[The Conversation]

Men Think They’re Brighter Than They Are And Women Underestimate Their IQ. Why?​

When asked to estimate their own intelligence, most people will say they are above average, even though this is a statistical improbability. This is a normal, healthy cognitive bias and extends to any socially desirable trait such as honesty, driving ability and so on. This pattern is so common that it’s known as “the above-average effect”.

In a recent study, my colleagues and I explored how consistently men and women estimated their own intelligence or IQ (intelligence quotient). We also assessed measures of general self-esteem and masculine and feminine personality traits.

We found the strongest predictors of overestimating IQ were biological sex and then psychological gender. Being born male and having strong masculine traits (both men and women) were associated with an inflated intellectual self-image.

Male hubris, female humility​

Despite people’s overall tendency to overestimate their own intelligence, individuals vary. Some doubt their intellectual ability while others greatly overestimate their talents. In general, though, when asked to estimate their IQ, men think they’re significantly brighter than they are, while women’s estimates are far more modest.

Our findings are consistent with those of other studies. Psychologist Adrian Furnham has termed this effect the male hubris, female humility problem. It’s true of many cultures.

Why do men see themselves as so much brighter, while women consistently underestimate their intelligence?

There are no gender differences in actual IQ​

Psychology and intelligence researchers are unequivocal: men and women do not differ in actual IQ. There is no “smarter sex”. However, it was only with the development of objective measures of assessing intelligence that this notion was invalidated.

Historically, women were believed to be intellectually inferior as they had slightly smaller skulls. By the same logic, an elephant’s intelligence dwarfs ours! Bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to brain size.

In the past century, gender stereotypes have changed greatly. Today, when asked explicitly, most people will agree men and women are equally intelligent. Overt endorsements of gender stereotypes about intelligence are rare in most countries.

But there is quite a difference in implicit beliefs about gender and intellect. Covert and indirect endorsement can still be widely seen.

In the past, men were openly declared to be the ‘smarter sex’. Even today many people still implicitly accept this stereotype. Shutterstock​

In a classic social psychology study, researchers asked parents to estimate the intelligence of their children. Sons were rated significantly more intelligent than daughters. This finding has been replicated across the world.

Parental expectations may be particularly important in influencing their children’s intellectual self-image, and are also predictive of later academic achievement.

Gender differences in self-esteem might also be an important factor, as people with higher self-esteem tend to see all aspects of their life (including intellectual ability) more positively. Girls and women rate their general self-esteem significantly lower than boys and men. This difference emerges early in adolescence.

What did our study find?​

In our study, we asked participants to estimate their IQ after briefing them on how intelligence is scored. The average score is 100 points. We showed participants that two-thirds (66%) of people score in the range between 85 and 115 points to give them a frame of reference for estimates.

Where our study differed is that we told participants they would complete an IQ test after estimating their own IQ. This would help counter false bragging and inflated estimates, and allow us to test the accuracy of the male and female self-estimates.

Participants also completed a measure of general self-esteem, and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, which measures masculine and feminine personality traits. We had a hypothesis that psychological gender (specifically masculinity) would be a better predictor of self-estimates than biological sex (male or female at birth).

Our sample reported a mean IQ score of 107.55 points. This was slightly above average, as expected.

First, we examined the accuracy of their judgments, as one possibility might simply be that one gender (males or females) had completely unrealistic estimates of ability. Looking at the lines plotting self-estimated IQ against actual IQ, we can see men and women in our sample were fairly consistent in their accuracy. The difference was that male scores (in blue) were more more often overestimates (above the line) and females scores (in green) were more often underestimates (below the line).

Scatterplot of the relationship between self-estimated and actual IQ, by gender (blue line is men, green is women). Author provided​

After statistically controlling for the effects of actual measured IQ, we next examined the strongest predictors of self-estimated intelligence. The results showed biological sex remained the strongest factor: males rated their intelligence as higher than females. However, psychological gender was also a very strong predictor, with highly masculine subjects rating their intelligence higher (importantly, there was no association with femininity).

There was also a strong contribution of general self-esteem to participants’ intellectual self-image. As noted above, males report higher self-esteem than females.

Why does all this matter?​

Educational psychologists pay attention to intellectual self-image because it’s often a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you think you can’t, you won’t.

When girls undervalue their intelligence in school, they tend to choose less challenging course content – especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (the STEM subjects). These decisions limit their education and career choices after school.

These gender differences may in part explain the gender gap in wages and bargaining power with employers.

We need to lift girls’ aspirations if they are to go on to solve the complex problems our society faces, while achieving equal pay. It starts early with gendered parental expectations of intelligence, and differences in self-esteem between boys and girls.

Wouldn’t it be nice if, as parents, educators and a society, we could build the confidence of girls and young women to a level where they believe in themselves and are free of those doubts?

This article was first published on The Conversation, and was written by David Reilly, Researcher, School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University

 

[Penny4]

Back in the day when I left high school in the 70's, the popular choices for girls were nursing, teaching & secretarial. I chose secretarial & my parents paid for a business/secretarial course which involved accounts as well. When my brother left school, he became a Lawyer.
As for the present day with girls leaving, the world is their oyster now. Years ago, there were more women Lawyers in Australia than men. Not sure if it's changed recently or not. It's a good job for women.
Girls can certainly choose science/maths professions now. For instance, my neighbour's 3 girls have achieved well in their career paths. One is a Structural Engineer, one is becoming a Paediatric Surgeon & the other one is a Paramedic. I know lots of girls now who get paid well with their careers.
If I had my time again, I would become a Dietitian.

 

[hdhensel]

Girls are best suited for jobs that require talking. Most of them can talk the socks off a male. A reputable study recently showed that females use at least twice the number of words in a conversation. I questioned the value of twice. I think it is more like 6 times. There is also a strong correlation between talking and thinking. When they talk they can't think very well whereas we men tend to think more when we talk. And
if we have nothing to say we shut up, whereas females will always find a reason or an excuse to talk to be heard. Maybe it's an inferiority complex issue - a bit like small men. Happy New Year !!

 

[ICH]

This made me laugh. Not because it is funny. You must have had a dreadful experience with many women. Perhaps you’re being facetious?

 

[RTS]

IQ tests were administered to most students in the 1970a by the Australian government to award Commonwealth Scholarships.

 

[Penny4]

IQ tests were administered to most students in the 1970a by the Australian government to award Commonwealth Scholarships.

The high school where I went, all Year 10 students had IQ tests. We, as students were never told the reason behind it.
The problem was we weren't allowed to obtain our IQ test results, as it was solely kept for Government purposes.
I recall at the time, my grandfather being furious at this decision. He was a retired Head Principal.

 

[Groovy]

According to a licensed psychologist and board certified neurotherapist,
an intelligent person is flexible in their thinking and can adapt to changes, they think before they speak or act, and they‘re able to effectively manage their emotions.
After reading this, what it seems to me is that intelligence is not just measured by head knowledge but by the way a person shows and applies that knowledge, the way she/he treats others and how they live in society.
We live in a society of high achievers and intelligent people, but does it mean that what has been done worldwide is a sign of intelligence?
There are more wars, more immorality, more selfish people, more mental health problems, more violence, more racism and so much more.
That is not being intelligent, in my humble opinion to which I have my right to express

 

[888D.C888]

Girls are best suited for jobs that require talking. Most of them can talk the socks off a male. A reputable study recently showed that females use at least twice the number of words in a conversation. I questioned the value of twice. I think it is more like 6 times. There is also a strong correlation between talking and thinking. When they talk they can't think very well whereas we men tend to think more when we talk. And
if we have nothing to say we shut up, whereas females will always find a reason or an excuse to talk to be heard. Maybe it's an inferiority complex issue - a bit like small men. Happy New Year !!

Females can multitask very effectively, wheras men focus on doing one thing at a time.

 

[Luckyus]

This made me laugh. Not because it is funny. You must have had a dreadful experience with many women. Perhaps you’re being facetious?

Me too, I have found that some women are very than men who some are dumb as a bag of hammers, while some are as thick as two short planks

Females can multitask very effectively, wheras men focus on doing one thing at a time.

Probably because we prefer to try and get it right the first time around.

 

[DrivingGirl]

Girls are best suited for jobs that require talking. Most of them can talk the socks off a male. A reputable study recently showed that females use at least twice the number of words in a conversation. I questioned the value of twice. I think it is more like 6 times. There is also a strong correlation between talking and thinking. When they talk they can't think very well whereas we men tend to think more when we talk. And
if we have nothing to say we shut up, whereas females will always find a reason or an excuse to talk to be heard. Maybe it's an inferiority complex issue - a bit like small men. Happy New Year !!

Pity! - Such stereotypical thinking doesn’t leave much opportunity for original thought/ creativity or anything else! Still if it makes you happy to continue down this thought path - go for your life!! Happy New Year to you too!

 

[Suzanne rose]

Girls are best suited for jobs that require talking. Most of them can talk the socks off a male. A reputable study recently showed that females use at least twice the number of words in a conversation. I questioned the value of twice. I think it is more like 6 times. There is also a strong correlation between talking and thinking. When they talk they can't think very well whereas we men tend to think more when we talk. And
if we have nothing to say we shut up, whereas females will always find a reason or an excuse to talk to be heard. Maybe it's an inferiority complex issue - a bit like small men. Happy New Year !!

I think you are really stereotyping women.
I've come across many men who just don't shut up , and this happened only last night
What ever someone was saying he interrupted including when someone was telling us about old music festivals they had gone to , he interrupted telling us about a music festival that he never went too

I think men and women are equal when it comes to IQs

You are more likely to have a better conversation with a woman

More men sit in front of the telly ( cricket, footy) Longer

It's a known fact women tolerate pain better even my hubby used to say he couldn't go through what I did

Can I ask are you married ?

 

[ICH]

I think H is simply stirring the pot. He’s bored and has decided to send out a post he is sure will garner a response. We may need to send him suggestions for a hobby. Perhaps bee keeping or log throwing? Hang in there H. It will get better.

 

[Nana Zorak]

Girls are best suited for jobs that require talking. Most of them can talk the socks off a male. A reputable study recently showed that females use at least twice the number of words in a conversation. I questioned the value of twice. I think it is more like 6 times. There is also a strong correlation between talking and thinking. When they talk they can't think very well whereas we men tend to think more when we talk. And
if we have nothing to say we shut up, whereas females will always find a reason or an excuse to talk to be heard. Maybe it's an inferiority complex issue - a bit like small men. Happy New Year !!

I was always a plain child & the nicest compliment I ever received was from a boy who told me I would never be beautiful but I certainly wasn't boring. That was my eye-opener in life so I learned to be far more intelligent than ever. I think the writer is one of those "small" men he wrote about as he got it so wrong about women!

 

[Cher]

Women are consistently passed over when employers want “brainy” workers or need help with intellectually demanding tasks. Persistent gender biases still cast men as intellectually superior to women, meaning women are less likely to be hired or seen to be as capable of handling “smart” roles.
Female students who earn higher grades are more likely to attend a university and graduate than their male peers. However, these academic achievements appear to do little to sway this prejudice, which, is so deeply held, that it can be observed in adults, children as young as 5, and both sexes.
The seemingly subtle differences in how people think about the intellectual abilities of women and men translate into macro-level inequities in their professional trajectories, with women being systematically underrepresented in some of the most prestigious jobs in our society.
The worst part about all of this is even if people want to combat gender biases in their hiring decisions and actively promote and employ women, they will likely still fall victim to this gender bias way of thinking. This is because companies put a lot of stock in candidate suggestions made by current or former employees, they may be choosing from a pool of applicants already tilted in favor of men.
Realistically, the only way that this type of gender-biased thinking will be eradicated will be if people finally and fully realise that there is no “smarter sex”.
I personally had and have encountered gender bias for many years after having been employed in many male-dominated industries. I have found that all it takes is one person to break through the barriers and glass ceilings to be able to provide opportunities for others.