Importance of a High IQ

Dr. Russell T. Warne

Sep 10, 2023

How important is it to have a high IQ? All other things being equal, it is better to have a high IQ score than a low one. Many positive life outcomes are more likely among people with higher IQs: better school performance, more prestigious jobs, higher income, better physical and mental health, and more. Conversely, many negative life outcomes are less likely when a person has a high IQ: divorce, premature death, criminal behavior, and others. It is important to note, though, that there are exceptions; both high-functioning autism and anorexia are more common in people with higher IQ.

These tendencies are not ironclad. There are exceptions to all of these trends. Also, many of these outcomes have multiple causes, of which IQ might be just one. None of this changes the fact that there is a general rule that higher intelligence -- as measured by traditional IQ tests -- is a predictor of many life outcomes.

So, does having a high IQ mean that a person is living on easy street? No. High IQ is a tailwind in life, but it is not a guarantee. And a lot of these outcomes require hard work. No one is paid well to sit around and have a high-IQ. Prestigious, well paying jobs require employees to produce a lot of value for their employer; being smart often makes that easier. A high IQ opens doors, but it cannot force people to walk through them.

Likewise, a low IQ does not doom someone to a life of bad experiences. To an extent, other things can compensate for a lower IQ. Hard work, beneficial personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness and agreeableness), a strong family support network, and cultural practices and attitudes can cushion the blow of a lower IQ. However, there is a limit to how much these things can compensate for IQ differences. In the workplace, non-cognitive characteristics can probably compensate for about 7-10 IQ points (depending on the job and other contextual circumstances). But nothing will compensate for a large deficit in IQ. It is wishful thinking to try to turn a person with an IQ of 85 into a brain surgeon.

A nuanced view of the importance of high IQ is beneficial. Dismissing this evidence does not change the reality, and it can even harm people by giving them false hope (for people with IQs too low to achieve their goals). Simplistic views can lead to their own problems, such as complacency (if a smart person expects the good life on a silver platter) or unnecessary fatalism (“Only a genius can be a success!”). A probabilistic (and not deterministic) view the relationship between IQ and life outcomes is not only an optimistic one, it is more accurate, too.

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