Parental estimates of five types of intelligence

Abstract

British adults (N = 239) provided estimates of their own and their children's general, emotional, analytic, creative, and practical intelligence. Men (fathers) rated their own levels of analytic and practical intelligence significantly higher than women (mothers) rated theirs. In contrast, women rated their emotional intelligence significantly higher than men. Two‐way ANOVAs (gender of parent by gender of child) on the estimates of the five types of intelligence showed that fathers tended to give higher estimates than mothers for their first child's general, analytic, and creative intelligence. There were no significant effects for second‐born children. The ANOVAs indicated that parents rated their third‐born female children higher than their third‐born male children on emotional, analytic, and practical intelligence. Explanations for these findings are discussed.