The next round of the dispute about who is smarter – men or women – is the result of studies conducted by a psychologist and expert on IQ testing, James Flynn.
He compared the IQ of men and women aged 10 to 30 years in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Israel. The ladies did not yield to men – moreover, they turned out half-point or a point ahead of them. All the survey participants in the studied countries, except Israel, showed this result. In Israel, the picture is somewhat different: men lead there with the same advantage of half a point or a point.
The last century IQ tests gave different results: women’s IQ was traditionally much more lower – the difference could be up to five points. Flynn believes that the changes are caused by changes in women’s lives: their social roles became more diverse, and women often have to combine them. The fact that mothers often have to combine parenting and career has led to the fact that women have adapted to a new level of loads. This has been reflected in their intelligence, and the gender stereotype declaring that men are usually more intelligent than women has lost its relevance today, the researcher says.
