The Truth about IQ

Intelligence is a much desired characteristic for many. We are happy when people regard us as being clever or smart. We also admire other people who are intelligent, and think that this is characteristic will lead us to eventual success and happiness.


IQ tests are generally held to be the best measures of intelligence. When a person gets high scores in a reputable and well made instrument meant to approximate his/her intelligence, we think of that person as being intelligent. In fact, the most famous organization for intellectually gifted people, Mensa, has only one requirement for anybody to be a member, and that is to have a top 2% score in an approved intelligence test.

Traditionally, intelligence refers to areas most akin to school learning. This concept of intelligence focuses on logical reasoning, detail orientation, mathematical abilities, memory, and language mastery. Whereas these are important in school learning, it often has very little to do with the tasks that relate to work life in adulthood.

Many studies done have proved that IQ scores have little to do with one’s success or happiness in one’s life. Surprisingly, it also has little to do with the amount of money a person earns. Although most of these studies are done in the United States, I have a hunch that these findings are true for us in the Philippines as well.

Despite the general acceptance of many when it comes to the validity of the assumption that intelligence tests measure intelligence, this is actually no longer the approach that many psychologists have in the use of these measures. In fact, Howard Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligences questioned the whole idea that intelligence is only a single set of abilities. He was the first to challenge the notion that there is only one kind of intelligence, and that is what IQ tests measure. He says that people are talented in different ways, and these are also legitimate expressions of intelligence. So, a person who might not do well in school because he or she is not good in English or Mathematics may be intelligent in the area of sports or dancing. This person can also be said to be intelligent in the way he moves and controls his body, despite his areas of weakness in the traditional notion of intelligence.

As a psychologist, one of my primary roles is to understand a person’s abilities and areas of weaknesses so that he or she can maximize his strengths and improve his areas of weakness. As such, IQ scores are only important as they clarify a person’s strengths and areas of weakness. With this perspective, I am better able to facilitate the holistic development of the individuals that I have had the opportunity to get to know.

I do agree that intelligence is a desirable characteristic. However, an IQ score, even from the best IQ test, cannot begin to describe the range of strengths and gifts that any individual brings with him or her. We need to see the IQ score with its limitations before we can fully appreciate how it can serve our purposes.