Surprise! Men think they’re smartest (even if they’re not)

IT should come as little surprise to the women in the room, but men generally tend to think they are the cleverest among their peers – whether that is true or not.

In the first study of its kind, researchers found that men were far more likely than women to rate themselves above others for intelligence.

And while men are more likely to speak up in debates and lessons, they may mistake saying more for knowing more.

Even when a male and female student are exactly as bright as each other, the average man believes he is cleverer than twothirds of the class, where the female only believes she is better than 54 per cent.

The findings come from a study, led by three women, of more than 200 people in a university biology class.

It suggests women underestimate their own abilities, often believing themselves less clever than the person they work with most.

Men are three times more likely to say they are cleverer than the person they usually work with.

Researchers at Arizona State University found this matters because people who think they are less bright participate less and may damage their own learning and future.

Dr Sara Brownell, a senior author of the study from the university’s school of life sciences, said: ‘When students are working together, they are going to be comparing themselves more to each other.

‘This study shows that women are disproportionately thinking that they are not as good as other students, so this is a worrisome result of increased interactions among students.’

Researchers asked students to estimate their own intelligence compared to everyone in the class and to the student they worked with most closely.

The results showed odds of 61 per cent that a man would think himself cleverer than the person he worked with, compared to odds of just 31 per cent that a woman would judge herself to be brighter.

Lead author Katelyn Cooper, a doctoral student, was inspired to ask the sexes how they perceived their intelligence after working as an academic adviser.

She said: ‘I would ask students about how their classes were going and I noticed a trend.

‘Over and over again, women would tell me that they were afraid other students thought that they were “stupid”.

‘I never heard this from the men in those same biology classes, so I wanted to study it.’

The study, published in the journal Advances in Physiology Education, found almost one in 10 students rated people who took a leadership role and explained material to others as being intelligent.

Previous evidence suggests men are more likely to do this, so may be perceived as more clever. The study states that women ‘may be judging their own behaviour or ability more harshly than men’.

This matters because the authors found people who believe they are more stupid than the person they work with are more than twice as likely to say they participate less.

The authors conclude that teachers should make sure women’s voices are heard in group discussions.

‘Women judge abilities harshly’