LONDON, Ontario, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Men have a 4- to 5-point IQ advantage over women by adulthood, but because girls mature faster, the difference is masked in school, a Canadian study found.
The study, published in the journal Intelligence, analyzed 145 items from the Scholastic Assessment Test in 100,000 17- and 18-year-olds and found a male IQ advantage of 3.63 points.
The findings overturn a 100-year consensus that men and women average the same in general mental ability.
The average male advantage was found "throughout the entire distribution of scores, in every level of family income, for every level of fathers' and of mothers' education, and for each and every one of seven ethnic groups," said study co-author J. Philippe Rushton, professor of psychology at the University of Western Ontario.
Rushton noted that "these are unpopular conclusions," adding, "Only more data can determine the true nature of sex differences in cognitive ability."
