How social position of origin relates to intelligence and level of education when adjusting for attained social position
KIMMO SORJONEN
Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorTOMAS HEMMINGSSON
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorANDREAS LUNDIN
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorBO MELIN
Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorKIMMO SORJONEN
Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorTOMAS HEMMINGSSON
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorANDREAS LUNDIN
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorBO MELIN
Division of Psychology, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Sorjonen, K., Hemmingsson, T., Lundin, A & Melin, B. (2011). How social position of origin relates to intelligence and level of education when adjusting for attained social position. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology52, 277–281.
Intelligence and its relationship to achievement is a classical question within psychology. In accordance with earlier British studies, the present study, based on conscription data and follow-ups for Swedish men born 1949–51 (N = 36,156), found that when adjusting for attained social position, people with a high social position of origin tend to have higher intelligence and level of education than people with a lower social position of origin. These results could be seen to contradict the claim that more merit, at least when operationalized as intelligence or education, is required from people with a low social position of origin in order to attain a certain social level.
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