Intelligence is a fascinating subject. Deep down we all know that it has a great impact on our lives, one way or the other. Be it in our outcomes in school, university, success in the job, our relationships, or any other endeavor. Science has precisely proven that intelligence is strongly associated with many of those important life achievements (an issue about which you can learn more in our article about how IQ is associated with success in life).

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But intelligence has also always been a subject-matter full of half-truths and confusion in our culture, even though it has been one of the most prolific areas of scientific psychology in the last century, if not the most. The reknown intelligence researcher Robert J. Sternberg reviewed this problem in 1996 with his paper “Myths, countermyths, and truths about intelligence”. And more recently, professors Furnham & Horne published in 2021 “Myths and misconceptions about intelligence: A study of 35 myths” showing how widespread misconceptions about intelligence had become.

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In the following article, we present some of the most common myths, which might be false or true. Try to guess when you read the myth title if it is false or true and learn with the explanation the reasons. If you keep an open mind, you will have a lot of fun discovering the scientific reality in each case. We hope you enjoy it!

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Myth #1 The average IQ of the population has been stable in the last decades

In 1984, researcher James Flynn published his discovery that each new generation was scoring higher in the same IQ tests, at a rate of 3 more IQ points every ten years. Called the Flynn effect, it is one of the most proven psychological effects. To the point that even the US Courts have taken death penalty decisions based on the acceptance of this effect.

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It seems, however, that in developed countries the average IQ is stabilizing (what some called the anti-flynn effect because in some countries it has been found to go down) due to immigration reasons. According to the latest research, people coming from less-developed countries with worse education lower the average. In any case, the Flynn effect is a robust proven effect. Learn more in our article about the Flynn effect and how younger generations are getting smarter.

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So this myth is false.

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Myth #2 Intelligence is located in the left side of the brain, specially in the prefrontal cortex

Scientists have tried for a very long time to understand where intelligence is located in the brain. Since studying a living brain was something really difficult one hundred years ago, they came up with the idea of studying people who had suffered an injury in the brain and comparing between them the affected functions. Studies based on that method led to the proposal that the frontal lobe of the cortex was the main intelligence area in the brain.

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Yet with the launch of powerful neuroimaging techniques it has been discovered that all regions of the brain are actually involved and have a say in intelligence. Depending on the type of task, some regions participate more than others. All in all, high IQ people have been found to use both hemispheres more equally than low IQ persons and also have neurons that respond faster. Check the beautiful illustrations and in-depth explanation of this issue in our article about where intelligence is located in the brain.

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So this myth is false.

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Myth #3 Your IQ does not have a say in predicting your mental health

The relationship between IQ and mental health is very relevant. Different studies have found that a lower IQ is strongly associated with worse physical and mental health, whereas a higher IQ is associated with better health. Of course, many factors influence health, not just intelligence, but it is definitely an impactful factor.

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This relationship changes however for very high IQs, who are at higher risk of developing a mental health disorder if they are chronically exposed to stressful situations. Since they are fast-learners, they can easily fall into the trap of developing exaggerated fear responses that will end up weakening the immune system. A fascinating subject right? You can learn more about it in our article about the link between intelligence and health.

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So this myth is false.

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Myth #4 Your level of intelligence depends mainly on your level of education and effort

The level of intelligence achieved by anyone depends on two main factors, the genes and the environment. Initially, the weight of the environment is greater. That means that children's differences are largely attributed to their schooling, parenting style and motivation for learning.

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But as time goes by, the importance of genes becomes bigger and bigger, especially if we compare adults with similar upbringings. Many studies comparing twins living apart vs. sharing environments have shown that more than 60% of the IQ differences in adulthood will be due to genes. Learn more about this in our article about IQ & genes.

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So this myth is false.

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Myth #5 Humans beat animals in every intelligence ability

According to the most proven model of intelligence, the CHC Model, intelligence is made up of several abilities. Although humans beat all animals in some of the most important abilities, like fluid intelligence (i.e. reasoning for example), they also get badly beaten in many others (like memory) by several animals.

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An example is the chimpanzee, an amazing animal who has been discovered to possess an incredibly powerful visual short-term memory, orders of magnitude more powerful than ours, and which seems to help them flow through the forest branches. You surely want to learn more in our article about the intelligence of animals.

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So this myth is false.

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Myth #6 IQ tests are not scientifically-proven instruments

According to different surveys from psychology researchers, like the one conducted by professors Furnham and Horne (2021), more than 60% of people think that intelligence tests are imperfect and cannot be trusted. That IQ tests are nothing more than a game, is a commonly-held belief. Something pretty understandable since many games without any scientific trace have adopted the terminology and created the confusion.

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Yet professional intelligence tests are not only strongly robust, but among the best, most valid and scientifically-proven instruments in the whole field of psychology. So much so that the American Psychological Association created a multidisciplinary task-force to try to objectively evaluate the state of affairs, and it reached the conclusion that approved IQ tests are as valid as medical science.

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So this myth is false.

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Myth #7 Our IQ peaks when we are young and then declines

The different abilities that make up intelligence never peak at the same time in life. Abstract reasoning is at its best in the 20s, whereas verbal skills and knowledge peak over the 40s. Even social short-term memory is actually at its highest as we are children. So if we look at the different abilities that make it up, no, we do not peak in every one of them in our earliest years.

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It is true nonetheless that if we consider general intelligence as a whole, it does peak sooner than later in life. But since the brain is constantly changing, thanks to its plasticity, the type of activities we do can help us maintain our brains in good shape for longer and even form new connections. Learn more in our article about IQ & age.

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So this myth is false.

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Myth #8 Your IQ does not matter for having a fling

Although the relationship between intelligence and dating is still a very infant area of research, there is a lot going on right now in the field and some very interesting scientific studies have started to bring light to the subject. It seems that since intelligence is highly correlated with gene fitness and also social and economic success, it is a very important factor when judging the attractiveness of a potential partner.

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So much so, that studies have found that even for short-term casual sex, people give a lot of weight, even if unconsciously, to the perceived IQ of the person. Read more about this amazing subject in our article about the relationship between intelligence and romantic life.

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So this myth is actually false.

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In summary

We have covered some important and highly interesting myths about intelligence. There are many more myths that are very commonly held. Some of the most spread ones reported by Furnham & Horne (2021) are that: (i) IQ is not related to anatomy or brain functioning, (ii) that every child is gifted, (iii) that effective schools can make every child perform very well or (iv) that IQ tests only measure tasks and are not related to real-life variables.

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As of now, intelligence is an immense field of research where many issues have been thoroughly investigated and proven. Nonetheless, a lot still needs to be discovered. In our opinion, emotional intelligence will likely be the core of future advancements in the area. We hope this article has helped spark the fire of your desire to learn more about intelligence.