Stereotypes of the Intelligence of Nations

Abstract The authors surveyed a nationally representative sample of 478 Americans on Prolific to assess the stereotypes about national intelligence, and found that these correlated at .78 with measured national IQ s; although the aggregate ratings are accurate, it’s not clear how people determine the average levels of intelligence in a country, whether it’s based on regional stereotypes, economic development, or other methods. Left wingers were slightly less accurate in their ratings of the intelligence of nations (r = −0.21), even after covariates such as age, gender, and race were controlled for. Both race and political views seem to be related to the perception of the intelligence of certain nations; Black people assign much higher ratings to the intelligence of African nations than Whites, and left wingers tend to give lower ratings to the average levels of intelligence of Russians, Israelis, and Americans. Some of the analyses in this article were preregistered.