Correlates of general mental ability

[Petyr Baelish]

(incomplete list of mostly socioeconomic and psychological variables)

Table 9.3
Variables Correlated With g

Positive correlation

Achievement motivation
Altruism
Analytic style
Aptitudes, cognitive abilities, 'abstractness of' integrative complexity
Artistic preferences and abilities
Craftwork
Creativity; fluency
Dietary preferences (low sugar, low fat)
Educational attainment
Eminence, genius
Emotional sensetivity
Extra-curricular attainments
Field-independence
Height
Health, fitness, longevity
Humor, sense of
Income
Interests, depth and breadth of
Involvement in school activities
Leadership
Linguistic abilities (including spelling)
Logical abilities
Marital partner, choice of
Media preferences
Memory
Migration (voluntary)
Military rank
Moral reasoning and development
Musical preferences and abilities
Myopia
Occupational Status
Occupational success
Perceptual abilities
Piaget-type abilities
Practical knowledge
Psychotherapy, response to
Reading ability
Regional differences
Social skills
Socioeconomic status of origin
Sports participation at university
Supermarket shopping ability
Talking speed
Values and attainments

Negative Correlation

Accident proneness
Acquiescence
Aging
Alcoholism
Authoritarianism
Conservatism (of social views)
Crime
Delinquency
Dogmatism
Falsification (“Lie” scores)
Hysteria (versus other neuroses)
Impulsivity
Infant mortality
Psychoticism
Racial prejudice
Reaction times
Smoking
Truancy
Weigh/height ratio


Source: Jensen, A. R. (1998). The g Factor: The Science of Mental Ability. London : Praeger. (pp. 300).

[Ixtab]

AuthoritarianismI am not aware that intelligent people have an inborn predisposition to anti-authoritarianism; only that they will tend to be anti-authoritarian so long as those who possess authority, whether they be school teachers or world leaders, continue to exhibit a want of intelligence.

Racial prejudiceMaybe this is because much of our education is anti-racist indoctrination; unintelligent people, being also uneducated, are therefore less likely to develop anti-racist beliefs.

[Petyr Baelish]

I am not aware that intelligent people have an inborn predisposition to anti-authoritarianism; only that they will tend to be anti-authoritarian so long as those who possess authority, whether they be school teachers or world leaders, continue to exhibit a want of intelligence.


You're welcome to substitute "Evidence from peer-reviewed studies suggests" for "I am not aware", if you have such evidence; anecdotes are certainly a poor substitute for it. Whatever the case, the fact that g is also positively correlated with openess to experience, and negatively correlated with dogmatism and social conservatism suggests that authoritarianism, as a personality trait, falls within the nexus of those traits inversely correlated with g.

Maybe this is because much of our education is anti-racist indoctrination; unintelligent people, being also uneducated, are therefore less likely to develop anti-racist beliefs.

I think that there are several dynamics and inter-correlations involved here. G is correlated with openess to experience, liberalism, and altruism. The 'racial prejudice' that this table lists I believe refers to the vulgar, knee-jerk "I hate niggers cuz mah daddy told me to" mentality that is found among certain demographics, and which I would guess, is not indicative of great analytical abilities. Intelligent people are also less likely to deal with low-IQ minorities on a daily basis, and the minority members that they do deal with tend to be far more intelligent than the average (think of a white or east asian surgeon who regulalry deals with black medical doctors - his limited experience certainly would give him little reason to believe that blacks differ in average g from whites or east asians), and thus do not acquire the prejudices that whites in lower socioeconomic strata, who deal with more representative members of these minorities, do. Finally, it appears that the analysis of these correlations was performed on predominantly (if not entirely) white samples; some of these correlations do not appear to hold true for east asians, who despite being more intelligent than whites, have higher rates of dogmatism, authrotarianism, and racial prejudice. This may relate to the key psychological difference between Europeans and East Asians, that is the fact that East Asians tend to be field-dependent, and Europeans, field-independent. In any case, more research needs to be conducted before the cause of these correlations can be elucidated with any certainty.

[Gorilla]

Humor, sense of


I find this. Sometimes though, a healthy sense of humour is regarded as symptomatic of stupidity.

[Elysium]

Positive:

Altruism
Sports participation at university
Supermarket shopping ability

These one are pretty mysterious. I would think someone who can't stand his own mind and thoughts (in other words, stupid) is more willing to be engaged in tons of activities, including shopping and sports (even if sport is totally healthy)

[Petyr Baelish]

Positive:

Altruism
Sports participation at university
Supermarket shopping ability

These one are pretty mysterious.


What's mysterious about the correlation between altruism and intelligence?

I would think someone who can't stand his own mind and thoughts (in other words, stupid) is more willing to be engaged in tons of activities, including shopping and sports (even if sport is totally healthy)

I think that sports participation is indicative of a healthy lifestyle; it is well-known that intelligent people tend to lead longer and healthier lives than the unintelligent; also, sports participation (amongst other extracurricular activities) is often looked at as a plus by the admissions committees of many graduate and professional schools. "Supermarket shopping ability" refers to the ability to quickly find and purchase the best-priced products in a supermarket - a higher IQ is definitely an advantage in such tasks.

[Fade the Butcher]

Do you have any information about which personality types correlate with general intelligence?

[Elysium]

What's mysterious about the correlation between altruism and intelligence?


Look at the lives of almost the totality of the geniuses. They were often solitary people, or at worst misanthrope, who did not pay much attention to others because they were so deep into their sphere.

I'm absolutely not saying altruism is opposed in anyway to intelligence, I'm only pointing the fact that egoism or introspection is absolutely not a correlate of stupidity and that some "altruist" (which is a fallacious concept which shouldn't exist IMHO) people are totally dumb or attention-whores.

For the supermarket shopping skills, I do think the quickness and habilities come with the experience, knowing of the place or how efficient your eyes are.

Finally, of course I can only agree with what you said, but why is there an absence of correlate between individual sports and intelligence? A lot of footballs guys in my school are totally brainless even if they are in teams of sports since their childhood.

[Helios Panoptes]

Whether or not there is "real" altruism is a contested matter. Some believe there is and others believe that seeming altruism(i.e., helping behavior without material reward) is motivated by psychological pleasure that the altruist feels as a result of his behavior. In any case, you are confusing altruism with philanthropy. It is wrong-headed to believe that because a person is not making a spectacle of his humanitarianism that he is not altruistic. There is no contradiction whatsoever between having an introspective nature and being an altruist.

[Anarch]

(incomplete list of mostly socioeconomic and psychological variables)

Table 9.3
Variables Correlated With g

I thought I'd go through an add my comments regarding myself. Because I'm impressively self absorbed.

Positive correlation

Achievement motivation - It depends.
Altruism - Sure.
Analytic style - Unique. I can best describe it as structural.
Aptitudes, cognitive abilities, 'abstractness of' integrative complexity - Relatively... difficult.
Artistic preferences and abilities - Literature wise, sure.
Craftwork - Not really.
Creativity; fluency - Yes.
Dietary preferences (low sugar, low fat) - I eat real meat and pasta and fruit and vegetables. I had McDonalds today for the first time in about a month or more.
Educational attainment - I'm leaving university at the end of the year, so...
Eminence, genius - I'm a genius, sure :p
Emotional sensetivity - Sensitive and chaotic and placid and sharp. Words escape me.
Extra-curricular attainments - I have a few.
Field-independence - Sure.
Height - 6"
Health, fitness, longevity - Quite good health.
Humor, sense of - Severely warped.
Income - Relatively decent.
Interests, depth and breadth of - Reading, playing pool, drinking with friends, learning, other stuff.
Involvement in school activities - HA. HA. HA. Negative.
Leadership - When it's worth it, definetly.
Linguistic abilities (including spelling) - Brilliant.
Logical abilities - Quite good.
Marital partner, choice of - I'm not married, nor do I have a girlfriend.
Media preferences - The Financial Review, The Age.
Memory - Quite good... when it's not dissolving like wet toilet paper.
Migration (voluntary) - Eh?
Military rank - Give me a couple of years.
Moral reasoning and development - Quite good.
Musical preferences and abilities - Varies. Electronica, metal, Beethoven, Mozart, I'd get into Jazz if I knew where to start, probably. I don't play an instrument.
Myopia - I have foresight.
Occupational Status - Hmmm.
Occupational success - Hmmm.
Perceptual abilities - Quite good.
Piaget-type abilities - What? Piaget worked on cognitive development.
Practical knowledge - Quite good.
Psychotherapy, response to - No idea. I don't want to start.
Reading ability - Brilliant.
Regional differences - What?
Social skills - Versatile.
Socioeconomic status of origin - Upper middle class.
Sports participation at university - None.
Supermarket shopping ability - WTF?!?! LOL.
Talking speed - Fast enough.
Values and attainments - Correctly aligned.

Negative Correlation

Accident proneness - Not really.
Acquiescence - Hardly.
Aging - Eh? I'm 20.
Alcoholism - I enjoy drinking. But I don't drink that often.
Authoritarianism - I can be quite... stubborn.
Conservatism (of social views) - High.
Crime - LOL.
Delinquency - Nope.
Dogmatism - Eh?
Falsification (“Lie” scores) - Nope.
Hysteria (versus other neuroses) - Not hysterical.
Impulsivity - No.
Infant mortality - I'm alive. Ha. Ha.
Psychoticism - Oooh, screwed up that one.
Racial prejudice - I'm a nativist.
Reaction times - I'm not sure...?
Smoking - I smoke about five cigarettes a day, sometimes more, depending on what I'm doing.
Truancy - I have better things to do than go to class, sometimes.
Weigh/height ratio - Ideal.

[Petyr Baelish]

Some of the posters here obviously have trouble understanding that these correlations are probabilistic, not deterministic, and have relatively low validity on an individual level. In other words, they describe general tendencies for certain segements of the IQ distribution, but there is an incredibly amount of individual variation therein. Therefore, anecdotes to the effect of "I know plenty of smart people who are selfish" or "Jocks are dumb" do nothing to contradict the fact that in general, altruism and physical fitness are correlated with intelligence.

[Elysium]

In other words, they describe general tendencies for certain segements of the IQ distribution, but there is an incredibly amount of individual variation therein.

In other words, this is for the most part totally useless?

[Helios Panoptes]

Your comment that the correlation is useless because it is not perfect is illogical. Is the negative correlation between longevity and obesity useless because there is a lot of variation therein? I knew a guy who was 100+ lbs. overweight and he lived into his 80s in relatively good health. Evidently, being obese is not bad for and might be good for a person's longevity.

[Elysium]

If we consider psychology a pure natual science, my comment would be totally illogical. But instead, psychology is a often doubtful, ever-changing and based on largely contested arguments, so I don't think why stating: altruism is a correlate to intelligence would be correct if we don't have a certain of factual definition of altruism, as we do with a person's obesity or general health.

[Helios Panoptes]

If we consider psychology a pure natual science, my comment would be totally illogical. But instead, psychology is a often doubtful, ever-changing and based on largely contested arguments, so I don't think why stating: altruism is a correlate to intelligence would be correct if we don't have a certain of factual definition of altruism, as we do with a person's obesity or general health.

I think you misunderstood one of my posts. While whether or not there is "real" altruism in the sense of performing acts beneficial to others without there being psychologically rewarding feelings is in debate, altruism qua phenomenon is helping behavior without a view to material reward. You are getting hung up on a word. It could be called factor-37 and it wouldn't matter.

[IlluSionS667]

If you would have taken this test 500 years ago or even 100 years ago, you would have gotten completely different results, since these correlations are linked to nurture as well as nature. In example, today almost every intellectual supposed "democracy" and "liberal" values while about 100 years ago, pretty much every intellectual opposed them. The reason : education/indoctrination.

[Helios Panoptes]

Piaget-type abilities - What? Piaget worked on cognitive development.

Yes. Jensen is almost certainly referring to Piagetian tests. An example would be conservation of liquids, in which a child is presented with two beakers filled with the same amount of water, then one beaker is emptied into a tall thin glass. The child is then asked which contains the most water. There is a correlation between g and Piagetian skills, such as conservation.