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Journal ArticleDOI

Why g matters: The complexity of everyday life

01 Jan 1997-Intelligence (JAI)-Vol. 24, Iss: 1, pp 79-132
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide evidence that intelligence has pervasive utility in work settings because it is essentially the ability to deal with cognitive complexity, in particular, with complex information processing, and the more complex a work task, the greater the advantages that higher g confers in performing it well.
About: This article is published in Intelligence.The article was published on 1997-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1300 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Everyday life & Cognitive complexity.

Summary (1 min read)

Why g Matters: The Complexity of Everyday Life

  • This article provides evidence that g has pervasive utility in work settings because it is essentially the ability to deal with cognitive complexity, in particular, with complex information processing.
  • Few claims in the social sciences are backed by such massive evidence but remain so hotly contested in public discourse.
  • Besides demonstrating that g is important in practical affairs, I seek to demonstrate why intelligence has such surprisingly pervasive importance in the lives of individuals.
  • I then use both the employment and literacy data to sketch a portrait of life’s challenges and opportunities at different levels of intelligence.

WHAT DOES “IMPORTANT” MEAN?

  • The nature of the job and its context seem to determine whether g has any direct effect on task proficiency, net of job knowlege.
  • As is well known in psychometrics (see also Gordon, 1997), the fact that an individual passes or fails any single test item says little about that person’s general intelligence level.

INFLUENCE OF INTELLIGENCE ON OVERALL LIFE OUTCOMES

  • The effects of intelligence-like other psychological traits-are probabilistic, not deterministic.
  • White adults in this range marry, work, and have children (Hermstein & Murray, 1994), but, as Table 10 shows, they are nonetheless at great risk of living in poverty (30%), bearing children out of wedlock (32%), and becoming chronic welfare dependents (31%).
  • At this IQ level, fewer than half the high school graduates and none of the dropouts meet the military’s minimum AFQT enlistment standards.
  • Most occupations are within reach cognitively, because these individuals learn complex material fairly easily and independently.
  • Such as divorce, illness, and occasional unemployment, they rarely become trapped in poverty or social pathology.

THE FUTURE

  • Complexity enriches social and cultural life, but it also risks leaving some individuals behind.
  • Society has become more complex-and g loaded-as the authors have entered the information age and postindustrial economy.
  • Accordingly, organizations are “flatter” (have fewer hierarchical levels), and increasing numbers of jobs require high-level cognitive and interpersonal skills (Camevale, 1991; Cascio, 1995; Hunt, 1995; Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, 1991).
  • There is evidence that increasing proportions of individuals with below-average IQs are having trouble adapting to their increasingly complex modern life (Granat & Granat, 1978) and that social inequality along IQ lines is increasing (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994).
  • As the military experience also illustrates, however, what is good pedagogy for the low-aptitude learner may be inappropriate for the high-aptitude person.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors used multilevel meta-analyses to summarize wisdom's correlations with age, intelligence, the Big Five personality traits, narcissism, self-esteem, social desirability, and well-being.
Abstract: Psychologists have studied the ancient concept of wisdom for 3 decades. Nevertheless, apparent discrepancies in theories and empirical findings have left the nomological network of the construct unclear. Using multilevel meta-analyses, we summarized wisdom’s correlations with age, intelligence, the Big Five personality traits, narcissism, self-esteem, social desirability, and well-being. We furthermore examined whether these correlations were moderated by the general approach to conceptualizing and measuring wisdom (i.e., phenomenological wisdom as indexed by self-report vs. performative wisdom as indexed by performance ratings), by specific wisdom measures, and by variable-specific factors (e.g., age range, type of intelligence measures, and well-being type). Although phenomenological and performative approaches to conceptualizing and measuring wisdom had some unique correlates, both were correlated with openness, hedonic well-being, and eudaimonic well-being, especially the growth aspect of eudaimonic well-being. Differences between phenomenological and performative wisdom are discussed in terms of the differences between typical and maximal performance, self-ratings and observer ratings, and global and state wisdom. This article will help move the scientific study of wisdom forward by elucidating reliable wisdom correlates and by offering concrete suggestions for future empirical research based on the meta-analytic findings.

2 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
23 Apr 2017
TL;DR: The relationship between national IQs, Muslim% in origin countries and estimates of net fiscal contributions to public finances in Denmark and Finland was examined in this paper, showing that the fiscal estimates were near-perfectly correlated between countries.
Abstract: The relationships between national IQs, Muslim% in origin countries and estimates of net fiscal contributions to public finances in Denmark (n=32) and Finland (n=11) were examined. The analyses showed that the fiscal estimates were near-perfectly correlated between countries (r = .89 [.56 to .98], n=9), and were well-predicted by national IQs (r’s .89 [.49 to .96] and .69 [.45 to .84]), and Muslim% (r’s -.75 [-.93 to -.27] and -.73 [-.86 to -.51]). Furthermore, general socioeconomic factor scores for Denmark were near-perfectly correlated with the fiscal estimates (r = .86 [.74 to .93]), especially when one outlier (Syria) was excluded (.90 [.80 to .95]). Finally, the monetary returns to higher country of origin IQs were estimated to be 917/470 Euros/person-year for a 1 IQ point increase, and -188/-86 for a 1% increase in Muslim%.

2 citations

01 Jan 2013

2 citations


Cites background from "Why g matters: The complexity of ev..."

  • ...Nach Gottfredson ist Intelligenz als ein allgemeines geistiges Vermögen anzusehen, das Fähigkeiten des schlussfolgernden, abstrakten sowie Problem lösenden Denkens, das Verstehen, Auffassen komplexer Zusammenhänge und das Lernen aus Erfahrungswerten mit einbezieht (Gottfredson 1997)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The BAT-7 as mentioned in this paper is a psychometric tool for assessing three intellectual domains, general factor (g), fluid intelligence (Gf), and crystallized intelligence(Gc), and eight cognitive abilities: Verbal (V), Spatial (E), Attention (A) and Concentration (CON), Reasoning (R), Numerical (N), Mechanical (M) and Orthography (O).
Abstract: BAT-7 is a new psychometric tool for assessing three intellectual domains, general factor (g), fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc), and eight cognitive abilities: Verbal (V), Spatial (E), Attention (A) and Concentration (CON), Reasoning (R), Numerical (N), Mechanical (M) and Orthography (O). It consists of three forms of increasing difficulty (E, M and S) and it is focused on the assessment of school and college students, as well as adults with different educational background. The present study aims to provide a description of the BAT-7 development and the main features of it, and a summary of its psychometric properties, mainly its reliability and validity. BAT-7 was administered to a Spanish standardization sample of 4,263 students (age between 12 and 18) and 1,507 adults. Reliability was studied with ordinal alpha, Cronbach’s alpha and tests information functions. Validity was explored by multigroup CFA. 3P IRT model showed a statistical fit for all items. Ordinal alpha ranged from .79 to .91 for test scores and from .91 to .97 for composite scores. The model based on CHC theory showed a good fit to the observed data (RMSEA=.034; SRMR=.026; CFI=.981). The results, in terms of TRI model fitting, reliability and validity, suggest that the BAT-7 is a useful, flexible and highly reliable test for assessing the cognitive abilities, and provide evidences supporting the use of the battery for the assessment of intellectual abilities in children and adults. An estimate of general ability (g), fluid intelligence (Gf) and crystallized intelligence (Gc) also can be obtained by applying the BAT-7.

2 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The ten-year edition of the 10th anniversary edition as mentioned in this paper is devoted to the theory of multiple intelligences and its application in the socialization of human intelligence through Symbols Implications And Applications.
Abstract: * Introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition Background * The Idea of Multiple Intelligences * Intelligence: Earlier Views * Biological Foundations of Intelligence * What Is an Intelligence? The Theory * Linguistic Intelligence * Musical Intelligence * Logical-Mathematical Intelligence * Spatial Intelligence * Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence * The Personal Intelligences * A Critique of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences * The Socialization of Human Intelligences through Symbols Implications And Applications * The Education of Intelligences * The Application of Intelligences

11,512 citations

Book
01 Jan 1983
TL;DR: The Tenth Anniversary Edition of Intelligence explains the development of intelligence in the 21st Century through the applications of language, linguistics, mathematics, and more.
Abstract: * Introduction to the Tenth Anniversary Edition Background * The Idea of Multiple Intelligences * Intelligence: Earlier Views * Biological Foundations of Intelligence * What Is an Intelligence? The Theory * Linguistic Intelligence * Musical Intelligence * Logical-Mathematical Intelligence * Spatial Intelligence * Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence * The Personal Intelligences * A Critique of the Theory of Multiple Intelligences * The Socialization of Human Intelligences through Symbols Implications And Applications * The Education of Intelligences * The Application of Intelligences

9,611 citations

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TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relation of the Big Five personality dimensions (extraversion, emotional stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) to three job performance criteria (job proficiency, training proficiency, and personnel data) for five occupational groups (professionals, police, managers, sales, and skilled/semi-skilled).
Abstract: This study investigated the relation of the “Big Five” personality dimensions (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) to three job performance criteria (job proficiency, training proficiency, and personnel data) for five occupational groups (professionals, police, managers, sales, and skilled/semi-skilled). Results indicated that one dimension of personality, Conscientiousness, showed consistent relations with all job performance criteria for all occupational groups. For the remaining personality dimensions, the estimated true score correlations varied by occupational group and criterion type. Extraversion was a valid predictor for two occupations involving social interaction, managers and sales (across criterion types). Also, both Openness to Experience and Extraversion were valid predictors of the training proficiency criterion (across occupations). Other personality dimensions were also found to be valid predictors for some occupations and some criterion types, but the magnitude of the estimated true score correlations was small (ρ < .10). Overall, the results illustrate the benefits of using the 5-factor model of personality to accumulate and communicate empirical findings. The findings have numerous implications for research and practice in personnel psychology, especially in the subfields of personnel selection, training and development, and performance appraisal.

8,018 citations

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TL;DR: An up-to-date handbook on conceptual and methodological issues relevant to the study of industrial and organizational behavior is presented in this paper, which covers substantive issues at both the individual and organizational level in both theoretical and practical terms.
Abstract: An up-to-date handbook on conceptual and methodological issues relevant to the study of industrial and organizational behavior. Chapters contributed by leading experts from the academic and business communities cover substantive issues at both the individual and organizational level, in both theoretical and practical terms.

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Abstract: released a remarkab le report, A Nation at Risk. This Report has s t imulated in the media considerable discussion about the problems in our schools, speculation about the causes, and ass ignment of blame. Astonishingly, f e w of the media reports have focused on the specific f indings and recommendat ions of the Commission. A lmos t none of the med ia reports tells that the Commission i tsel f re frained f rom speculation on causes and f rom assignment of blame. Because of the extraordinary clarity and importance of the Commission's Report, the editors of the Communica t ions decided to reprint the Report's main section in its entirety. We are p leased to present it to you here.

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