The overwhelming majority of evidence clearly points to yes. Psychometric intelligence, assessed by the Intelligence Quotient (IQ), is a set of cognitive abilities that emanate from processing speed and working memory, among other basic processes, covering linguistic, logical-mathematical and abstract thinking, the detection of patterns, learning and problem solving. It is widely recognized as the most robust, stable, and reliable measure in all of psychology, with enormous implications for clinical, educational, and organizational purposes, including public policy (Hermstein & Murray, 1994), (Ulrich et al., 1996), (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997), (Kaufman, 2009), (Mackintosh, 2011), (Lynn & Vanhanen, 2012).
There is ample evidence that IQ is predictive of a country’s socioeconomic and technological development. Studies indicate that there is a significant correlation between the population’s average IQ and economic growth, as well as technological progress (Meisenberg, 2012), (Rindermann, Sailer, & Thompson, 2009), (Jones & Schneider, 2006), (Hunt , 2012), (Kirkegaard, 2014).
An unpublished study, carried out in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, with a sample of 820 participants, demonstrated a strong association between IQ and educational and economic success. In fact, from a score in the lower normal range (76-90), each IQ point is related to, in relative terms, a 2% increase in the chance of completing a Master’s or Doctorate and a 6% increase in individual income.
References
Anastasi, A., & Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological Testing (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall. pp. 326-327. ISBN 978-0-02-303085-7.
Hermstein, R., & Murray, C. (1994). The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life . Free Press. ISBN 0-02-914673-9.
Kaufman, A. S. (2009). IQ Testing 101 . New York: Springer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8261-0629-2.
Kirkegaard, E. (2014). Flynn-effect and economic growth: Do national increases in intelligence lead to increases in GDP? Retrieved from https://www.gwern.net/docs/iq/2014-kirkegaard.pdf.
Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2012). INTELLIGENCE: A Unifying Construct for the Social Sciences . Ulster Institute for Social Research.
Mackintosh, N.J. (2011). IQ and Human Intelligence (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-958559-5.
Meisenberg, G. (2012). The impact of low, average, and high IQ on economic growth and technological progress: Do all individuals contribute equally? Intelligence, 40(5), 506-517.
Rindermann, H., Sailer, M., & Thompson, J. (2009). Are the Wealthiest Countries the Smartest Countries? Intelligence, 37(4), 405-417.
Ulrich, N., Boodoo, G., Bouchard, T.J., Boykin, A.W., Brody, N., Ceci, S.J., Halpern, D.F., Loehlin, J.C., Perloff, R., Sternberg, R.J., & Urbina, S. ( 1996). Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns (PDF). American Psychologist, 51(2), 77-101. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.51.2.77. Accessed in June 2017.
