European and European American IQ
As is the case with other racial groups, the class of people labeled “European” exhibits a substantial degree of heterogeneity.
The average IQ of people of European descent is typically quoted at 100. This figure is a round number because the creators of modern IQ tests were based in Europe and North America and normed the test on people of European descent. Nevertheless, differing European subgroups are quoted at varying levels above or below 100 – for example, J. Philippe Rushton believed the average IQ in ancient Rome to be somewhere in the range of 115 to 130 (or roughly one to two standard deviations above the current European mean).
Today, Irish Catholics, Italians, Greeks, and Albanians score somewhat lower than 100, while those from Northern European countries such as native Swedes and Norwegians score somewhat higher. The outlier, however, is the population of Ashkenazic (or Khazarian) Jews (who make up about 95% of today’s Jews). These Jews possess an average IQ of approximately 115.
Backman (1972) found that non-Jewish Europeans had the highest visual IQ of any group that had been tested, while Jews ranked lower on this dimension. This may explain the historical comparative dominance of Northwestern Europeans in the fine arts. For example, Adolf Hitler – himself a Northwestern European – used the term “degenerate art” (
Entartete Kunst) to refer to artwork produced by Jews and modernists.
Worldwide Skin Color Hierarchy
From India (South Asia) to the Pacific Rim to among populations of black/African Americans, fairer skin tends to be seen as more prestigious, while darker skin is stigmatized. Templer and Arakawa (2006) explored the basis for this cultural paradigm by positively relating skin lightness to IQ. Further, a small number of studies have found a relationship between higher IQ and skin lightness in black Americans.
One product of this cultural phenomenon is the practice of skin lightening – typically using creams or washes. Michael Jackson stands out as an example. While Jackson claimed to simply want to even out his skin tone because of his vitiligo (a skin disease affecting people of African descent), his detractors jested that he wanted to become ‘white,’ – or European American.
Segregation, Immigration, and Contemporary Issues
The fact that Americans of European descent have a higher IQ than people of African descent was one of the main arguments against forceful school integration and the immigration of non-Europeans to formerly European-dominated societies. However, the Civil Rights movement – led predominantly by Jews such as Rabbi Stephen Wise – ultimately succeeded. George Wallace’s “stand in the schoolhouse door” marked the end of an era.
Evolution of the European Cognitive Profile
It has often been speculated that Catholics have a lower IQ than Protestants because of the historical practice of celibacy for learned priests. Nevertheless, this theory has never been scientifically validated and may remain little more than an artifact of popular lore. Another theory is that European (and Northeast Asian) IQ evolved in response to cold weather as people migrated out of Africa. Cold weather forced human beings to make clothing and shelter, and to have to plan for the winter seasons – all phenomena leading to the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities.