Integrative complexity measures cognitive structure, not ideological content or correctness

Evidence

It should be emphasized that the complexity coding system focuses on the cognitive structure, not the content, of expressed beliefs and is therefore not biased for or against any particular philosophy. One can be simple or complex in the advocacy of a wide range of political positions. For instance, Karl Marx and Adam Smith developed highly integratively complex arguments to support polar opposite positions on fundamental issues of economic policy (communism vs. capitalism). A corollary of the above point is that there is no necessary relation between integrative complexity and the correctness of the positions taken by individuals (Tetlock, 1983a). — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2313

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the key scope boundary of the integrative complexity construct—structure over content—with the Marx/Smith illustration anchoring it.
• SEED: A possible essay angle: what a content-neutral sophistication metric reveals about why smart people on all sides can be equally sophisticated—and what that does and doesn’t tell us.