Women are smarter than men

For the first time, women perform better on IQ tests than men on average

07/17/2012

For the first time in 100 years, women have surpassed men in terms of intelligence, says Professor James R. Flynn of the New Zealand University in Otago. Flynn is best known for the Flynn effect named after him, which describes the annual increase in the average intelligence quotient (IQ) in the developed world.

So far, women have always been around five percentage points behind in the average results of their intelligence tests, but now they were able to pass the men for the first time. As Prof. James R. Flynn said, women are currently leading the IQ tests. The intelligence quotient of women has increased more in the past hundred years than in men, Flynn continued.

According to the expert, the increase in IQ can be attributed to the more complex requirements of society, because women must manage family life and career development at the same time. In addition, it may be that women were disadvantaged in the past and therefore have greater intelligence capacity than men. However, so far only assumptions and further research are necessary to determine the cause of the trend, said Flynn.

Flynn effect describes the continuous increase in IQ
In the 1980s, Prof. Flynn with his discovery of the so-called „Flynn effect“ known. The Political Studies Professor showed that the average IQ of the population in industrialized nations has risen five to 25 times from generation to generation since the IQ test was introduced. Improved environmental conditions such as education, nutrition, health care or information and communication technologies are the reasons for the continuous increase in IQ. Also possible genetic causes were discussed in the professional world. Clearly, however, the triggers of the IQ surge are not yet clear.

Intelligence quotient of women rose more strongly
The average results of the intelligence tests, the Flynn has evaluated for 14 industrialized nations, so far, men were always able to post a slightly better result than women. But for women, the IQ has always increased a bit more in recent years, and so they have overtaken the men for the first time. Because of the greater complexity of female CVs that combine work and family, women are more challenged in their cognitive skills than men, which results in a greater increase in IQ, the expert said.

Women underestimate, men overestimate their intelligence
In addition, men may have benefited from their confidence so far, while women are more likely to underestimate themselves, according to a UK study from 2009, according to the French specialist portal „Psychomédia“. When assessing their own IQ, the women rate on average around five points too low, while men are similarly overestimated. All the more painful is the news that the women have brainpowered them to rank many men. However, it should have been clear to the semi-intelligent people before that women can not only give them enough water, but sometimes they are quite superior. (Fp)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann