Most Americans think that they are smarter than the average person, while richer Americans are more likely than others to say that the country as a whole is unintelligent
A recent report by Pearson and the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the US education system the 14th best on earth in 2014. The US came 20th in terms of educational attainment - as many Americans don't even graduate high school - but we did very well when it came to cognitive skills. The US ranked 11th globally on this score, which is based on students' proficiency in reading, writing, maths and other subjects. Educational attainment doesn't necessarily reflect intelligence, however, as anyone who has met a dim PhD student or a wizard of a mechanic knows well.
The latest results from YouGov show that most Americans (55%) think that they are smarter than the average American - meaning that the average American thinks that they are smarter than the average American. A third of the country (34%) say that they are about as smart as the average person, while only 4% say that they are less intelligent than average Americans. People with higher levels of educational attainment say that they are smarter than most Americans, with fully 51% of people with post-graduate degrees saying that they are 'much more intelligent' than the average American.
Asked whether Americans are intelligent or unintelligent, just under half the country (44%) says that Americans are averagely intelligent. Poorer Americans are much more likely to say that Americans are, on the whole, intelligent while richer Americans are far more likely to say that Americans are unintelligent.
Full poll results can be found here.
Image: Getty
