Sex differences in self-estimates of different aspects of intelligence

Abstract

Fifty-four male and 51 female German students estimated their own and their parents' IQ scores on each of Thurstone's [Thurstone, L. L. (1938). Primary mental abilities. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.] seven primary mental abilities (verbal fluency, verbal comprehension, numerical ability, spatial visualization, memory, perceptual speed and reasoning) and four additional types of intelligence proposed by Gardner [Gardner, G. (1983). Frames of mind: the theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.], namely musical, body-kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. Gender differences were identified for only some of the intelligence domains. Males rated their mathematical, logical and spatial intelligence higher than females, while females gave higher scores than males for musical and interpersonal intelligence. Furthermore, there was some direct evidence for the assumption that estimates of intelligence are susceptible to gender stereotypes. When controlling for gender stereotypes, sex-related differences in self-estimated types of intelligence were confined to mathematical abilities and memory with higher ratings of males in the former and higher ratings of females in the latter one. Finally, factor analyses suggested gender differences in the conceptualization of some aspects of intelligence.