Are People With High IQs More Successful?

[IrishSpring600]

Generally speaking, people who score higher on IQ tests will, on average, go on to do better in conventional measures of success in their life. But is it true?

Intelligent quotient(IQ) tests, by scientific definition, measures a person's reasoning ability( how good are you at solving problems? ), it is designed to assess human intelligence.

How much IQs are needed to succeed in life? How do I increase it? Or do I even need to care?
Let's face it, we've all been curious about how smart we need to be in order to get to where we want to be faster. I'm one of them.

So I did some research. Here's what I found:

Jay Zagorsky, author of a study on wealth and IQ and a research scientist at Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research says ''People don't become rich because they are smart,'' he said ''Your IQ has really no relationship to your wealth.'

Warren Buffet, one of the richest billionaires in the world says that if you have an IQ over 130 you should sell the extra to someone else.

Your IQ has LITTLE to do with how wealthy you become.

What are your views on this subject?

IQ is important, but it's not the package. Put it into action.

 

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[Ninjakid]

Having a high IQ doesn't make you smart.

You know what would make you smart?

Building the first light-sabre.

 

[IrishSpring600]

Having a high IQ doesn't make you smart.

You know what would make you smart?

Building the first light-sabre.

That's a pretty good idea. We would have to find out how the transmission of energy works, along with the process of storing it in a compact container.

 

[16thCylinder]

I know an exceptionally intelligent individual - he has a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering. He is also ruthlessly aggressive when it comes to doing stuff. Once he starts something, he won't stop until he's finished the job, no matter how long it takes or how horrendously difficult it might be.

He is a seriously wealthy multi-millionaire. Not because of his IQ (most university professors aren't rich) but because of his mindset. It's the determination which makes all the difference, IMHO.

 

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[IrishSpring600]

I know an exceptionally intelligent individual - he has a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering. He is also ruthlessly aggressive when it comes to doing stuff. Once he starts something, he won't stop until he's finished the job, no matter how long it takes or how horrendously difficult it might be.

He is a seriously wealthy multi-millionaire. Not because of his IQ (most university professors aren't rich) but because of his mindset. It's the determination which makes all the difference, IMHO.

I also know a successful engineer. He was on the football team, but he was (and still is) a kind-hearted guy. However, he is still dominant, in fact he can get anything he wants without asking for it, but he's not a taker either - that's very true but it doesn't come easy, because behind the scenes, everyone goes hard 24/7.

 

[Gamaur]

Great question, and luckily one with a definitive answer:

There is a positive correlation between IQ, academic success and career success. However, having a high IQ with a lower level of EI (emotional intelligence) or the wrong family background can have a negative correlation, particularly regarding success out of school.

The Lewis Terman Study of Gifted Children (which is still running today after some 80 years) has proven as much, but has also illuminated some interesting findings. Take a look at this article for more context:

Terman's Study of Gifted Children
Starting in the early 1920s, psychologist Lewis Terman began to investigate the idea that genius-level IQ was associated with social and personal maladjustment. He selected approximately 1500 children from California between the ages of 8 and 12 who had an IQ of at least 140, the minimum required to be considered a genius. The average IQ score of the group of participants was 150, and 80 of these children had scores above 170.

Over the next few years, Terman continued to track these children to see how high intelligence might impact the course of their lives. What Terman discovered was that these kids tended to be both socially and physically well-adjusted. These high IQ kids were not only academically successful; they also tended to be healthier, taller, stronger, and less accident-prone than same-aged kids with lower IQs.

After Terman's death in 1956, several other psychologists carried on the original research and followed the original subjects. Known as the Terman Study of the Gifted, the study continues to this day and is the longest-running longitudinal study in the history.

Psychologists continue to track the surviving original participants, some of whom have gone on to achieve great success in life. Some of these individuals include famed educational psychologist Lee Chronbach, I Love Lucy writer Jess Oppenheimer, child psychologist Robert Sears, scientist Ancel Keys, and many others who became faculty members at colleges and universities.

As of the year 2003, there were 200 original participants still living. The study is expected to continue until the last member of the group dies or withdraws.

So how did the majority of Terman's subjects fare in life?

• When they were assessed in 1955 when the average yearly income was $5,000, the average income level for Terman's subjects was an impressive $33,000.
• Two-thirds had earned college degrees and a large number of the participants had gone on to earn graduate and professional degrees.
• Many members of the group became doctors, lawyers, business executives, professors, and scientists.

But not all of these high IQ subjects were so successful. Researcher Melita Oden, who had carried on the research after Terman's death, decided to compare the 100 most successful individuals (group "A") to the 100 least successful (group "C"). While they essentially had the exact same IQs, only a few people from group C had become professionals, most earned just slightly above the average yearly income, and they had higher rates of alcoholism and divorce than individuals from group A.

What could explain this disparity? If IQ predicts success, why did these individuals with similar intelligence scores fare so differently in life?

Terman had noted that as children the individuals in group A tended to exhibit "prudence and forethought, will power, perseverance, and the desire to excel." Later as adults, those from group A tended to rate higher than those from group C on three key traits: goal-orientation, self-confidence, and perseverance.

This suggests that while IQ can play a role in life success, personality traits are also important factors in determining outcomes.

Potential Problems With Terman's Study
Critics have suggested that Terman's study suffers from several notable weaknesses. First, the study lacked a generalizable sample. The original subjects were chosen for the study because they were nominated by their teachers before their IQ was actually tested. It is highly likely that teachers selected children who were both smart and well-adjusted over kids who may have been just as intelligent but less socially competent.

Because Terman's study was longitudinal, the results might be influenced by cohort effects since the original group of participants may have shared characteristics and experiences tied to the specific era in which they lived. For example, the Great Depression and World War II may have prevented many members of the group from attending or completing college. Many women from the group may not have attended school because, at the time, it was more common for women to be homemakers rather than career professionals.

Other researchers have suggested that any randomly selected group of children with similar backgrounds would have been just as successful as Terman's original subjects.

Modern Research on IQ and Life Success
One thing that IQ scores have been shown to reliably predict is academic success in school. However, it is important to note that doing well in school doesn't necessarily mean that a person will be successful at work or in other life areas.

"The best thing IQ measures is the ability to do well in school," suggested Alan Kazdin, professor of psychology and director of the Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic at Yale University, to ABC News. "At this age, consider it potential. But you have to have the right environment to nurture this."

Other research has indicated that children with exceptional academic abilities may actually experience more social problems, including social isolation, than less-gifted students. Another study found that people with higher IQs were more likely to smoke marijuana and use other illegal drugs. Why? Researchers suggest that those with high IQs also tend to score higher on a personality trait known as openness to experience. Since they are more willing to try new things, high IQ individuals may be more likely to seek out novel experiences.

While researchers continue to debate the extent that IQ influences life success, most contemporary research seems to support Terman's overall findings. Intelligence is an important component, but high IQ alone is no guarantee of success in work or other areas of life.

So what's the bottom line?

The results of Terman's longitudinal study of gifted children suggest that IQ can play an important role in determining life success; but high IQ alone is not enough. Variables such as family background, socioeconomic status, and educational experiences as well as personality factors including motivation, willingness to work hard, being committed to goals, creativity, and emotional maturity are also strongly linked to success in life.

Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/intelligence/a/does-high-iq-equal-success.htm

Malcolm Gladwell's pop-psychology book 'Outliers' asserts IQ to be somewhat meaningless, but that is objectively untrue. It's meaningless only in the right conditional context. Renowned Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker has gone to great lengths to prove as much, let alone the above Terman study.

It's common sense really. If you have supportive and talented parents, strong ambition and an aptitude for introspection and emotional sensitivity, then having a high IQ is a distinct advantage.

Elon Musk is the classic example of what happens when super-high IQ has the right conditions.

None of this should be disparaging to someone who tests below 130, or even 100 for that matter. A positive relationship between IQ and success in no way denotes that lower IQ is a disadvantage, because the factors enabling a high IQ individual to succeed can have a profound effect on anyone.

A person of reasonable intelligence with confidence, imagination and ambition will have just as much chance of success as anyone else, and that's the bottom line.

It's also worth pointing out that in spite of the correlations drawn, there's plenty of reason to be dubious about IQ as a measure. Take Richard Feynman, the noble-prize winning theoretical physicist for example. His IQ was tested at a mere 125 yet he scored the highest in the US on the difficult Putnam mathematical competition exam by a large margin. He's renowned as a genius among the intellectual community.

IQ can be something of an indicator, but ultimately all it does is test a person's potential intelligence in specific areas. Meaning, it doesn't mean someone is more likely to find the right answers, rather it's likely to make them better at justifying whatever beliefs they've been conditioned to have. The classic example of this is Chris Langan.

If anyone's interested in what a Will Hunting level of intelligence looks like, look up MIT professor Terence Tao, who's IQ has been tested between 220-230. He's known as the Mozart of math, but I think we could all agree he'd be a terrible businessman and entrepreneur.

 

[EdKirby]

It's funny that you mention Feynman because I was thinking of a physics analogy. Potential intelligence, as tested by IQ tests, can be likened to potential energy. The potential is there but without the needed action or release, it goes nowhere. I shoot bow, and when the bow is fully drawn it has a certain amount of potential energy stored but unless I loose that arrow (take action) nothing happens.

That is why, I think, we see people who would be by most standardized tests, not very intelligent making tons of money and enjoying a ton of success. The reason: They took action and that potential was unleashed. Of course with a high IQ maybe you have a tendency to overthink things.

 

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[Member]

It's also worth pointing out that in spite of the correlations drawn, there's plenty of reason to be dubious about IQ as a measure. Take Richard Feynman, the noble-prize winning theoretical physicist for example. His IQ was tested at a mere 125 yet he scored the highest in the US on the difficult Putnam mathematical competition exam by a large margin. He's renowned as a genius among the intellectual community.

...

If anyone's interested in what a Will Hunting level of intelligence looks like, look up MIT professor Terence Tao, who's IQ has been tested between 220-230. He's known as the Mozart of math, but I think we could all agree he'd be a terrible businessman and entrepreneur.

Just some thoughts of mine because I assume if you know those things you must be curious about this stuff...

You might want to look at this study on the difference between verbally and mathematically precocious youth: http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10188.aspx

Basically it found that children with high math ability didn't necessarily have high verbal ability. Kids with high verbal, however, were more likely to have high math.

If you take a look at this article:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blo...t-richard-feynmans-low-iq-and-finding-another
you will see the suggestion that Feynman may have just been given a verbally loaded IQ test as a child.

If you take a look at Terrence Tao's SAT scores at 8 years old he scored a 760 Math and 290 Verbal (just for comparison to the above mentioned study). He would be an example of extreme math ability (and general intelligence) not necessarily showing up on verbal tests.

 

[Mattie]

Just my theory, but I feel EQ would play a bigger part.