THE BELL CURVE
Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
RICHARD J. HERRNSTEIN
Simon & Schuster
The Bell Curve Phenomenon
“The Bell Curve’s implications will be as profound for the beginning of the new century as Michael Harrington’s discovery of ‘the other America’ was for the final part of the old. Richard Herrnstein’s bequest to us is a work of great value. Charles Murray’s contribution goes on.”
—Chester E. Finn, Jr., Commentary
“[The authors] have been cast as racists and elitists and The Bell Curve has been dismissed as pseudoscience…. The book’s message cannot be dismissed so easily. Herrnstein and Murray have written one of the most provocative social science books published in many years…. This is a superbly written and exceedingly well documented book.”
—Prof. Thomas J. Bouchard, Contemporary Psychology
“The Bell Curve is a comprehensive treatment of its subject, never mean-spirited or gloating. It gives a fair hearing to those who dissent scientifically from its propositions—in fact, it bends over backward to be fair…. Among the dozens of hostile articles that have thus far appeared, none has successfully refuted any of its science.”
—Christopher Caldwell, American Spectator
“Mr. Murray and Mr. Herrnstein write that ‘for the last 30 years, the concept of intelligence has been a pariah in the world of ideas,’ and that the time has come to rehabilitate rational discourse on the subject. It is hard to imagine a democratic society doing otherwise.”
—Malcolme W. Browne, The New York Times Book Review
“Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray might not feel at home with Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Lani Guinier, but they should…. They have all [made] brave attempts to force a national debate on urgent matters that will not go away. And they have met the same fate. Once again, academia and the mass media are straining every muscle to suppress debate.”
—Prof. Eugene D. Genovese, National Review
“The first reactions to The Bell Curve were expressions of public outrage. In the second round of reaction, some commentators suggested that Herrnstein and Murray were merely bringing up facts that were well known in the scientific community, but perhaps best not discussed in public. A Papua New Guinea language has a term for this, Mokita. It means ‘truth that we all know, but agree not to talk about.’ … There are fascinating questions here for those interested in the interactions between sociology, economics, anthropology and cognitive science. We do not have the answers yet. We may need them soon, for policy makers who rely on Mokita are flying blind.”
—Prof. Earl Hunt, American Scientist
“From beginning to end, it is apparent that Herrnstein and Murray are eminently reasonable, responsible, civilized and compassionate human beings. Throughout their work opposing arguments and schools of thought are assiduously canvassed. Readers are alerted over and over again to contrary views and differing interpretations of the evidence presented. The expository chapters are written without jargon. The prose is exceptionally lucid, often elegant; far from being a boring, heavy-footed tome, the book is a good read from start to finish.”
—Prof. E. L. Patullo, Society
“This is one of the most sober, responsible, thorough and thoughtful books to be published in years. I don’t happen to agree with everything in it, but that is beside the point.”
—Thomas Sowell, author of Race and Culture: A World View
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Copyright © 1994 by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
First Free Press Paperback Edition 1996
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Herrnstein, Richard J.
The bell curve: intelligence and class structure in American life/ Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray.—1st Free Press paperback ed.
p. cm.—(A Free Press paperbacks book)
Originally published: New York: Free Press, © 1994.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-6848-2429-1
ISBN-10: 0-684-82429-9
eISBN-13: 978-1-4391-3491-7
1. Intellect. 2. Nature and nurture. 3. Intelligence levels—United States. 4. Intelligence levels—Social aspects—United States. 5. Educational psychology. I. Murray, Charles A.
II. Title.
[BF431.H398 1996]
305.9′082—dc20 95-42934
CIP
Afterword copyright © 1995 by Charles Murray, adapted from Commentary; used by permission. All rights reserved.
For JULIA, MAX, JAMES, NARISARA, SARAWAN, ANNA, AND BENNETT
We wrote with your world in our thoughts
There is a most absurd and audacious Method of reasoning avowed by some Bigots and Enthusiasts, and through Fear assented to by some wiser and better Men; it is this. They argue against a fair Discussion of popular Prejudices, because, say they, tho’ they would be found without any reasonable Support, yet the Discovery might be productive of the most dangerous Consequences. Absurd and blasphemous Notion! As if all Happiness was not connected with the Practice of Virtue, which necessarily depends upon the Knowledge of Truth.
EDMUND BURKE A Vindication of Natural Society
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
A Note to the Reader
Preface
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
PART I. THE EMERGENCE OF A COGNITIVE ELITE
1 Cognitive Class and Education, 1900-1990
2 Cognitive Partitioning by Occupation
3 The Economic Pressure to Partition
4 Steeper Ladders, Narrower Gates
PART II. COGNITIVE CLASSES AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
5 Poverty
6 Schooling
7 Unemployment, Idleness, and Injury
8 Family Matters
9 Welfare Dependency
10 Parenting
11 Crime
12 Civility and Citizenship
PART III. THE NATIONAL CONTEXT
13 Ethnic Differences in Cognitive Ability
14 Ethnic Inequalities in Relation to IQ
15 The Demography of Intelligence
16 Social Behavior and the Prevalence of Low Cognitive Ability
PART IV. LIVING TOGETHER
17 Raising Cognitive Ability
18 The Leveling of American Education
19 Affirmative Action in Higher Education
20 Affirmative Action in the Workplace
21 The Way We Are Headed
22 A Place for Everyone
AFTERWORD
APPENDIXES
1 Statistics for People Who Are Sure They Can’t Learn Statistics
2 Technical Issues Regarding the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
3 Technical Issues Regarding the Armed Forces Qualification Test as a Measure of IQ
4 Regression Analyses from Part II
5 Supplemental Material for Chapter 13
6 Regression Analyses from Chapter 1
4
7 The Evolution of Affirmative Action in the Workplace
Notes
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
In the twentieth century, the prevalence of the college degree goes from one in fifty to a third of the population
At mid-century, America abruptly becomes more efficient in getting the top students to college
Between the 1920s and the 1960s, college attendance becomes much more closely pegged to IQ
Cognitive sorting continues from the time that students enter college to the time they get a degree
Cognitive stratification in colleges by 1961
Americans with and without a college education as of 1930
Americans with and without a college education as of 1990
The top IQ decile becomes rapidly more concentrated in high-IQ professions from 1940 onward
In fifty years, the education of the typical CEO increases from high school to graduate school
The variation among individuals that lies behind a significant correlation coefficient
The advantages of hiring by test score
Engineers’ salaries as an example of how intelligence became more valuable in the 1950s
The high-IQ occupations also are well-paid occupations
Defining the cognitive classes
Dramatic progress against poverty from World War II through the 1960s, stagnation since then
The comparative roles of IQ and parental SES in determining whether young white adults are below the poverty line
In the white high school sample, high IQ makes a difference in avoiding poverty; in the college sample, hardly anyone was poor
The role of the mother’s IQ in determining which white children are poor
The role of the mother’s socioeconomic background in determining which white children are poor
In the first half of the century, the high school diploma becomes the norm
In predicting which white youths will never complete a high school education, IQ is more important than SES
For temporary dropouts, the importance of SES increases sharply
For white youths, being smart is more important than being privileged in getting a college degree
Since mid-century, teenage boys not in school are increasingly not employed either
IQ and socioeconomic background have opposite effects on leaving the labor force among white men
High IQ lowers the probability of a month-long spell of unemployment among white men, while socioeconomic background has no effect
In the early 1970s, the marriage rate began a prolonged decline for no immediately apparent reason
High IQ raises the probability of marriage for the white high school sample, while high socioeconomic background lowers it
The divorce revolution
IQ and socioeconomic background have opposite effects on the likelihood of an early divorce among young whites
The illegitimacy revolution
IQ has a large effect on white illegitimate births independent of the mother’s socioeconomic background
IQ is a more powerful predictor of illegitimacy among poor white women than among white women as a whole
The welfare revolution
Even after poverty and marital status are taken into account, IQ played a substantial role in determining whether white women go on welfare
Socioeconomic background and IQ are both important in determining whether white women become chronic welfare recipients
A white mother’s IQ has a significant role in determining whether her baby is underweight while her socioeconomic background does not
A white mother’s IQ and socioeconomic background each has a large independent effect on her child’s chances of spending the first three years of life in poverty
A white mother’s IQ is more important than her socioeconomic background in predicting the worst home environments
Both a white mother’s IQ and socioeconomic background have moderate relationships with developmental problems in the child
A white mother’s IQ dominates the importance of socioeconomic background in determining the child’s IQ
The boom in violent crime after the 1950s
On two diverse measures of crime, the importance of IQ dominates socioeconomic background for white men
Cognitive ability and the Middle Class Values index
Overview of studies of reporting black-white differences in cognitive test scores, 1918-1990
The black and white IQ distributions in the NLSY, Version I
The black and white IQ distributions in the NLSY, Version II
Black IQ scores go up with socioeconomic status, but the black-white difference does not shrink
After controlling for IQ, the probability of graduating from college is about the same for whites and Latinos, higher for blacks
After controlling for IQ, blacks and Latinos have substantially higher probabilities than whites of being in a high-IQ occupation
After controlling for IQ, ethnic wage differentials shrink from thousands to a few hundred dollars
Controlling for IQ cuts the poverty differential by 77 percent for blacks and 74 percent for Latinos
After controlling for IQ, the ethnic discrepancy in male unemployment shrinks by more than half for blacks and disappears for Latinos
Controlling for IQ explains little of the large black-white difference in marriage rates
Controlling for IQ narrows the Latino-white difference in illegitimacy but leaves a large gap between blacks and whites
Controlling for IQ cuts the gap in black-white welfare rates by half and the Latino-white gap by 84 percent
Even among poor mothers, controlling for IQ does not diminish the black-white disparity in welfare recipiency
Controlling for IQ cuts the black-white disparity in low-birth-weight babies by half
Controlling for IQ reduces the discrepancy between minority and white children living in poverty by more than 80 percent
Controlling for IQ cuts the ethnic disparity in home environments by half for blacks and more than 60 percent for Latinos
Controlling for IQ more than eliminates overall ethnic differences in the developmental indexes
Based on national norms, high percentages of minority children remain in the bottom decile of IQ after controlling for the mother’s IQ
Controlling for IQ cuts the black-white difference in incarceration by almost three-quarters
The MCV Index, before and after controlling for IQ
The higher the education, the fewer the babies
Fertility falls as educational level rises in similar fashion for black, white, and Latino women
The swing in social problems that can result from small shifts in the mean IQ of a population
Forty-eight percent of the poor in 1989 came from the bottom 20 percent in intelligence
Two-thirds of high school dropouts came from the bottom 20 percent in intelligence
Seventeen percent of the men who worked year-round in 1989 were in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Sixty-four percent of able-bodied men who did not work in 1989 were in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Twenty-nine percent of able-bodied men who were temporarily out of work in 1989 were in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Sixty-two percent of men ever interviewed in jail or prison came from the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Forty-five percent of women who ever received welfare were in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Fifty-seven percent of chronic welfare recipients were in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Fifty-two percent of illegitimate children were born to mothers in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Thirty-one percent of children living with divorced or separated mothers had mothers with IQs in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Forty-five percent of low-birth-weight babies had mot
hers in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
Fifty-six percent of all children from the bottom decile in home environment were born to mothers in the bottom 20 percent of intelligence
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life Page 1
