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Regional Differences in Intelligence in 22 Countries and their Economic, Social and Demographic Correlates: A Review

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  • Lynn, Richard
  • Fuerst, John
  • Kirkegaard, Emil O.W.

Abstract

Differences in intelligence have previously been found to be related to a wide range of inter-individual and international social outcomes. There is evidence indicating that intelligence differences are also related to different regional outcomes within nations. A quantitative and narrative review is provided for twenty-two countries (number of regions in parentheses): Argentina (24 to 437), Brazil (27 to 31), British Isles (12 to 392), Chile (15), China (31), Colombia (33), Denmark (7), Finland (4), France (90), Germany (16), India (33), Italy (12 to 19), Japan (47), Mexico (31 to 32), Peru (1468), Portugal (5), Russia (29 to 79), Spain (15 to 48), Switzerland (47), Turkey (12), the USA (30 to 3100), and Vietnam (61). Between regions, intelligence is significantly associated with a wide range of economic, social, and demographic phenomena, including income (runweighted = .56), educational attainment (runweighted = .59), health (runweighted = .49), general socioeconomic status (runweighted = .55), and negatively with fertility (runweighted = −.51) and crime (runweighted = −.20). Proposed causal models for these differences are noted. It is concluded that regional differences in intelligence within nations warrant further focus; methodological concerns that need to be addressed in future research are detailed.

Suggested Citation

  • Lynn, Richard & Fuerst, John & Kirkegaard, Emil O.W., 2018. "Regional Differences in Intelligence in 22 Countries and their Economic, Social and Demographic Correlates: A Review," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 24-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intell:v:69:y:2018:i:c:p:24-36
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2018.04.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Carl, Noah, 2018. "IQ and political attitudes across British regions and local authorities," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 169-175.
    3. Pesta, Bryan J. & Fuerst, John & Kirkegaard, Emil O.W. & Papaleo, Brent, 2019. "Does intelligence explain national score variance on graduate admissions exams?," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 8-15.
    4. Daniele, Vittorio, 2021. "Socioeconomic inequality and regional disparities in educational achievement: The role of relative poverty," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Laborda, Leopoldo & Elosúa, M. Rosa & Gómez-Veiga, Isabel, 2019. "Ethnicity and intelligence in children exposed to poverty environments: An analysis using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 49-58.
    6. Santos, Eleonora & Khan, Shahed, 2018. "Is There an Economic Bias in Academic Success? A Regional Perspective," EconStor Preprints 183220, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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