scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Journal Article•DOI•

Intelligence and childlessness.

Satoshi Kanazawa1•
London School of Economics and Political Science1
01 Nov 2014-Social Science Research (Academic Press)-Vol. 48, pp 157-170
TL;DR: Analyses of the National Child Development Study show that more intelligent men and women express preference to remain childless early in their reproductive careers, but only more intelligent women are more likely to remainChildless by the end of their reproductive career.
About: This article is published in Social Science Research.The article was published on 2014-11-01. It has received 46 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Childlessness & Population.
Citations
More filters
Journal Article•
A Treatise on the Family

[...]

Saul D. Hoffman
01 Aug 2000-Journal of Marriage and Family
TL;DR: A Treatise on the Family by G. S. Becker as discussed by the authors is one of the most famous and influential economists of the second half of the 20th century, a fervent contributor to and expounder of the University of Chicago free-market philosophy, and winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in economics.
Abstract: A Treatise on the Family. G. S. Becker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1981. Gary Becker is one of the most famous and influential economists of the second half of the 20th century, a fervent contributor to and expounder of the University of Chicago free-market philosophy, and winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in economics. Although any book with the word "treatise" in its title is clearly intended to have an impact, one coming from someone as brilliant and controversial as Becker certainly had such a lofty goal. It has received many article-length reviews in several disciplines (Ben-Porath, 1982; Bergmann, 1995; Foster, 1993; Hannan, 1982), which is one measure of its scholarly importance, and yet its impact is, I think, less than it may have initially appeared, especially for scholars with substantive interests in the family. This book is, its title notwithstanding, more about economics and the economic approach to behavior than about the family. In the first sentence of the preface, Becker writes "In this book, I develop an economic or rational choice approach to the family." Lest anyone accuse him of focusing on traditional (i.e., material) economics topics, such as family income, poverty, and labor supply, he immediately emphasizes that those topics are not his focus. "My intent is more ambitious: to analyze marriage, births, divorce, division of labor in households, prestige, and other non-material behavior with the tools and framework developed for material behavior." Indeed, the book includes chapters on many of these issues. One chapter examines the principles of the efficient division of labor in households, three analyze marriage and divorce, three analyze various child-related issues (fertility and intergenerational mobility), and others focus on broader family issues, such as intrafamily resource allocation. His analysis is not, he believes, constrained by time or place. His intention is "to present a comprehensive analysis that is applicable, at least in part, to families in the past as well as the present, in primitive as well as modern societies, and in Eastern as well as Western cultures." His tone is profoundly conservative and utterly skeptical of any constructive role for government programs. There is a clear sense of how much better things were in the old days of a genderbased division of labor and low market-work rates for married women. Indeed, Becker is ready and able to show in Chapter 2 that such a state of affairs was efficient and induced not by market or societal discrimination (although he allows that it might exist) but by small underlying household productivity differences that arise primarily from what he refers to as "complementarities" between caring for young children while carrying another to term. Most family scholars would probably find that an unconvincingly simple explanation for a profound and complex phenomenon. What, then, is the salient contribution of Treatise on the Family? It is not literally the idea that economics could be applied to the nonmarket sector and to family life because Becker had already established that with considerable success and influence. At its core, microeconomics is simple, characterized by a belief in the importance of prices and markets, the role of self-interested or rational behavior, and, somewhat less centrally, the stability of preferences. It was Becker's singular and invaluable contribution to appreciate that the behaviors potentially amenable to the economic approach were not limited to phenomenon with explicit monetary prices and formal markets. Indeed, during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, he did undeniably important and pioneering work extending the domain of economics to such topics as labor market discrimination, fertility, crime, human capital, household production, and the allocation of time. Nor is Becker's contribution the detailed analyses themselves. Many of them are, frankly, odd, idiosyncratic, and off-putting. …

4,817 citations

Journal Article•
Mental Retardation: A Family Study

[...]

Richard Koch
01 Mar 1966-Pediatrics
TL;DR: This is a monumental study of the relatives of 289 persons who lived at Faribault Minnesota State Colony for the Retarded during the years 1911 to 1918—each retardate averaged 25 years of residential care within the institution.
Abstract: This is a monumental study of the relatives of 289 persons who lived at Faribault Minnesota State Colony for the Retarded during the years 1911 to 1918. Information about 82,217 persons is analyzed in this volume—each retardate averaged 25 years of residential care within the institution. The original study was developed in 1910 and was reopened in 1949 by the present investigators. I find it difficult to assess the value of this book for pediatricians. It is undoubtedly a very meaningful report for geneticists, but I would not recommend its purchase by the practicing pediatrician.

37 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Personality and voluntary childlessness

[...]

Margaret Avison1, Adrian Furnham1•
University College London1
11 Jan 2015-Journal of Population Research
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the association between personality and childbearing motivation, with a focus on voluntary childlessness, and found that personality plays a considerable role in influencing individuals towards, or away from, parenthood.
Abstract: This study examined the association between personality and childbearing motivation, with a focus on voluntary childlessness. 780 adults completed an online survey assessing the Big Five personality traits, the trait of Independence, desire for parenthood, motivations for choosing childlessness and various other socio-demographic characteristics. Compared to parents or those desiring children, childfree respondents scored significantly higher in Independence and significantly lower in Agreeableness and Extraversion. They were also less religious and more politically liberal. For non-parents, level of desire for parenthood was negatively correlated with Independence and positively correlated with Agreeableness and religiosity. The ideal number of children desired was positively correlated with Agreeableness and religiosity. Childfree respondents who decided early in life not to have children (‘early articulators’) were significantly higher in Independence and Openness to Experience than those who decided later in life. Motivations for childlessness loaded onto five factors, four of which correlated significantly with personality traits. The results suggest that personality plays a considerable role in influencing individuals towards, or away from, parenthood.

32 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
By their words ye shall know them: Evidence of genetic selection against general intelligence and concurrent environmental enrichment in vocabulary usage since the mid 19th century

[...]

Heitor B. F. Fernandes1, Aurelio José Figueredo2, Gerhard Meisenberg3•
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul1, University of Arizona2, Ross University3
21 Apr 2015-Frontiers in Psychology
TL;DR: It has been theorized that declines in general intelligence (g) due to genetic selection stemming from the inverse association between completed fertility and IQ and the Flynn effect co-occur, with the effects of the latter being concentrated on less heritable non-g sources of intelligence variance.
Abstract: It has been theorized that declines in g due to negative selection stemming from the inverse association between completed fertility and IQ, and the Flynn effect co-occur, with the effects of the latter being concentrated on less-heritable non-g sources of intelligence variance. Evidence for this comes from the observation that 19th Century populations were more intellectually productive, and also exhibited faster simple reaction times than modern ones, suggesting higher g. This co-occurrence model is tested via examination of historical changes in the utilization frequencies of words from the highly g-loaded WORDSUM test across 5.9 million texts spanning 1850 to 2005. Consistent with predictions, words with higher difficulties (δ parameters from Item Response Theory) and stronger negative correlations between pass-rates and completed fertility presented a steeper decline in use over time, than less difficult and less negatively selected words, which increased in use over time, suggestive of a Flynn effect. These findings persisted when explicitly controlled for word age, literacy rates and temporal autocorrelation. These trends constitute compelling evidence that both producers and consumers of text have experienced declines in g since the mid-19th Century.

30 citations

Cites background from "Intelligence and childlessness."

  • ...ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 21 April 2015 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00361 Edited by: J. Michael Williams, Drexel University, USA Reviewed by: Lei Chang, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, China David Geary, University of Missouri, USA *Correspondence: Michael A. Woodley of Menie, Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Chemnitz, 09107 Chemnitz, Germany; Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium michael.woodley@vub.ac.be Specialty section: This article was submitted to Evolutionary Psychology and Neuroscience, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology Received: 21 January 2015 Accepted: 14 March 2015 Published: 21 April 2015 Citation: Woodley of Menie MA, Fernandes HBF, Figueredo AJ and Meisenberg G (2015) By their words ye shall know them: Evidence of genetic selection against general intelligence and concurrent environmental enrichment in vocabulary usage since the mid 19th century....

    [...]

  • ...…Center Leo Apostel for Interdisciplinary Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium michael.woodley@vub.ac.be Specialty section: This article was submitted to Evolutionary Psychology and Neuroscience, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology Received: 21…...

    [...]

  • ...…Galton’s (1869) predictions, asmost studies found that IQ was inversely related to fertility, suggesting directional genetic selection for lower intelligence (Lynn, 2011) – a trend that persists into the present (Lynn and van Court, 2004; Meisenberg, 2010; Reeve et al., 2013; Kanazawa, 2014)....

    [...]

Journal Article•DOI•
Iq and socioeconomic development across regions of the uk.

[...]

Noah Carl1•
University of Oxford1
01 May 2016-Journal of Biosocial Science
TL;DR: The paper provides evidence for the validity of the regional IQs by showing that IQ estimates for UK nations derived from the same data are strongly correlated with national PISA scores, and finds that regional IQ is positively related to income, longevity and technological accomplishment; and is negatively related to poverty, deprivation and unemployment.
Abstract: Cross-regional correlations between average IQ and socioeconomic development have been documented in many different countries. This paper presents new IQ estimates for the twelve regions of the UK. These are weakly correlated (r=0.24) with the regional IQs assembled by Lynn (1979). Assuming the two sets of estimates are accurate and comparable, this finding suggests that the relative IQs of different UK regions have changed since the 1950s, most likely due to differentials in the magnitude of the Flynn effect, the selectivity of external migration, the selectivity of internal migration or the strength of the relationship between IQ and fertility. The paper provides evidence for the validity of the regional IQs by showing that IQ estimates for UK nations (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) derived from the same data are strongly correlated with national PISA scores (r=0.99). It finds that regional IQ is positively related to income, longevity and technological accomplishment; and is negatively related to poverty, deprivation and unemployment. A general factor of socioeconomic development is correlated with regional IQ at r=0.72.

29 citations

Cites background from "Intelligence and childlessness."

  • ...Fourth, cross-regional differentials in the strength of the relationship between IQ and fertility (see Lynn & Van Court, 2004; Meisenberg, 2010; Lynn, 2011; Chen et al., 2013; Reeve et al., 2013; Kanazawa, 2014; Hopcraft, 2014; Woodley, 2015): fertility might have had a more positive genetic effect in some regions than in others....

    [...]

  • ...…in the strength of the relationship between IQ and fertility (see Lynn & Van Court, 2004; Meisenberg, 2010; Lynn, 2011; Chen et al., 2013; Reeve et al., 2013; Kanazawa, 2014; Hopcraft, 2014; Woodley, 2015): fertility might have had a more positive genetic effect in some regions than in others....

    [...]

References
More filters
Journal Article•DOI•
The revolution in birth control practices of u. s. roman catholics

[...]

Charles F. Westoff1, Larry L. Bumpass2•
Office of Population Research1, University of Wisconsin-Madison2
01 Jul 1973-Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey
TL;DR: There has been a wide and increasing defection of Roman Catholic women from the traditional teaching of their Church on the subject of birth control over the past two decades and a resulting convergence of Catholic and non-Catholic contraceptive practices.
Abstract: There has been a wide and increasing defection of Roman Catholic women from the traditional teaching of their Church on the subject of birth control over the past two decades and a resulting convergence of Catholic and non-Catholic contraceptive practices. By 1970, two-thirds of all Catholic women were using methods disapproved by their Church; this figure reached three-quarters for women under age 30. Considering the fact that most of the one-quarter of young Catholic women conforming to Church teaching had never used any method, the percentage of those deviating may well reach 90 as these women grow older and the problems of fertility control become more important. Much of this increasing deviation has been among the more educated Catholics, who were formerly the most faithful adherents to Church teaching. The change between 1965 and 1970 was especially striking for Catholic women who had attended college. Perhaps the most significant finding is that the defection has been most pronounced among the women who receive Communion at least once a month. Even among this group, the majority now deviates from Church teaching on birth control; among the younger women in this group, the proportion not conforming reaches two-thirds. It seems abundantly clear that U.S. Catholics have rejected the 1968 papal encyclical9s statement on birth control and that there exists a wide gulf between the behavior of most Catholic women, on the one hand, and the position of the more conservative clergy and the official stand of the Church itself, on the other. That many Catholics can continue in their other religious practices and simultaneously deviate on the issue of birth control is an interesting commentary on the process of social change. Ultimately this crisis of authority will probably be resolved by a change in official teaching, since it seems doubtful that such a major discrepancy can continue indefinitely without other repercussions. At a minimum, the cost to the Roman Catholic Church will be a loss of authority in a major area of life: that of sex and reproduction.

11 citations

"Intelligence and childlessness." refers background in this paper

  • ...E-mail address: S.Kanazawa@lse.ac.uk Satoshi Kanazawa Managerial Economics and Strategy Group, Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 1 March 2013 Revised 30 May 2014 Accepted 15 June 2014 Available online 24 June 2014 Keywords: Value for children Parenthood Childlessness General intelligence Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis The Lynn-Flynn Effect a b s t r a c t Demographers debate why people have children in advanced industrial societies where children are net economic costs....

    [...]

  • ...…Street, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 1 March 2013 Revised 30 May 2014 Accepted 15 June 2014 Available online 24 June 2014 Keywords: Value for children Parenthood Childlessness General intelligence Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis The Lynn-Flynn…...

    [...]

  • ...…Preston, 1986; Ryder, 1979; Westoff, 1986), to cultural or religious (Hayford and Morgan, 2008; Heaton, 1986; Mosher et al., 1992; Pearce, 2002; Westoff and Bumpass, 1973), and to rational choice (Becker, 1960, 1981; Butz and Ward, 1979; Easterlin et al., 1980; Friedman et al., 1994; Schoen et…...

    [...]

Journal Article•DOI•
Racial Research and Final Solutions.

[...]

J. Phillippe Rushton
01 Mar 1997-Society

10 citations

"Intelligence and childlessness." refers background in this paper

  • ...…the 20th century, the average level of intelligence in most western industrial nations steadily increased, in a phenomenon initially known as the Flynn Effect (Flynn, 1984, 1987) but more recently known as the Lynn-Flynn Effect (Beaujean and Guiling, 2006; Lynn, 1982; Rushton, 1997; Voracek, 2006)....

    [...]

Journal Article•DOI•
Phlogiston, fluid intelligence, and the Lynn–Flynn effect

[...]

Martin Voracek1•
University of Vienna1
01 Apr 2006-Behavioral and Brain Sciences
TL;DR: Blair's assertion that fluid intelligence is distinct from general intelligence (g) is contradictory to cumulative evidence from intelligence research, including extant and novel evidence about generational IQ gains (Lynn-Flynn effect) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Blair's assertion that fluid intelligence (gF) is distinct from general intelligence (g) is contradictory to cumulative evidence from intelligence research, including extant and novel evidence about generational IQ gains (Lynn–Flynn effect). Because of the near unity of gF and g, his hypothetical concept of gF' (gF “purged” of g variance) may well be a phlogiston theory.

9 citations

"Intelligence and childlessness." refers background in this paper

  • ...…the 20th century, the average level of intelligence in most western industrial nations steadily increased, in a phenomenon initially known as the Flynn Effect (Flynn, 1984, 1987) but more recently known as the Lynn-Flynn Effect (Beaujean and Guiling, 2006; Lynn, 1982; Rushton, 1997; Voracek, 2006)....

    [...]

Book•
Sex Linkage of Intelligence: The X-Factor

[...]

Robert Gordon Lehrke
30 Nov 1997
TL;DR: This chapter discusses Chromosomes, Especially X Mutations, and Neoteny Variability in Intelligence, and discusses the role of sexual selection and race selection in the spread of Homo Sapiens.
Abstract: Preface Background The Big Leap In Other Words Chromosomes, Especially X Mutations Neoteny Variability in Intelligence Division of Labor Within the Brain Natural and Sexual Selection The Races and the Spread of Homo Sapiens Other X-Linked Traits X-Linked Mental Deficiency X-Linkage and Learning Disorders Inheritance of X-Linked Traits Sex Differences in Variance Editorial Comment: What Good Is All This? Glossary References Index

8 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Patterns of Childlessness among Catholic and Non-Catholic Women in the U.S.: A Log-Linear Analysis*

[...]

Dudley L. Poston1, Kathryn Kramer1•
University of Texas at Austin1
01 Oct 1986-Sociological Inquiry
TL;DR: This paper conducted a log-linear analysis of patterns of childlessness among white women between the ages of thirty-five and forty-four, ascertaining whether they are voluntarily, involuntarily, or temporarily childless or childed.
Abstract: The principal objective of this paper is to conduct a log-linear analysis of patterns of childlessness among Catholic and non-Catholic women in the United States. We address this issue by examining white women between the ages of thirty-five and forty-four, ascertaining whether they are voluntarily, involuntarily, or temporarily childless or childed. Given the long-standing emphasis of the Catholic Church regarding the importance of children in marriage and the family, an emphasis which was not reversed during the Second Vatican Council, we suggest that even after controlling for religious activity and educational attainment, Catholic women should be less disposed than non-Catholic women to choose voluntarily to have no children. We review various aspects of Church doctrine leading to such an hypothesis. Our results do not suggest an “end” to Catholic-non-Catholic differentials in childlessness. Catholic women between the ages of thirty-five and forty-four in 1976 were very far apart from non-Catholic women with respect to the voluntary decision to have no children. And they are also very different from non-Catholic women regarding patterns of involuntary childlessness. These differential patterns of voluntary and involuntary childlessness are discussed and analyzed.

8 citations

Related Papers (5)
The reproduction of intelligence

[...]

01 Mar 2010-Intelligence
Gerhard Meisenberg
Dysgenics: Genetic Deterioration in Modern Populations

[...]

30 Dec 1996
Richard Lynn
The bell curve : intelligence and class structure in American life

[...]

01 Sep 1995-Population and Development Review
Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray
New evidence of dysgenic fertility for intelligence in the United States

[...]

01 Mar 2004-Intelligence
Richard Lynn, Marian Van Court
Fertility trends by social status

[...]

28 Mar 2008-Demographic Research
Vegard Skirbekk