Christian nationalism is not the result of more sophisticated and complex ruminations on politics, religious ethics, and pluralism,” and instead it “appeals to more basic impulses for control and binary distinctions.