EXPLAINING THE RELATION BETWEEN IQ AND DELINQUENCY: CLASS, RACE, TEST MOTIVATION, SCHOOL FAILURE, OR SELF-CONTROL?

• NCJ Number: 147442
• Journal: Journal of Abnormal Psychology Volume: 102 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 187-196
• Author(s): D Lynam; T Moffitt; M Stouthamer-Loeber
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH45548, 86-JN-CX-0009
• Sponsoring Agency: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP); National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines differing explanatory accounts of the relation between IQ and delinquency.

Abstract

An inverse relation between IQ and delinquency has been well established, but the direction of effect remains to be specified. This study empirically examines differing explanatory accounts of the relation using data on 13-year- old boys involved in a high-risk longitudinal study. Accounts that interpreted the relation as spurious or that posited that delinquency-related factors lead to low IQ scores received no support; findings were most consistent with the hypothesis that the direction of effect runs from low IQ to delinquency. The IQ-delinquency relation was robust after race, class, and observed test motivation were controlled statistically. Additionally, the effect of IQ was mediated by school performance for black youth but not for white youth. Footnotes, tables, figures, references