Study: IQ linked to virginity
By Leslie Finlay
Collegian Staff Writer
Recent studies on sexual activity among adolescents and young adults show that being an "average Joe" may have benefits outside of the classroom.
The studies show that female and male adolescents with an IQ score either below 70 or above 110 are more likely to be virgins.
Adolescents with IQ scores ranging from 70 to 110 had the lowest probability of virginity, according to two researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The average IQ score is 90 to 110.
Mariah Mantsun Cheng, a research associate, and J. Richard Udry, professor of maternal and child health and sociology, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, conducted the study. They discovered that 39.8 percent of boys with an average IQ score have had sex while 29.2 percent of boys with an IQ above 110 have had sex.
They also found that 63.3 percent of adolescent men and 81.6 percent of women with IQ scores below average have never had sex and most have had fewer experiences of romantic attraction. Another study in Gene Expression Magazine entitled "Intercourse and Intelligence" confirms this data, citing research that shows a bell-shaped relationship between IQ scores and sex.
According to the research, an adolescent with an IQ score of 100 was 1.5 to 5 times more likely to have had intercourse than an adolescent with an above average score of about 120 to 130.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with nationwide university studies support this research.
The CDC states that by age 19, 80 percent of men and 75 percent of women lose their virginity. According to a survey held by Counterpoint Magazine at Wellesley College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 60 percent of undergraduates at Wellesley are virgins and 47 percent of undergraduates at MIT are currently virgins.
The study at Wellesley also broke the research down by majors. It found that no studio art majors were virgins while 72 percent of biology majors and 83 percent of biochemistry and math majors were virgins.
Cheng said the research also indicated that boys with lower IQ scores are more likely to be attracted to the same sex compared with average boys.
"While the majority of adolescents with lower cognitive abilities have not had sex," Cheng said, "among those who are sexually active, especially for girls, are much less likely to use contraceptives, having a higher risk of pregnancy as well."
Cheng and Udry's study is an ongoing longitudinal study that began in 1994.
"There are the same people in the study now as there were when it began in 1994," Udry added.
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Poster Comment:
LOL the auto catagory turned out to be SPORTS. Someone has a sense of humor!
