Sex differences in intelligence in younger and older participants of the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices Plus

After many years of inconclusive findings in the well-researched field of sex differences in general intelligence, Lynn (1994) made a novel contribution by proposing a developmental theory to explain differences in mean performance on measures of general intelligence. The theory posits that due to differing maturational rates, females outperform males prior to 15 years of age, while males outperform females from 15 years of age onwards through adulthood. The Raven’s Progressive Matrices are often used in such investigations of group differences as they are considered to be among the best measures of general intelligence. To date, inconsistent results have been reported and may be attributed to the non-representative nature of the data samples and the use of statistical measures that fail to identify test item bias or the reliable evaluation of group differences. Using a nationally representative sample of children, multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses have been used to assess mean differences in younger (7–14 years) and older (15–18 years) groups. No significant differences were found in mean performance or score variance, failing to provide evidence for a Developmental Theory of Sex Differences in general intelligence.

► A UK sample of the Raven’s SPM was assessed using structural equation models to test Developmental Sex Differences.
► No differences in mean or variability were found in the performance of groups of younger and older participants.
► Findings of this study disconfirm earlier findings of a developmentally-based theory of sex differences in intelligence.
► Results are considered more generalisable than previous reports due to sample representativeness and robustness of analyses.