Home > Archive > Volume 54, No. 2 > This paper

Predicting Immigrant IQ from their Countries of Origin, and Lynn's National IQs: A Case Study from Denmark

Emil O. W. Kirkegaard

10.46469/mq.2013.54.2.2

Published: 2013/12/01

Abstract

Many recent studies have corroborated Lynn and Vanhanen's worldwide compilation of national IQs; however, no one has attempted to estimate the mean IQ of an immigration population based on its countries of origin. This paper reports such a study based on the Danish immigrant population and IQ data from the military draft. Based on Lynn and Vanhanen's estimates, the Danish immigrant population was estimated to have an average 89.9 IQ in 2013Q2, and the IQ from the draft was 86.3 in 2003Q3 (against a 'Danish' IQ of 100). However, after taking account of two error sources, the discrepancy between the measured IQ and the estimated IQ was reduced to a mere 0.4 IQ. The study thus strongly validates Lynn and Vanhanen's national IQs.

   Download PDF