You can find four distinct ethnic groups among Jews (1) Ethiopian Jews or falachas (2) Oriental Jews or Mezrahim and finally European Jews among whom (3) Ashkenazi and (4) Sephardim.
1. Ethiopian Jews
2. Oriental Jews, the Mezrahim
3. European Jews, Ashkenazim and Sefaradim
4. Israel
5. Summary on the High Ashkenazi Intelligence
1. Ethiopian Jews
They are Ethiopians convert to Judaism. They were tested as soon as they arrived in Israel.
Their mean I.Q is 68, virtually equal to the intellectual level found among Africans in sub-Saharan Africa (71).
2. Oriental Jews, the Mezrahim
They are of “Middle Easterners and North Africans” race, although their endogamy resulted in a distinct ethnic group.
Their average Q.I is 91, seven points above the MENA average of 84.
3. European Jews, Ashkenazim and Sefaradim
3.1 Ashkenazi Jews
Their average I.Q is about 110, the highest in the world (Europe, America, South Africa). They also have the highest standard deviation at 17, which further increases their representation among the highest I.Q.
With a population of only 10 million people, they won no less than one-third of the world’s Nobel Prizes and represent 50% of the chess champions.
There is a link between their high intelligence and the particularly high frequency of certain genetic diseases in their population.
Ashkenazim also have the highest frequency of myopia of birth, myopia is correlated to +0.25 with human intelligence. The explanation could be a pleiotropic gene, ie a gene that has an impact on both the eyes and the central nervous system, namely the brain. It should be noted that the eyes are extensions of the central nervous system. Kirkegaard et al. (2009) show that Ashkenazi Jews have an higher GWAS score for educational attainment (mainly high I.Q genes) as compare to non Jewish Europeans.
3.2 Sefaradim
They are Jews from Portugal and Spain. In addition to these two countries, they are mainly found in the Balkans. Their average I.Q is 98, 5.5 points higher than the indigenous population of the Balkans (92.5).
4. Israel
Israel population is composed of:
– 40% of European Jews with a mean I.Q of 103
– 40% of Mezrahim with a mean I.Q of 91.
– 20% of Arabs with a mean I.Q of 84 (identical to the intellectual level of Arabs of North Africa and the Middle East).
– A few percent of Ethiopian Jews with a mean I.Q of 68.
The average I.Q of the state of Israel is 95, 4 points below the average of Western Europe. However, with an average IQ of 95, 11 points above the Middle East average (84), Israel is the only country in these regions to be considered developed, with a very high human development index ( 0.935) and a per capita GDP of $ 28,400 (2009 est.).
Table 6.7. Intelligence in Israel
| Age |
N |
Test |
g |
Reference | |
|
1 |
13-14 |
200 |
WISC |
95 |
Ortar, 1952 |
|
2 |
11-15 |
267 |
SPM |
95 |
Moyles & Wolins, 1973 |
|
3 |
10-12 |
180 |
LT |
97 |
Miron, 1977 |
|
4 |
10-12 |
268 |
SPM |
95 |
Globerson, 1983 |
|
5 |
11 |
2,781 |
SPM |
89 |
Lancer & Rim, 1984 |
|
6 |
5 |
52 |
CPM |
96 |
Tzuriel & Caspi, 1992 |
|
7 |
9-15 |
1,740 |
SPM |
90 |
Lynn, 1994a |
|
8 |
13 |
– |
SPM |
96 |
Kozulin, 1998 |
5. Summary on the High Ashkenazi Intelligence
References for the whole page and the summary:
-Lynn R. (2011) “The Chosen People: A Study of Jewish Intelligence and Achievement », Richard Lynn, Washington Summit Publisher.
-Cochran G. et Harpending H. (2009) « The 10000 year explosion ».
-Deary I. et al. (2018) What genome-wide association studies reveal about the association between intelligence and physical health, illness, and mortality. Curr Opin Psychol. 23;27:6-12.
-Kirkegaard E. et al (2019) Polygenic Scores Mediate the Jewish Phenotypic Advantage in Educational Attainment and Cognitive Ability Compared With Catholics and Lutherans. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences.