The American dream that emerged after World War II embraced the quest for financial success–measured by wealth. With this vision came the tacit assumption that any highly intelligent person should be able to earn a high income and become wealthy–a perception often expressed as, “If you’re so damn smart, why ain’t you rich.” But why do people assume that high intelligence inevitably translates into high income, leading to the accumulation of wealth?
When we look at those in the highest paying professions, such as doctors, lawyers, dentists and corporate executives, we discover that they have, not only undergraduate degrees, but also postgraduate degrees, suggesting they are endowed with above average intelligence. By contrast, those who are below average in intelligence often have difficulty with academics and become high school dropouts. Their lack of education qualifies them for less-skilled and lower paying jobs and they fail to accumulate wealth.
Though it would seem from these observations that intelligence and wealth are highly correlated, recent research reveals that the relationship between intelligence and wealth is much more complicated than it would appear at first site. The following is an excerpt from my 2022 book, Intelligence, IQ and Perception.
In a recent study involving 7403 baby boomers, psychologist Jay Zagorsky computed the correlation between IQ and wealth to be about 0.16. That is, there is virtually no correlation between IQ and net worth. He reports:
The title [of this paper] asks, “Do you have to be smart to be rich?” If IQ test scores are an accurate measure of intelligence and if intelligence is relatively fixed from teen years to adulthood, then the results indicate the answer is no…individuals with low intelligence should not believe they are handicapped in achieving financial success, nor should high intelligence people believe they have an advantage.
In a meta-analysis of the relationship between intelligence and socioeconomic success, psychologist Tarmo Strenze surveyed a wide range of research papers dealing with the relationship between these two variables. His study yielded estimates of the correlation between IQ and income that ranged between 0.15 and 0.27. He reports:
The correlation of [IQ] with income is 0.20 considerably lower [than the correlation with job performance], perhaps even disappointingly low, being about the average of the previous meta-analytic estimates (0.15 by Bowles at al., 2001; and 0.27 by Ng et al., 2005).
For those who are motivated to accumulate wealth, the qualities that are most important are an intensity of purpose and a relentless tenacity in the pursuit of one’s goals. As Dr. Gene Landrum, entrepreneur and cofounder of the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant chain, says, “Follow your passion and the money will come in truckloads.” To assess whether you have the entrepreneurial personality, visit Dr. Landrum’s test at: https://www.intelligence-and-iq.com/do-you-have-the-entrepreneurial-personality/
Rich ? Ask Janis she is two faced. Too coin a phrase.
Just Maker and takers, best be no money, best be kind.
Money can be anything commodity or exchange backed up by force via taxing poor souls. So being rich is just an enforcer of promise to beat up, jail, behead or else, money becomes law… money becomes politics.
Money is tied to threat, money can anything, it is a demand created by threat to another at the Essenes of its memetic creation. Money could be shells, beads, hair, peanuts or anything else mad King George says.
There is no rich, only fools and nature.