The literature on self-estimated intelligence (SEI) extends back 50 years and finds, overall, that men consistently estimate their IQ higher than women do. A new study, published in the Journal of Intelligence, replicated this finding and offers additional insight into the psychological processes underlying SEI.
The study wanted to examine how SEI would relate to other self-beliefs, namely physical attractiveness, health, and emotional intelligence. The researchers suggest that self-rated IQ is but one component in a general self-esteem factor.
“The idea”, the authors explain, “was that most self-ratings are positively correlated into an overall self-concept and self-esteem measure, with people feeling more or less positive about themselves”.
Researchers were also interested in how SEI would relate to certain general beliefs, such as religious belief and belief in alternative medicine.
“Previous work showed that those who held more religious beliefs and less belief in science tended to give themselves lower SEI, possibly because they were indeed less intelligent or else less convinced of the scientific credibility of IQ tests”.
An initial study was conducted, where 517 men and women completed questionnaires asking them to estimate their intelligence, emotional intelligence, physical attractiveness, and physical health. They also rated their religious belief, their belief in alternative medicine, and the extent to which they were an optimist.
A second study looked to replicate the first one and additionally explored how SEI relates to belief in conspiracy theories. This study had 475 adults complete the same self-ratings as the first study, and additionally rate their belief in popular conspiracy theories. Subjects also participated in a general knowledge intelligence test.
Results from both studies were in line with previous research showing that men tended to estimate their intelligence higher than women did. The authors relate this to past research saying, “This male hubris effect is found in a very wide range of self-assessments of ability and attractiveness, suggesting that intelligence may not be particularly special”.
Both studies supported the researchers’ hypothesis that SEI is related to other self-beliefs. SEI was positively associated with estimates of emotional intelligence, health, and attractiveness.
“Nearly everyone believes they are more intelligent than average. Males tend to show hubris, females humility. There is only a modest correlation between actual and estimated intelligence”, said study author Adrian Furnham, a psychology professor at Norwegian Business School.
“Whilst he mechanism or process of this is unclear,” the authors say, “it supports the vast self-concept literature, now extended to the SEI literature.”
Researchers had expected beliefs in religion and alternative medicine to be correlated with lower SEI, given that previous studies show that those with higher IQ tend to be more skeptical about these topics. Findings from the first study, however, seemed to contradict this idea. No relationship was found between belief in alternative medicine and self-rated IQ. Belief in religion was found to be positively related to SEI.
The second study, on the other hand, provided support for the idea that less belief in science is associated with lower self-rated IQ. While no relationship was found between religious belief and SEI, those who believed in alternative medicine or conspiracy theories showed lower self-ratings of IQ.
The authors conclude that their findings support the idea of a general self-concept underlying self-estimated intelligence. As for future research, they say, “The question remains as to what self-ratings of specific skills (i.e., negotiation, presentation) or other attributes (i.e., strengths like courage, kindness) are also positively associated with SEI and why”.
The study, “Correlates of Self-Estimated Intelligence”, was authored by Adrian Furnham and Simmy Grover.