How social position of origin relates to intelligence and level of education when adjusting for attained social position.
Intelligence and its relationship to achievement is a classical question within psychology. In accordance with earlier British studies, the present study, based on conscription data and follow-ups for Swedish men born 1949-51 (N = 36,156), found that when adjusting for attained social position, people with a high social position of origin tend to have higher intelligence and level of education than people with a lower social position of origin. These results could be seen to contradict the claim that more merit, at least when operationalized as intelligence or education, is required from people with a low social position of origin in order to attain a certain social level.
Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. kimmo.sorjonen@ki.se
Kimmo
K
Sorjonen
Tomas
T
Hemmingsson
Andreas
A
Lundin
Bo
B
Melin
D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D002322:Career Mobility; D004522:Educational Status; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D012923:Social Class; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013548:Sweden