Curious that the study mentions that the effect is strongest with women ... and that makes me wonder about the mechanism. I have noticed that women tend to have more doubts about their abilities than men do, and I keep in mind past studies that have found that minority students do better on tests when they are told that minority students do better on such tests and worse when they are told that minority students do worse on such tests. It would appear, then, that confidence is an important factor in performance (on IQ tests and elsewhere) though we should be careful to note that in a larger context confidence is inversely proportional to competence - i.e., the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
While it is more common to note that the Dunning-Kruger Effect makes stupid people think they are smart, the other half of the effect is that smart people do not recognize how smart they are. An important part of intelligence is recognition of our own weaknesses, and I suspect women are by nature more inclined to self-doubt than men - so meetings where contrary points of view are voiced will likely produce significant self-doubt across the board, and particularly among women - thus lowering confidence in their own abilities and indirectly affecting IQ scores - but we should not presume that this affects IQ itself.
It does make me wonder, however, how suitable women are (on average) to science, as the scientific method requires an antagonistic dialogue in which all parties ruthlessly question each other. While many women are smart enough for this, I am less sure that as many women have the personality to engage in such antagonistic dialogue - especially while keeping that separate from personal feelings about ideological opponents. Of course, there are some women who can manage this easily and men who cannot, and the ability is rare among both sexes.
+Alan Light "is that smart people do not recognize how smart they are"
This is very specifically mentioned in the article with one of the subjects (researcher? maybe) stating that "nobody hears me".
I read a joking comment recently basically stating: "Don't take offence if I argue with you... take offence if I go quiet... it means your comments were too stupid to respond to"
Generally, that is how I feel during committee style meetings.
While it is more common to note that the Dunning-Kruger Effect makes stupid people think they are smart, the other half of the effect is that smart people do not recognize how smart they are. An important part of intelligence is recognition of our own weaknesses, and I suspect women are by nature more inclined to self-doubt than men - so meetings where contrary points of view are voiced will likely produce significant self-doubt across the board, and particularly among women - thus lowering confidence in their own abilities and indirectly affecting IQ scores - but we should not presume that this affects IQ itself.
It does make me wonder, however, how suitable women are (on average) to science, as the scientific method requires an antagonistic dialogue in which all parties ruthlessly question each other. While many women are smart enough for this, I am less sure that as many women have the personality to engage in such antagonistic dialogue - especially while keeping that separate from personal feelings about ideological opponents. Of course, there are some women who can manage this easily and men who cannot, and the ability is rare among both sexes.
This is very specifically mentioned in the article with one of the subjects (researcher? maybe) stating that "nobody hears me".
I read a joking comment recently basically stating: "Don't take offence if I argue with you... take offence if I go quiet... it means your comments were too stupid to respond to"
Generally, that is how I feel during committee style meetings.