Religiosity is associated with a more feminine intelligence profile: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1979

Religiosity is associated with a more feminine intelligence profile: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1979. Edward Dutton, Gerhard Meisenberg. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 173, April 2021, 110640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110640

Abstract: Many studies have found a small negative correlation between religiousness and intelligence measured by IQ tests, and many others have found that females are more religious than males. Still other studies have demonstrated that the IQ profile of females is different from that of males, with females tending to be higher than males in some abilities and lower in others. This raises the intriguing question of whether religiousness may be correlated with a more stereotypically female intelligence profile. We tested whether this was the case using the NLSY 79 (N = 12,686). The NLSY shows that religiousness, using the proxy of regular church attendance, is not only higher among females but is also associated with a female profile of abilities even among males (r = 0.92). We argue that this is potentially consistent with evidence that Autism Spectrum Disorder is negatively associated with religiosity.

Keywords: ReligionIntelligenceAutism spectrum disorderMale brainGender