MOST Britons are good-natured morons rather than unpleasant bigots, it has been claimed.
New research has found that most prejudice is caused by an unquestioning belief in total nonsense rather than hatred.
Sociologist Emma Bradford said: “People’s reservations about issues like gay marriage were often due to weird misconceptions, such as thinking the 1989 TV show Sticky Moments with Julian Clary was a realistic depiction of gay life.
“Views on immigration were equally confused, with many people believing immigrants now make up the entire population, something that can easily be disproved by simply going outside and looking around.
“In fact, much opposition to immigration was based on things that no one in their right mind should be bothered about anyway, such as a Polish shop replacing the local branch of Spud-U-Like, which had closed down anyway.”
Bradford said she was optimistic about her findings, which suggested that many prejudices could be combatted by simple measures such as thinking about things before you decide to believe them.