Are smarter people happier? Meta-analyses of the relationships between general mental ability and job and life satisfaction

Gonzalez‐Mulé, Erik; Carter, Kameron M.; Mount, Michael K.

doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2017.01.003

Cited by 25 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…At worst, cognitive ability has only a weak or null effect on some of the outcomes that we observed. For example, even though we found some negative correlations between cognitive ability and job satisfaction, the sampleweighted average effect size was practically zero (R 2 = .002) which is in line with past reviews where the effect of cognitive ability has been found to be highly mediated by job complexity and income (Ganzach, 1998;Gonzalez-Mule et al, 2017). We also observed relatively weak effects of cognitive ability on leadership role occupancy, BMI, sleep habits, and health conditions.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Greater cognitive ability in adolescence has also been reported to be linked to health behaviors in adulthood, such as greater physical activity (Batty et al, 2007) and less consumption of alcohol or tobacco . In addition, cognitive ability is positively related to subjective measures of well-being and health, including greater life satisfaction (Gonzalez-Mule et al, 2017), happiness (Nikolaev & McGee, 2016), and self-ratings of health (Wrulich et al, 2014). This body of research suggests that cognitive ability plays an important role in many aspects of everyday life.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Can You Ever Be Too Smart for Your Own Good? Comparing Linear and Nonlinear Effects of Cognitive Ability on Life Outcomes

Brown¹,

Wai²,

Chabris³

2020

Preprint

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Despite a longstanding expert consensus about the importance of cognitive ability for life outcomes, contrary views continue to proliferate in scholarly and popular literature. This divergence of beliefs presents an obstacle for evidence-based policy and decision-making in a variety of settings. One commonly held idea is that greater cognitive ability does not matter or is actually harmful beyond a certain point (sometimes stated as greater than 100 or 120 IQ points). We empirically test these notions using data from four longitudinal, representative cohort studies comprising a total of 48,558 participants in the U.S. and U.K. from 1957 to the present. We find that ability measured in youth has a positive association with most occupational, educational, health, and social outcomes later in life. Most effects were characterized by a moderate-to-strong linear trend or a practically null effect (mean R^2 = .002 to .256). Nearly all nonlinear effects were practically insignificant in magnitude (mean incremental R^2 = .001) or did not replicate across cohorts or survey waves. We found no support for any downside to higher ability and no evidence for a threshold beyond which greater scores cease to be beneficial. Thus, greater cognitive ability is generally advantageous—and virtually never detrimental.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

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confidence: 99%

Can You Ever Be Too Smart for Your Own Good? Comparing Linear and Nonlinear Effects of Cognitive Ability on Life Outcomes

Brown¹,

Wai²,

Chabris³

2020

Preprint

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“…Therefore, individual item-score reliability may be relevant when constructing a test, because an item having low reliability may not contribute much to the test-score reliability and may be a candidate for removal from the test. Item-score reliability ( Wanous, Reichers, & Hudy, 1997 , cited 2000+ times in Google Scholar, retrieved on July 27, 2017) is used in applied psychology to assess one-item measures for job satisfaction ( Gonzalez-Mulé, Carter, & Mount, 2017 ; Harter, Schmidt, & Hayes, 2002 ; Nagy, 2002 ; Robertson & Kee, 2017 ; Saari & Judge, 2004 ; Zapf, Vogt, Seifert, Mertini, & Isic, 1999 ) and burnout level ( Dolan et al, 2014 ). Item-score reliability is also used in health research for measuring, for example, quality of life ( Stewart, Hays, & Ware, 1988 ; Yohannes, Willgoss, Dodd, Fatoye, & Webb, 2010 ) and psychosocial stress ( Littman, White, Satia, Bowen, & Kristal, 2006 ), and one-item measures have been assessed in marketing research for measuring ad and brand attitude ( Bergkvist & Rossiter, 2007 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Item-Score Reliability in Empirical-Data Sets and Its Relationship With Other Item Indices

Zijlmans

Tijmstra

Ark

et al. 2017

Educational and Psychological Measurement

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Reliability is usually estimated for a total score, but it can also be estimated for item scores. Item-score reliability can be useful to assess the repeatability of an individual item score in a group. Three methods to estimate item-score reliability are discussed, known as method MS, method λ6, and method CA. The item-score reliability methods are compared with four well-known and widely accepted item indices, which are the item-rest correlation, the item-factor loading, the item scalability, and the item discrimination. Realistic values for item-score reliability in empirical-data sets are monitored to obtain an impression of the values to be expected in other empirical-data sets. The relation between the three item-score reliability methods and the four well-known item indices are investigated. Tentatively, a minimum value for the item-score reliability methods to be used in item analysis is recommended.

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“…By proposing and testing models outlining the possible connections between cognitive capacities and work engagement, we would like to highlight the role of cognitive functioning, not only in work performance but also in work engagement. In our opinion, efforts to elucidate these links might be of benefit given the possible relationships between burnout and cognitive functioning (for a review, see Deligkaris, Panagopoulou, Montgomery, & Masoura, ) and taking into account the relationship between job satisfaction and general intelligence (Ganzach, ; Ganzach & Fried, ; Gonzalez‐Mulé et al, ). However, to date, the associations of cognitive capacities with work engagement within the JD‐R theory has not yet been much examined, if at all.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working memory and fluid intelligence as predictors of work engagement—Testing preliminary models

Kulikowski

Orzechowski

2018

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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This study aimed to investigate the relationships between working memory capacity, fluid intelligence (Gf), and work engagement within the framework of the job demands-resources theory. Multioccupational employees (N = 175 in Study 1 and N = 383 in Study 2) completed sets of Gf, complex span, and n-back tests, along with job resources and work engagement surveys. Structural equation modeling with latent variables and bootstrapping procedures revealed that complex span was indirectly positively related to work engagement via job resources, and n-back was indirectly positively related to work engagement via job complexity. Moreover, the one common factor g composed of Gf, n-back, and complex span was positively indirectly related to work engagement via job resources and job complexity. These results highlight that the cognitive capacities of employees should be given greater consideration as cognitive personal resources in models aimed at accounting for employee work engagement. KEYWORDS cognitive abilities, human resources, intelligence, JD-R, job resources, work engagement, working memory To the extent that social scientists embrace cognitive abilities for modeling important human behaviors and outcomes, they will be better positioned to explain and understand-from a scientific point of view-those aspects of life that capture the exigencies, interests, and opportunities in modern cultures.

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Are smarter people happier? Meta-analyses of the relationships between general mental ability and job and life satisfaction

Cited by 25 publications

References 65 publications

Can You Ever Be Too Smart for Your Own Good? Comparing Linear and Nonlinear Effects of Cognitive Ability on Life Outcomes

Can You Ever Be Too Smart for Your Own Good? Comparing Linear and Nonlinear Effects of Cognitive Ability on Life Outcomes

Item-Score Reliability in Empirical-Data Sets and Its Relationship With Other Item Indices

Working memory and fluid intelligence as predictors of work engagement—Testing preliminary models

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