Study: Are the smartest workers the highest paid?

Which workers earn the most? According to a new poll, the answer is not the smartest.

A study published in the January journal European Sociological Review found that a high level of intelligence does bring higher wages, but only up to a certain limit. Since the study was conducted in Sweden, the limit was found to be 600,000 SEK per year (53,700 euros). When wages rise above this levelIntelligence is no longer increased.

The top 1% of people have slightly lower IQs than those in the lowest paid group.

“We found no evidence that those who have a good job with very high wages deserve it more than those who earn half as much,” write the authors of the study, led by Mark Keuschnigg, a professor of analytical sociology at the Swedish University of Linköping. . “Extreme career success depends more on family factors or luck than ability,” the authors add, according to Bloomberg.

The study examined 59,387 men born in Sweden. Their cognitive abilities were recorded at age 18 or 19, and then the researchers tracked their earnings over an 11-year period when they were between 35 and 45 years old.

The study was based on a standardized intelligence test given to men as part of their mandatory military service. It also included tests for verbal comprehension, technical and spatial comprehension, and reasoning. Women and immigrants were not included in the study because military service was not compulsory for these groups between 1971-77 and 1980-1999, when the baseline data were collected.

Of course, the study didn’t measure other abilities, such as better social skills, that could help a worker get a higher-paying job. And at the same time, the authors of the study acknowledge other factors that may have influenced the results, such as the fact that the smartest people may not always choose the highest paying job, but prefer a position with more opportunities or influence.

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