It has long been known in psychology that we overestimate our own intelligence - we think we have a higher IQ than the tests show. A new study has shown that not only do we rate ourselves as smarter than the test shows, but we also overestimate the intelligence of our partner.
V this study have found that we tend to overestimate the intelligence of our partner. Researchers have already proven that most people think they have a higher IQ than intelligence tests show. In this new research, however, they found that the same applies to assessing the intelligence of our partners.
They were included in the research 218 heterosexual couples, who were in a relationship for an average of six years. Their task was to be on one marked on a graphic continuum how intelligent they think their partner is – from very low intelligence to very high intelligence. Then the researchers have these answers converted to approximate IQ points. All participants are solved Raven's progressive matrices, one of the famous tests of intelligence. Analysis of the results showed that the majority of participants overestimated the intelligence of their partners - on the graph, they indicated that the partners were more intelligent than average, as the test results later showed.
What does that mean it is for us and our choice of partners hard to say unequivocally. Maybe that means we have the tendency to see the partner in a better light (more intelligent) than he really is; perhaps the fact that in a partner we have known for a long time we can notice an intelligence that tests cannot measure; perhaps that most people feel negative emotions, thinking that you would rate your partner as average and therefore prefer to rate him/her as above average, or something completely third. The study is for sure opened up new questions for further research.
More information:
sciencedirect.com
