Extraversion and political influence: Based on IQ, one would expect Jewish Americans and Asian Americans to have a disproportionate political influence on the country. We certainly see this with Jews, but not Asians (correct me if I'm wrong). Based on IQ levels, we would not expect blacks and Hispanics to have much influence, but of the two, Hispanics should be more powerful since they are smarter. The truth, though, is that blacks are the stronger group.
My recent posts might help explain this pattern. Blacks and especially Jews are extraverted groups, Asians and Hispanics are not. American Indians are another introverted group who seem to be practically invisible. Of course, population is a factor with all the groups, and I'm not arguing that groups do not have power on particular issues. I'm thinking more of an overall presence in the political process.
IQ and extraversion might also explain the disproportionate influence of homosexuals. My last post revealed that homosexuals and bisexuals have high extraversion scores, and I showed some time ago that the mean IQ for white gay men is 105.
Extraversion can also help explain differences in cultural influence and media presence.
And let's not forget that broad heritability for extraversion is around .5, suggesting that genetic differences might help explain these patterns.
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"Based on IQ, one would expect Jewish Americans and Asian Americans to have a disproportionate political influence on the country. We certainly see this with Jews, but not Asians (correct me if I'm wrong). "
ReplyDeleteNo, I wouldn't necessarily expect because of their IQ that Asian Americans would have a weightier "political" influence.
Some groups, because of their history and culture and because of their intelligence and interest in math/science, have a weightier influence in fields that demand great aptitudes for math/science. And, the personality of those with such interests and abilities in math/science are not likely to be like the personalities of those people who enjoy the political sphere.
While Jews have high IQ, yet also a disproportionate influence in politics (both directly and indirectly), you have to factor in the cultural differences between them and those from an Asian background.
The Jewish culture has always placed a premium on the verbal, as well, making them more likely to excel in the fields requiring persuasion.
Asians tend to do well in areas where the rules are well defined and success correlates highly with work ethic, such as academics. In fields with more ambiguity and more of a need to think on your feet, they tend to perform more modestly. This is why you see plenty of Asians in the Economics and Finance departments of most of the major universities, but somewhat fewer actually working as Wall Street financiers or corporate managers.
ReplyDeleteThis pattern tends to be replicated on an international scale as well. Asian nations tend to have much higher scores on standardized tests, but those scores don't always translate into greater national economic strength.
Extroversion might be a factor for Asians in the U.S., but I don't think it explains why South Korea has yet to overtake Australia.
For Jewish people, their cognitive strengths are diverse enough that they do pretty well in almost any cognitively demanding field.