Research says the top 1% of the rich are actually not that smart

Linkoping University in Sweden recently conducted research to find out whether rich people are smarter than others. The results suggest that the top 1 percent are not that bright.

A 7-figure income doesn’t mean that the person receiving it is smarter as compared to others earning way less. While carrying out the research, the team analyzed salary data and compared it with the cognitive test results of Swedish citizens. The data was based on the results of those individuals who got themselves enrolled in the Swedish military at the age of eighteen or nineteen.

Marc Kueschnigg, an analytical sociology professor at the research university, said that the data they collected allowed them to examine whether high-salary earners are more intelligent than others. They relied on the information available in registers that cover salary data for all Swedes.

After examining it thoroughly, it was observed that once a salary of around sixty-four thousand dollars started, the connection between cognitive ability and paycheck started to decline. The top 1% of the highest salary earners gave poor cognitive scores compared to people making less than them. Marc added in his report that the top 1% were those individuals who were making two times more than the people with moderate salaries.

Over the last few years, it has been observed that there is a significant income gap among individuals belonging to the high, middle, and low classes. The same trend can be seen in the U.S. Upper-class individuals justify their high salary checks by saying that it is their unique talent that lets them earn more. However, results from the research show that no proof can justify the notion that citizens with top jobs should get a higher salary due to their being smarter than others.

According to the university, based on the data they analyzed from the registers, most salaries in the country were found to be average and correlated well with the results of the cognitive tests. The report also said that not just the salary but the place they work is another factor that determines someone’s success. People working either as doctors, lawyers, judges, or with the government don’t necessarily mean that they are smarter than people working in the lower position.

Photo: katemangostar / freepik

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World