‘Gramsplaining’: Old Ladies Overestimate Their Intelligence As Much As Young Men

There is ample evidence that men overestimate their intelligence like it’s their height on a dating app. But when it comes to IQ, guys aren’t the only ones who shoot for the moon and land somewhere in Florida. A new study suggests older women also believe that they’re more intelligent than they really are. 

Past data on self-estimated intelligence (SEI) has disproportionately focused on young people, but this was the first study to look at older adults. Researchers compared 159 young people to 152 older participants, around the average ages of 29 and 72 respectively. Both groups took a series of tests to determine their SEI, IQ, emotional intelligence (EQ) and self-estimated EQ. Young men unsurprisingly overestimated their IQ and EQ scores by 5 to 15 points. Shockingly, though, the same held true of women who had reached their 70s, who had somehow harnessed the hubris of all those twentysomething bros.

The researchers suspect that this may be rooted in self-confidence, as those with higher SEI considered themselves to be more attractive as well. Perhaps as men get older, maintaining that level of bravado becomes exhausting, whereas women simply grow tired of being modest as they age. 

Either way, mansplaining has some new competition — gramsplaining.