Sex differences in parents' estimations of their own and their children's intelligence

Abstract

In this study 141 British parents estimated their own, and one of their children's IQ on their overall intelligence as well as on Gardner's (1983) [Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of the mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.] seven multiple “intelligences”. Replicating previous studies, fathers gave higher self-estimates on overall, mathematical and spatial intelligence than did mothers. Factor analysis of the seven self-estimates yielded two factors: cognitive and non-cognitive intelligence and there was a significant difference on the former with fathers giving higher self-estimates than mothers. Parental estimates of children's overall intelligence were shown to significantly correlate with children's actual IQ score ( r = 0.44), derived from standardized tests of verbal, numerical and perceptual ability. The male advantage for overall intelligence estimates, which was hypothesised, was shown for parental self-estimations but not for estimations of children's intelligence, which showed a female advantage perhaps because girls in this sample actually had higher IQs.