“Men consider themselves way smarter than they are while women underplay their brains, according to new research out today.
The findings from a leading London psychologist show the male ego tends to exaggerate cleverness while females seem happy to play dumb.
Professor Adrian Furnham, of University College London, examined the results of 25 studies on IQ and gender differences and found that the real intellectual difference between the sexes is all in the mind.
His overview backs the concept of what is known as the “male hubris, female humility” effect.
Women – especially the brainiest ones – underestimate their own intelligence by about five IQ points.
Prof Furnham said: “Whether men are brighter is another matter.”
He said men appear to be more confident, but not necessarily brighter, which “can have beneficial effects in the interview and even the examination room”.
In comparisons of how people guess their own intelligence men, especially the average-to-dim males, overestimated their intelligence, whereas often very bright women sold themselves short.
Both men and women tended to think their grandfathers were brighter than grandmothers, fathers brighter than mothers and sons brighter than daughters.”
Source: www.thelondonpaper.com
