For First Time Ever, Women Are Smarter Than Men

By Natalie Wolchover, LIFE'S LITTLE MYSTERIES Staff Writer

For First Time Ever, Women Are Smarter Than Men

July 17, 2012 Updated Jul 17, 2012 at 1:55 PM PDT

Who's smarter: men or women? Judging by IQ scores alone, the answer used to be men. In fact, the gap between men's and women's performance on IQ tests has long ignited questions about the test's fairness. But now, women appear to be beating men at their own game: For the first time in history, they score higher on IQ tests.

The new finding comes from James Flynn, a New Zealand-based intelligence researcher who has tracked worldwide fluctuations in IQ (or "intelligence quotient") scores for decades.

Flynn said women's IQs have lagged behind men's for about a century, at times by as many as five points. But they have now closed the gap in all the countries that Flynn analyzed, and have even gained the edge in this battle of wits.

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