IQ Tests and Income

Test Your IQ and Make More Money

Studies on IQ test scores carried out over a long period of time have shown that a higher score on IQ tests can predict higher income. There are several possible explanations for this observation.

For one, the kind of items included in most IQ tests tend to be more or less variations of the very same kind of items included in most school examinations. And as we know, people who excel at school tend to gain admittance to the best paying careers, hence the correlation between high IQ test scores and high income.

If IQ tests indeed measure the person's intelligence, it would of course follow that the people who score highly on the IQ tests are people of higher intelligence, and such people would be apt to obviously make better financial decisions that would increase their incomes and reduce their 'pocket leakages' than people with lower IQ test scores - who under that criteria would be 'less intelligent' people.

It is noteworthy that high IQ test scores have been, on most part, correlated with better job performance - and that is another possible explanation for the correlation between high scores on IQ tests and higher incomes. This is because, as we know, people who distinguish themselves at the workplace with consistently good performance come to be seen as (quite) indispensable to the organization and are thus paid higher salaries in a bid to 'keep them.'

Of course, it also worth noting that this IQ correlations with various real life aspects are just averages, calculated for big populations. For individuals the results are significantly harder to deduce. What this means therefore is that if you take your kid for a IQ test and they score a high figure, it doesn't automatically mean that they are bound to be tycoons. And conversely, if your kid happens to score a deplorable figure on IQ tests, it doesn't automatically mean that they will die paupers. This is because as many other factors besides cold intelligence (if indeed that is what IQ tests measure) come into play in financial matters.

Indeed the correlation between IQ test scores is a very tricky one - and it doesn't always mean that the higher the IQ test score the higher the income. In fact, a closer look at IQ test scores and incomes, beyond a certain (high) level, shows something akin to negative returns where a further increase in IQ test scores could actually translate into a decrease in income - but this is obviously a controversial assertion.

All in all, the best way to look at the IQ test scores and income is seeing a higher IQ test score as a hint to the potential for greater earnings in the future, and taking steps to develop that potential. On the other hand, a low IQ test score should not be cause for too much worry as far as earning potential is concerned - especially in today's world, where talents beyond the classroom (music, acting and athletics for example) are gaining their rightful recognition, and often bringing in greater income than the traditional professions. As this trend takes deeper and deeper hold, a day might be coming when the IQ test score will be seen as just a number - much like a football match score.

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