Richard Lynn

• Master of Arts, PhD Cambridge
• Professor Emeritus at University of Ulster

The aim of the study is to estimate the most recent trends of intelligence world-wide. We find that the most recent studies report mainly positive Flynn effects in economically less developed countries, but trivial and frequently negative Flynn effects in the economically most advanced countries. This is confirmed by an analysis of 48 countries in...

Death rates from SARS-Cov2 in England and Wales are examined for the major ethnic minorities. Substantial differences in death rate of different ethnicities were found that are not easily explained by demographic characteristics of these groups such as age and urban-versus-rural residence. This study looks at possible explanations for these dispari...

The SPM+ was administered on a sample of 5189 school children from Sudan in 2016. Data about age, sex, locality, school type and stage, parental education and profession, family size and birth order were collected. Results for intelligence are congruent with the literature, giving the sample a mean IQ of ≈80 on British norms. Sex-differences are la...

This paper reports the first measurement of intelligence on a representative sample from Benin. The SPM+, a test of non-verbal abstract reasoning, was administered to 4,054 schoolchildren aged between 6 and 18 years, 56% male and 44% female. A mean British-scaled IQ of 71.96 was obtained by the sample. There were only limited indications for sex di...

Data are reported for the intelligence of a sample of 500 schoolchildren 9 through 13 years old assessed with the Standard Progressive Matrices in Sudan's most northerly state of Ash Shamaliyah. The sample obtained a British-scaled IQ of 67 to 68, which is low compared to the scores previously determined for this country but close to scores typical...

Intelligence and material wealth are two possible determinants of moral values for individuals and societies. To explore their roles we examine responses to two questions of the World Values Survey, asking about the acceptability of euthanasia and suicide respectively, in the broader context of moral values. We find that at the country level, both...

Gender differences on the Standard Progressive Matrices are reported for two samples of 13-18 year-olds in Libya (combined N = 1820). Males obtained higher mean scores than females but had lower variance. The later sample scored substantially higher than the earlier one.

This study recruited a sample of 2,206 (1001 males and 1205 females) 15-18 year old students from urban and rural secondary schools in the Al Minia region of Egypt. They were tested for non-verbal reasoning ability with Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM), and measured for head circumference and height. Intelligence was significantly corre...

This paper compiles cognitive test results for children in Ethiopia, Andhra Pradesh (India), Peru and Vietnam from multiple rounds of the Young Lives study. In this international project, the same cognitive tests were administered to children of the same age under standardized conditions, allowing comparisons between countries and between social, e...

This study examines sex differences in reasoning ability assessed with Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices among 2,206 (1001 male and 1205 female) school students aged between 15 and 18 from urban and rural secondary schools in the Minya region of southern Egypt. There are no statistically significant differences in intelligence between males and...

The relationship between biracial status, color, and crystallized intelligence was examined in a nationally representative sample of adult Black and White Americans. First, it was found that self-identifying biracial individuals, who were found to be intermediate in color and in self-reported ancestry, had intermediate levels of crystallized intell...

The relationship between biracial status, color, and crystallized intelligence was examined in a nationally representative sample of adult Black and White Americans. First, it was found that self-identifying biracial individuals, who were found to be intermediate in color and in self-reported ancestry, had intermediate levels of crystallized intell...

The Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) was administered to a sample of 720 school students aged 13 to 18 years (mean age 15.5 years) in Libya. The results show (1) males obtained higher scores than females in all age groups although none of these is statistically significant; (2) the sample obtained a British-scaled IQ of 82.3; (3) there was a neg...

The Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) was administered to a sample of 720 school students aged 13 to 18 years (mean age 15.5 years) in Libya. The results show (1) males obtained higher scores than females in all age groups although none of these is statistically significant; (2) the sample obtained a British-scaled IQ of 82.3; (3) there was a neg...

Data are reported for the Standard Progressive Matrices Plus, applied to a sample of 1641 male and 1441 female school students aged 6 to 18 years old in Cambodia. Scores were higher than those recorded in earlier studies of non-verbal intelligence in Cambodia, indicating an average IQ near 100. There were no consistent gender differences. In additi...

Intelligence was assessed using the Standard Progressive Matrices in 316 MZ and 550 same-sex DZ twins with a mean age of 10 years in Sudan. Heritability was estimated at 0.172 and shared environmental influences at 0.596.

Differences in intelligence have previously been found to be related to a wide range of inter-individual and international social outcomes. There is evidence indicating that intelligence differences are also related to different regional outcomes within nations. A quantitative and narrative review is provided for twenty-two countries (number of reg...

This study was based on data for a sample of 1756 Egyptian primary school children (863 boys and 893 girls) aged 5–11 years assessed for intelligence with Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM). The results showed that boys obtained a slightly higher IQ than girls and had greater variance.

Data are reported for the Standard Progressive Matrices for adolescents aged 13 through 18 years tested in 2008 and 2017. There was an increase of 8.5 IQ points over the nine years.

The Standard Progressive Matrices Plus (SPM+) was administered in Sri Lanka in 2017 to a sample of 302 school students aged 11 to 16 years. The mean score of the test was 29.2 and is equivalent to a British-scaled IQ of 83. The boys scored significantly higher than the girls.

The Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM), a non-verbal reasoning test for children, was administered to a sample of 4785 primary school students aged 5-12 years in Sudan. Girls obtained higher average scores equivalent to an IQ difference of 3.56 points and showed greater variability than boys. Comparison with scores obtained in a similar study perf...

This study assesses non-verbal cognitive ability of South Sudanese refugee children, using the Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM) test. The sample consisted of 1856 South Sudanese children living in Khartoum State ranging from 6 to 12 years of age. Mean scores were very low when scaled to the IQ metric according to British 2007 norms. Importantly,...

Data are reported for intelligence in 85 provinces and regions of the Russian Federation and compared with those obtained for educational attainment in a previous study of 79 provinces and regions. The two measures were correlated at .74. In both studies, the IQs of the provinces and regions were positively correlated with mean per capita income, n...

Data are reported for intelligence assessed with the Coloured Progressive Matrices for a sample of 504 children aged 6 to 11 years in Libya. The sample obtained a British-scaled IQ of 79.

Scores of a sample of 2,440 male and female Somalian school students aged 8 through 18 years on the Standard Progressive Matrices Plus (SPM+) are reported. The sample obtained a British-scaled IQ of 68. There was no statistically significant difference between the scores of the males and females. The variance was greater among the females than amon...

Results are reported for intelligence of 6 to 11 year olds in Libya on the Coloured Progressive Matrices assessed in 2006 and 2017. Increases of CPM mean raw scores translate into a gain of 2.8 IQ points over the 11 years, or 0.25 points a year. Gains were seen mainly at the older ages, suggesting that they are caused by improvements in the educati...

Are greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and cognitive skills (CS) related? We attempt to answer this question by exploring this relationship, using cross-country data for 150 countries, for the period 1997–2012. After controlling for the level of economic development, quality of political regimes, population size and a number of other controls, we docum...

This study investigated the current trend of dysgenic fertility in Taiwan. Data on 680 adults aged 35 to 90 years from the Taiwan WAIS-IV norming sample and 980 children aged 2.5 to 7 years from the Taiwan WPPSI-IV norming sample were examined to investigate the relationships between intelligence, education, and fertility. Results revealed that edu...

In a number of countries, earlier studies have reported significant associations between regional differences in intelligence within countries and economic and social phenomena. Using scores on the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) tests as indicator of intelligence, we find statistically significant correlations for the 27 states...

Data are reported for the intelligence of a sample of 2,990 South Sudanese refugee children aged 7 to 18 years tested with the Standard Progressive Matrices in 2016. The average British-scaled IQ of this sample is estimated to be at or below 55.

Data are reported for a standardization of the Coloured Progressive Matrices in Sudan. Boys obtained a higher average IQ of 2.7 points and showed greater variability. The sample obtained a British-scaled IQ of 81.5.

This study reports data for the intelligence of 15 year olds in 42 provinces and cities of the Russian Federation assessed in the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and their economic, social and geographical correlates. It was found that the average PISA scores of the provinces and cities were significantly correlated with...

In a number of countries, earlier studies have reported significant associations between regional differences in intelligence within countries and economic and social phenomena. Using scores on the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) tests as indicator of intelligence, we find statistically significant correlations for the 27 states...

The Standard Progressive Matrices Plus (SPM+) was administered in Kyrgyzstan in 2016 to a sample of 465 12- to 16-year-olds. The British IQ of the sample was estimated at 87.45, which is similar to results obtained in other Central Asian countries.

Data for a sample of 18-year-old Applied Science and Social Science students in Libya are reported for intelligence (IQ), emotional intelligence (EI) and educational achievement. Means were significantly higher for Applied Science students than for Social Science students both for IQ and EI. Although males obtained higher means than females on inte...

Rare diseases and infections are by definition individually uncommon, but collectively they are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in childhood. With that in mind, the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) was set up in 1986 to address this. Through the simple methodology of circulating monthly report cards, the Unit has enabled pa...

Data are presented for a sample of 1756 Egyptian primary school children (863 boys and 893 girls) aged 5 through 11 years assessed for intelligence with Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. The sample had an IQ of 85 according to British norms.

Data are reported for non-verbal ability tested with Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices for a sample of 755 male and 622 female school children, 6 to 18 year old, from South Sudan. These were the children of refugees who were settled with their families in the area of Khartoum. There was no gender difference among 6 through 15 year olds, but amo...

The intelligence of Yakuts and ethnic Russians in Yakutia was tested with Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices Plus. According to British norms, the average IQ was 97.0 for Yakuts and 97.9 for ethnic Russians. Urban samples scored higher than rural samples.

This paper summarises the author's friendship and collaboration with Hans Eysenck over forty years with particular reference to their work on racial and national differences in personality and intelligence and its subsequent development by the author and others. Eysenck was one of the first to accept a genetically based black–white difference in in...

We conducted a review of factors associated with individual and group level differences in positive ethnocentrism (PE) and negative ethnocentrism (NE). We inter-correlated datasets on national differences in these factors with data from the World Values Survey with regard to national differences in measures of PE and NE. The two different survey it...

This study reports the associations between the intelligence of children aged 8–10 years across thirty-one provinces and municipalities of the People's Republic of China and their economic and social correlates. It was found that regional IQs were significantly correlated at the p < 0.001 significant level with the percentage of Han in the populati...

Data are reported for educational attainments as a measure of intelligence, a number of socio-economic variables, and latitude and longitude for 79 provinces of the Russian Federation. The average intelligence of the provinces was significantly positively correlated with urbanization (r = 0.43), the percentage of ethnic Russians (r = 0.39), net mig...

The sex differences on the WISC-III are reported for the thirteen subtests, the Verbal and Performance IQs, the four Index IQs and the Full Scale IQs in Sudan and the United States. The sex differences are closely similar in the two samples with a correlation of 0.878 (p<0.001) for the thirteen subtests. Males obtained significantly higher Full Sca...

Data are reported showing statistically significant negative correlations between intelligence and family size, position, and income in a sample of 604 adolescent girls in Saudi Arabia. There were no statistically significant correlations or associations between whether the mother or father were deceased or both parents were alive, and whether the...

Normative data are reported for intelligence, height and head circumference for a sample of 1553 6-to 15-year-olds in Saudi Arabia, and for the correlations between these variables. Intelligence was tested with the Standard Progressive Matrices, on which the Saudi sample obtained a British IQ of 76.2. There were no significant differences in means...

This study was based on two independent studies which in total consisted of 1812 school pupils aged 6-12 years in Saudi Arabia. Study I consisted of 1591 school pupils (609 boys and 982 girls) attending state schools, and Study II consisted of 211 boys with learning disabilities. Intelligence (measured using the Standard Progressive Matrices Plus f...

Results are reported for intelligence assessed with the Advanced Progressive Matrices of a sample of 1502 students at an Egyptian university. The men obtained a British IQ of 103.8 and the women a British IQ of 101.0. The men students had greater variability than the women students.

Regional differences are presented for literacy adopted as a proxy for intelligence, infant mortality, fertility, stature and geographical location for 50 provinces in European Russia in the late nineteenth century. All variables were significantly inter-correlated. Intelligence was significantly higher in the north and west than in the south and e...

Differential-K theory proposes that levels of androgen, i.e. male hormone, differ across three large racial groups with Sub-Saharan Africans having the highest levels, East Asians the lowest, and Caucasians (Europeans, North Africans and South Asians) being intermediate. In this study, we found that most of the national-level indicators of androgen...

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) was standardized in Libya on a sample of 7-to 13-year-olds and the sex differences on the subtests and IQs compared with those in the United States. In both countries the boys obtained a slightly higher Full Scale IQ than girls at d=.10 in Libya and d=.12 in the United States, and boys o...

A study of sex differences in the intelligence of university students in Thailand tested with the Advanced Progressive Matrices found that men obtained a slightly higher score than women by .08d equivalent to 1.2 IQ points. The sample obtained a British IQ of 103. A meta-analysis of 22 studies of sex differences in the intelligence of university st...

The Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM), combined sets 1 and 2, was administered to a sample of 503 male and 524 female high school students aged 16 to 18 years in Yemen. The male students obtained a higher IQ score than the female students by 0.9 IQ points, not statistically significant. The mean score of the sample was 21.6 and is equivalent to a...

The intelligence of 1936 engineering students in three universities in Sudan was tested with the Advanced Progressive Matrices. The sample obtained an average British IQ of 93. Males obtained marginally higher average scores than females, equivalent to approximately 1.2 IQ points.

Data are reported for two studies of sex differences on the WAIS in Russia. In the first study a sample of 16 year old males obtained a 1.96 points higher Full Scale IQ than females and higher scores on the Arithmetic and Picture Completion subtests while females obtained a higher score than males on the Digit Symbol Search subtest. Males showed le...

Results are reported for the intelligence of a sample of 722 10 to 18 year olds in Egypt assessed with the Standard Progressive Matrices. Males obtained significantly higher scores than females at the ages of 16 and 17-18 years, supporting the developmental theory of Lynn that males develop a higher average IQ than females from the age of 16 years...

Results are reported for intelligence assessed with the Standard Progressive Matrices Plus of a sample of 423 students at Alexandria University in Egypt. The men obtained a British IQ of 104 and the women a British IQ of 92, suggesting that the intelligence of university students in Egypt increased in recent years. The men students had greater vari...

Data are reported for the scores of men and women in the standardization sample of the WAIS-IV in Chile. Men obtained a significantly higher Full Scale IQ than women by 3 IQ points. Men obtained significantly higher scores on the subtests of Block Design ∗Digit Span∗Matrix Reasoning∗Picture Arrangement∗Information∗Object Assembly∗Cancellation and P...

Sex differences on the WISC-III are reported for the 13 subtests, the Verbal and Performance IQs, the four Index IQs and the Full Scale IQs in Taiwan and the United States. The sex differences are closely similar in the two samples with a correlation of .87 (p<.001) in the 13 subtests. Males obtained significantly higher Full Scale IQs in the two s...

Data are reported for intelligence and fertility in the Russian Federation. There was a statistically significant negative correlation for 29 provinces showing dysgenic fertility for intelligence in contemporary Russia. The negative relationship between test score and number of children was observed at the individual level as well. This relationshi...

The objective of this paper is to report a study of the intelligence of Yakuts and ethnic Russians in Yakutia. The samples were drawn from Yakutsk, the capital of the Yakutia region containing almost one third of the population of the province, and from Viluysk, a town with the population of approximately 10 600, which is situated 592 km north-west...

-Results are given for three studies of samples tested with the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) in Morocco. The first consisted of 85 children (boys, girls; M age = 8.5 yr.) in the town of Kenitra and obtained a British IQ of 74. The second consisted of 202 adults (92 men, 110 women; M age = 26 yr.) in four cities and obtained a British IQ of 8...

-Sex differences on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) are reported for children in Bahrain and the United States. The results for the two samples were consistent in showing no significant differences in Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs, higher average scores by boys on the Block design and Mazes subtests of spatial...

The Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) was standardized in the Gaza Strip in 2012-13 on a sample of 1678 boys and 1817 girls aged 8 to 18 years. The sample obtained a British IQ of 67.9.

Results are reported for intelligence in Egypt assessed with the Standard Progressive Matrices. This is one of the largest test standardizations in Egypt,with a sample of 7600 subjects aged 6 to 20 plus years. The sample obtained a British IQ of 89.25. The results are discussed in the context of other work about intelligence in Egypt.

Results are reported for a standardization of the Colored Progressive Matrices on a sample of 2481 children aged 8.5 to 12.5 years in Tripoli. The sample obtained a British IQ of 82.5. The result is placed in the context of other studies using cognitive tests in Libya. The average of those studies that used populationrepresentative samples is 77. T...

The results of the French WAIS III (1999) and the French WAIS IV (2008–9) are compared based on a sample of 79 subjects aged between 30 years and 63 years who took both tests in 2008–2009. It is shown that between 1999 and 2008–9 the French Full Scale IQ declined by 3.8 points.

Several studies have investigated the nonverbal intelligence of Zulu speaking children in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) since the mid-20 th century. We review four studies of schoolchildren that have been performed between 1948 and 2004 and that allow us to estimate secular trends in test performance. The results show that generational gains (Flynn...

Data are presented for intelligence in twelve regions in Turkey showing that intelligence is highest in the west and lowest in the east. The west–east intelligence gradient is significantly correlated with regional differences in educational attainment and per capita income and negatively correlated with fertility, infant mortality and the percenta...

Data are presented for intelligence in Sudan assessed by the Performance subtests of the WISC 111. The Sudan sample was tested in 2010 and consisted of 1460 school students aged 7 to 16 years. The sample obtained a British IQ of 77.4. The British IQs declined with age shown by a statistically significant Spearman rank correlation between age and IQ...

A sample of 379 primary school pupils in South Africa given the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices obtained a British " Greenwich IQ " of 65. The result is discussed in relation to other studies using cognitive tests in South Africa. There has been controversy regarding the intelligence of sub-Saharan Africans. In his compilation of race differen...

Several studies have investigated the nonverbal intelligence of Zulu speaking children in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) since the mid-20 th century. We review four studies of schoolchildren that have been performed between 1948 and 2004 and that allow us to estimate secular trends in test performance. The results show that generational gains (Flynn...

Regional differences in cognitive ability are presented for 33 states and union territories of India. Ability was positively correlated with GDP per capita, literacy and life expectancy and negatively correlated with infant and child mortality, fertility and the percentage of Muslims. Ability was higher in the south than in the north and in states...

Abstract Sex differences on the WISC-R in Chinese children were examined in a sample of 788 aged 12 years. Boys obtained a higher mean full scale IQ than girls of 3.75 IQ points, a higher performance IQ of 4.20 IQ points, and a higher verbal IQ of 2.40 IQ points. Boys obtained significantly higher means on the information, picture arrangement, pict...

Yemen is one of the economically least developed countries in the Middle East, but information about intelligence in this country has been conflicting. In a recent study, the Standard Progressive Matrices-Plus was administered to a sample of 2012 6-13 year olds in a province of Yemen. The sample obtained a British IQ of 68.5. Girls obtained signifi...

Several studies have investigated the nonverbal intelligence of Zulu speaking children in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) since the mid-20th century. We review four studies of schoolchildren that have been performed between 1948 and 2004 and that allow us to estimate secular trends in test performance. The results show that generational gains (Flynn e...

Previous studies have shown that the mean IQ in the Republic of Ireland is 93 in relation to 100 for Britain and the rest of central and northern Europe. New evidence is presented giving an IQ of 88.3 in Ireland and therefore confirming this estimate. It is proposed that the causes of this lower IQ lies principally in the selective emigration of th...

Evidence is presented that success in cricket is associated with ethnicity, such that South Asians, Europeans, and Coloreds are over-represented, and Northeast Asians, Pacific Islanders and sub-Saharan Africans (with the exception of those from the West Indies), are under-represented. It is argued that these racial differences in cricket success ar...