Noted authority says women now have higher IQ than men

Flynn, who has been researching IQ level data covering the past century, says that most everyone in developed countries has been getting smarter over the years, about three points more on average; which is significant in itself of course. He points out that when IQ tests first came on the scene, women tended to score well below men, oftentimes as much as five points lower. Since that time however, women have been growing smarter at a faster rate than men and now average a point higher. He bases his assertions on the Raven's Progressive Matrices IQ test, which has been given to subjects ranging from ten years of age to thirty, though in this recent go round he’s restricted his research to just those fifteen to eighteen years old, presumably the age at which full intelligence has developed, but prior to being degraded by environmental factors.

There is much debate surrounding just how accurate IQ tests are and whether they truly measure how smart a person is; after all, some research has found that some people can raise their scores if paid to do so. Typically, those who score high tend to believe in the results while those that don’t suggest it doesn’t measure street smarts or other forms of brilliance, such as those who excel in the arts. In any case, such tests are based on a score of 100 as signifying the average person’s intelligence level.

Flynn tested 500 males and 500 females from a wide variety of so-called advanced countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina and found women scored a half to a whole point higher in all of them. The only exception was Israel, where men still scored a couple of points higher than women. And while he can’t say for sure why women seem to be growing smarter than men, he theorizes that it’s likely due to the roles women now play in society, as compared to earlier times. Nowadays, he notes, women are expected to multi-task, to get jobs and go to work while still raising children. He believes that has caused women’s brains to adjust, making them smarter.

More information:
via ABC, The Australian.

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