I am not a political scientist. I'm merely someone who reads a fair bit and tries, in my own fallible way, to get to the truth of things. Certainly this study is not the final word on the matter, and I certainly do not think that all conservatives are gullible simpletons. Just that there are more of them than non-conservatives. And maybe these are just the extremists (e.g. the gullible MAGA republicans who believed Trump's rhetoric that the election was stolen and attacked the Capitol), but there are not such extremists on the other side.
I would be happy to read about gullible non-conservatives. I'm sure there are some!
I agree we should not look down on conservative viewpoints. But I have struggled to reason with proponents of those viewpoints rooted in gullibility. "America should not help Ukraine because it is full of Nazis", for example, textbook Russian propaganda. I asked my brother for proof of his outrageous statement, and he sent me a photoshopped picture of Biden with his hand on Zelensky's ass. OK, it was funny. But irrelevant. It's not just the gullibility, they are either unable or too stubborn to reason with. I think they are unable to accept they are wrong, and yes, populists pointing out to them that we point this out somehow confirms that they are right.
Thank you for replying to my comment. Happy to read any further thoughts you might have.
I think you and I are mostly on the same page here. I'm going to take your advice and put more thought into the perspectives of others. Thank you!