Sex differences in human intelligence have long been a topic of debate among researchers and scholars. It is now recognized that there are no significant sex differences in general intelligence, though particular subtypes of intelligence vary somewhat between sexes.
It's not because women are stronger; men are actually more powerful than comparably fit females. But here's the point: Women's muscles tend to be more resistant to fatigue than men's, which means they can perform at the same relative intensity for a longer duration than men.
Women scored an average of 63% in our logical reasoning tests, compared with an average of 59% for men. Interestingly, these scores were almost completely reversed after the age of 55, with men scoring 64% and women coming in behind at 59%.
Masculine individuals awarded themselves somewhat higher verbal and practical IQ scores than did female participants. Both participant gender and gender role differences in IQ estimates were found, with gender effects stronger in cognitive and gender role than in “personal” ability estimates.
In fact, males and females appear equally intelligent, on average. But on standardized intelligence tests, more males than females get off-the-chart test scores—in both directions. The greater variance of males on intelligence tests is one of the best-established findings in psychometric literature.
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.
On many tests, a score of 100 is considered the average IQ. Sixty-eight percent of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean (that is, between 85 and 115). That means that nearly 70% of all people score within plus or minus 15 points of the average score.
Pictured above, Terence Tao is said to have the highest IQ score in the world currently, with an impressive score of between 225-230. If the Chinese-American mathematician scored 230 he is definitely out in front. Effectively tying for the title, though, is Marilyn Vos Savant.
Women tend to score higher than men on measures of emotional intelligence, but gender stereotypes of men and women can affect how they express emotions. The sex difference is small to moderate, somewhat inconsistent, and is often influenced by the person's motivations or social environment.
In general, an IQ score is defined with a median and mean of 100. Scores above 130 are labeled as above average or “very superior,” while scores under 70 would be considered below average or labeled as “borderline impaired.” Most people have an average IQ between 85 and 115.
In fact, not only do girls mature faster than boys, scientists believe that their brains can develop up to ten years earlier! In a study performed by Newcastle University in England, it was discovered that as the brain matures it begins to remove neural connections that are stored which it does not think are important.
Among humans, women's life span is almost 8% on average longer than men's life span. But among wild mammals, females in 60% of the studied species have, on average, 18.6% longer lifespans.
In most mammals, including humans, males are larger than females and thus often considered dominant over females.
Females have 37-68% of muscle strength of males in general. The difference on muscle strength between females and males is more on upper body, and less on lower body. Females are relatively stronger on their legs than arms and shoulders.
Think women are more dramatic than men? A US study has found gender plays no role in whether or not a person has a need for drama in their life, although some people definitely do need more drama than others.
Research does find neurobiological differences in the experience of compassion. Women may at times have higher levels of oxytocin—sometimes called the “cuddle hormone” or “love hormone” because it is linked to bonding, social connection, and monogamy.
Just because men are told to hide their emotions, doesn't mean they don't have them. Research shows that men experience emotions at the same level that women do. But because it's not socially acceptable for a man to cry when he's sad, it can make it seem like men don't experience sadness at all.
85 to 114: Average intelligence. 115 to 129: Above average or bright. 130 to 144: Moderately gifted. 145 to 159: Highly gifted.
Adragon De Mello (IQ Score: 400)
Adragon De Mello came to the limelight in 1988 when he became the first person in American history to become a college graduate at 11 (he studied computational mathematics).
Like most aspects of human behavior and cognition, intelligence is a complex trait that is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Intelligence is challenging to study, in part because it can be defined and measured in different ways.
The standard scores on most other currently normed IQ tests fall in the same range. A score of 160 corresponds to a rarity of about 1 person in 31,560 (leaving aside the issue of error of measurement common to all IQ tests), which falls short of the Mega Society's 1 in a million requirement.
An IQ score over 140 indicates that you're a genius or nearly a genius, while 120 - 140 is classed as "very superior intelligence". 110 - 119 is "superior intelligence", while 90 - 109 is "normal or average intelligence".
Attractive people are also likely to be more intelligent, studies find. People who are physically attractive can have IQs up to 14 percent higher than the less attractive. The results come from data on 17,419 children in the UK who have been followed since 1958.