Correlates of Self-Estimated Intelligence

Abstract

This paper reports two studies examining correlates of self-estimated intelligence (SEI). In the first, 517 participants completed a measure of SEI as well as self-estimated emotional intelligence (SEEQ), physical attractiveness, health, and other ratings. Males rated their IQ higher (74.12 vs. 71.55) but EQ lower (68.22 vs. 71.81) than females but there were no differences in their ratings of physical health in Study 1. Correlations showed for all participants that the higher they rated their IQ, the higher their ratings of EQ, attractiveness, and health. A regression of self-estimated intelligence onto three demographic, three self-ratings and three beliefs factors accounted for 30% of the variance. Religious, educated males who did not believe in alternative medicine gave higher SEI scores. The second study partly replicated the first, with an N = 475. Again, males rated their IQ higher (106.88 vs. 100.71) than females, but no difference was found for EQ (103.16 vs. 103.74). Males rated both their attractiveness (54.79 vs. 49.81) and health (61.24 vs. 55.49) higher than females. An objective test-based cognitive ability and SEI were correlated r = 0.30. Correlations showed, as in Study 1, positive relationships between all self-ratings. A regression showed the strongest correlates of SEI were IQ, sex and positive self-ratings. Implications and limitations are noted.

Spenders and savers, tightwads and spendthrifts: Individual correlates of personal ratings of being a spender or a saver.

“…Moreover, we are interested in the self-perceptions of savers and spenders. There is a growing literature which has shown simple self-ratings on things such as intelligence, health, and attractiveness are subtle markers of self-esteem with many correlates (Furnham & Grover, 2020a, 2020b; Furnham, 2021a). We assume that overall that being a saver is “psychologically healthier” than being a spender and that the former would have more positive self-ratings.…”

“…In this study we examine people’s comparative ratings on a wide range of factors from attractiveness to intelligence. There is an extensive literature on the relationship between self-estimates and actual behavior, particularly in the area of intelligence (Furnham & Grover, 2020b). The data suggest that correlations between self-ratings and objective or test-based measures are .25 < r < .50, suggesting people are reasonably accurate.…”

“…There is also a fast-growing literature on attitudes to, beliefs about, and uses of money (Dunn et al, 2008; Foster et al, 2009; Fünfgeld & Wang, 2009; Furnham, 1984, 1996, 2014; Sabri et al, 2018; Santos & Campos, 2019) and a number of measures of money attitudes have been developed (Furnham & Grover, 2020a, 2020b; Furnham & Horne, 2021; Klontz & Britt, 2012; Lay & Furnham, 2019). This study is about one specific money-related behavior pattern: The inclination to spend or save money.…”

Flexibility to Change the Solution: An Indicator of Problem Solving That Predicted 9th Grade Students’ Academic Achievement during Distance Learning, in Parallel to Reasoning Abilities and Parental Education

“…In a study with 9th grade students from Latvia, it was found that self-efficacy in mathematics was higher for boys ( Kvedere 2014 ). Self-estimates of intelligence and test scores are low to moderately correlated in research with various samples ( Rammstedt and Rammsayer 2002 ; Furnham and Grover 2020 ). Research also shows that undergraduate students with lower performance are more likely to overestimate themselves but are aware of the possible inaccuracy, and students with higher performance are more accurate in their self-evaluation ( Miller and Geraci 2011 ).…”

Correlates of the Militant Extremist Mindset

“…Finally, we included a simple short measure of self-evaluations. There is an extensive literature from various areas of psychology from the extensive work on Core Self-Evaluations ( Judge and Bono, 2001 ) to Self-Assessed intelligence and attractiveness ( Swami et al, 2007 ; Kornilova et al, 2009 ; Furnham and Grover, 2020 ) that suggests that positive self-evaluations are psychologically healthy with important behavioral consequences. In short, people who feel good about themselves tend to have a more benevolent and less malevolent view of others.…”