The Correlation of Gross Domestic Product and Intelligece Quotient

There may be a correlation between the gross domestic product and the overall intelligence quotient however, the reliability amongst other nations show various inconsistent correlations. A GDP represents the total value of goods produced and provided by a specific country annually. Although, the GDP also relates to the amount of natural resources found within the specific country and can provide for other nations. The gold-mining industry in South Africa, the technological industry in Japan and other Asian countries are some possible good or products that can be distributed amongst other nations. The major countries that garner the most GDP is the United States, China, India, and Japan. Based on a recent article called, The 25 Countries With The Most Brainpower, it shows that three out of four of the top major countries with the highest GDP has placed within the top 25 countries on both lists comparing the intelligence of children and adults.

The book IQ and the Wealth of Nations by Dr. Richard Lynn and Dr. Tatu Vanhanen, argues the possible stances for the correlation between the gross domestic product and intelligence scores. Based off of a total of 81 countries, these two authors had been able to calculate the correlation between the gross domestic product and intelligence quotient. In 1950 to 1990, they had reported their observations, that the national IQ correlates with gross domestic product per capita at 0.82. During this time range, the economic growth rate had been 0.64. Comparing this to a positive correlation, the correlation between the GDP and intelligence is a fairly high correlation.

Despite in this book, Dr. Richard Lynn and Dr. Tatu Vanhanen had believed that the central thesis of this book is that the average IQ of a nation correlates with its GDP. This central thesis had been rejected or disregarded to to various reasons. The average IQ scores, between various nations differ and have been affected by both genetic and environmental factors. These factors are an inevitable throughout any psychological topic due to the common debate between nature versus nurture. Also, another flaw was that critical responses included critiques of the data and conclusions due to weak statistical evidence and precarious conclusions.

The impact that this study has made in psychology had been discussed by various psychologist had praised yet disputed this thesis. An American psychology specializing in the study of human and artificial intelligence, Earl B.