Race and intelligence: Difference between revisions

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Pseudoscientific denialism of inherent differences in intelligence between races have played a central role in the history of [[Anti-hereditarian bias|blank slatism]]. In the 1920s, groups of Marxist lobbyists argued that race is a social construct <ref>MacDonald, K. B. (1998). The culture of critique: An evolutionary analysis of Jewish involvement in twentieth-century intellectual and political movements (p. viii). Westport: Praeger.</ref>. In turn, they used such beliefs to justify anti-white policies. In recent decades, as understanding of the human genome has advanced, claims of inherent differences in intelligence between races have been broadly accepted by scientists on both theoretical and empirical grounds.
Pseudoscientific denialism of inherent differences in intelligence between races have played a central role in the history of [[Anti-hereditarian bias|blank slatism]]. In the 1920s, groups of Marxist lobbyists argued that race is a social construct <ref>MacDonald, K. B. (1998). The culture of critique: An evolutionary analysis of Jewish involvement in twentieth-century intellectual and political movements (p. viii). Westport: Praeger.</ref>. In turn, they used such beliefs to justify anti-white policies. In recent decades, as understanding of the human genome has advanced, claims of inherent differences in intelligence between races have been broadly accepted by scientists on both theoretical and empirical grounds.
== Development of the IQ Test ==
It’s reasonable to claim that the '''biggest success story''' in the history of psychology research is the development of the IQ test. An IQ test is a '''serious predictive tool''', unlike most of what is put out by “social psychologists,” “behavioral scientists,” “behavioral economics,” “nudge theorists,” and so on. For a taste of IQ’s success, one meta-analysis with a combined sample size of over 90,000 people found that IQ is the '''most powerful known predictor''' of subjects’ levels of occupation, education, and income.<ref>Strenze, T. (2007). Intelligence and socioeconomic success: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal research. Intelligence, 35(5), 401-426.</ref>
== The Black-White IQ Gap ==
=== Stability of the Gap ===
As Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein argued in ''The Bell Curve'', IQ is extremely relevant to social policy. There is a gap between the average scores of white test takers and black test takers of about 15 IQ points, or one standard deviation. This black-white IQ gap has been measured since the 1960’s. Occasionally, some claim it has shrunk, often through the use of tests with poor predictive validity and non-random samples.
Following claims of a shrinking gap, a 2012 meta-analysis conclusively found no such evidence of shrinkage,<ref>Rushton, J. P. (2012). No narrowing in mean Black–White IQ differences—Predicted by heritable g. American Psychologist, 67(6), 500–501.</ref> meaning the black-white IQ gap had remained stable for almost 50 years after the Civil Rights movement, which led to the government becoming extremely financially supportive of blacks through desegregation and affirmative action.
A recent, representative sample of 12,000 found a black-white IQ gap of over 18 points.<ref>Kirkegaard, E. O., & Fuerst, J. G. (2023). A Multimodal MRI-based Predictor of Intelligence and Its Relation to Race/Ethnicity. Mankind Quarterly, 63(3).</ref> The gap is not closing despite over half a century of welfare to blacks.
=== The Gap and Race Disparities ===
When controlling for IQ, huge chunks of most racial performance gaps vanish.<ref>Herrnstein, R. & Murray, C. (1994). The Bell Curve.</ref> When they have the same IQ as whites, blacks are more likely than whites to graduate from college and to attain a high status occupation. Blacks, after controlling for IQ, make just as much money as whites and are only 5% more likely to be in poverty than whites.


=== References ===
=== References ===

Revision as of 21:16, 26 January 2024

Human races differ in average intelligence for genetic reasons [1]. With the inception of IQ testing in the early 20th century, differences in average test performance between racial groups were observed, and these differences have remained stable through time [2][3]. Simplifying the issue, modern science has concluded that race is a biological reality rather than a social construct [4], and there exists one consensus definition of intelligence, i.e. general intelligence score [5]. The validity of IQ testing as a metric for human intelligence is not disputed. Today, the scientific consensus is that genetics explain most or all of the differences in IQ test performance between groups [6].

Pseudoscientific denialism of inherent differences in intelligence between races have played a central role in the history of blank slatism. In the 1920s, groups of Marxist lobbyists argued that race is a social construct [7]. In turn, they used such beliefs to justify anti-white policies. In recent decades, as understanding of the human genome has advanced, claims of inherent differences in intelligence between races have been broadly accepted by scientists on both theoretical and empirical grounds.

Development of the IQ Test

It’s reasonable to claim that the biggest success story in the history of psychology research is the development of the IQ test. An IQ test is a serious predictive tool, unlike most of what is put out by “social psychologists,” “behavioral scientists,” “behavioral economics,” “nudge theorists,” and so on. For a taste of IQ’s success, one meta-analysis with a combined sample size of over 90,000 people found that IQ is the most powerful known predictor of subjects’ levels of occupation, education, and income.[8]

The Black-White IQ Gap

Stability of the Gap

As Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein argued in The Bell Curve, IQ is extremely relevant to social policy. There is a gap between the average scores of white test takers and black test takers of about 15 IQ points, or one standard deviation. This black-white IQ gap has been measured since the 1960’s. Occasionally, some claim it has shrunk, often through the use of tests with poor predictive validity and non-random samples.

Following claims of a shrinking gap, a 2012 meta-analysis conclusively found no such evidence of shrinkage,[9] meaning the black-white IQ gap had remained stable for almost 50 years after the Civil Rights movement, which led to the government becoming extremely financially supportive of blacks through desegregation and affirmative action.

A recent, representative sample of 12,000 found a black-white IQ gap of over 18 points.[10] The gap is not closing despite over half a century of welfare to blacks.

The Gap and Race Disparities

When controlling for IQ, huge chunks of most racial performance gaps vanish.[11] When they have the same IQ as whites, blacks are more likely than whites to graduate from college and to attain a high status occupation. Blacks, after controlling for IQ, make just as much money as whites and are only 5% more likely to be in poverty than whites.


References

  1. ↑ Piffer, D. (2019). Evidence for recent polygenic selection on educational attainment and intelligence inferred from Gwas hits: A replication of previous findings using recent data. Psych, 1(1), 55-75.
  2. ↑ Rushton, J. P. (2012). No narrowing in mean Black–White IQ differences—Predicted by heritable g. American Psychologist, 67(6), 500–501. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029614
  3. ↑ https://humanvarieties.org/2013/01/15/100-years-of-testing-negro-intelligence/
  4. ↑ Kirkegaard, E. (2021). Genetic ancestry and social race are nearly interchangeable. https://openpsych.net/paper/65/
  5. ↑ Jensen, A. R. (1999). The g factor: The science of mental ability.
  6. ↑ Rindermann, H., Becker, D., & Coyle, T. R. (2020). Survey of expert opinion on intelligence: Intelligence research, experts' background, controversial issues, and the media. Intelligence, 78, 101406.
  7. ↑ MacDonald, K. B. (1998). The culture of critique: An evolutionary analysis of Jewish involvement in twentieth-century intellectual and political movements (p. viii). Westport: Praeger.
  8. ↑ Strenze, T. (2007). Intelligence and socioeconomic success: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal research. Intelligence, 35(5), 401-426.
  9. ↑ Rushton, J. P. (2012). No narrowing in mean Black–White IQ differences—Predicted by heritable g. American Psychologist, 67(6), 500–501.
  10. ↑ Kirkegaard, E. O., & Fuerst, J. G. (2023). A Multimodal MRI-based Predictor of Intelligence and Its Relation to Race/Ethnicity. Mankind Quarterly, 63(3).
  11. ↑ Herrnstein, R. & Murray, C. (1994). The Bell Curve.
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