Selective emigration and the decline of intelligence in Scotland

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Abstract
A number of studies are reviewed to show that the mean level of measured intelligence in Scotland is approximately three to four IQ points lower than that in England. These results are a striking contrast with another set of findings showing that in the nineteenth century Scotland had a greater proportional output of people of intellectual distinction than did England. Evidence on Scottish‐English differences in education, parental attention, and per capita income suggests that none of these factors can explain the difference in mean IQ. It is suggested that the principal cause of the reduced mean intelligence in Scotland lies in the selective emigration of the more intelligent, and evidence is reviewed to show that this emigration has occurred for at least a century.

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