A negative Flynn effect in Finland, 1997–2009

A negative Flynn effect in Finland, 1997–2009
E Dutton & R Lynn
Intelligence, Article in Press,
Available Online 30 June 2013



Abstract

The average IQs of approximately 25,000 18–20 year old male military conscripts in Finland per year are reported for the years 1988 to 2009. The results showed increases in the scores on tests of Shapes, Number and Words over the years 1988 to 1997 averaging 4.0 IQ points a decade. From 1997 to 2009 there were declines in all three tests averaging 2.0 IQ points a decade.



"[There] were few non-European immigrants in Finland during the years 1997–2009. In 2012, 4.8% of the Finnish population were immigrants or had at least one immigrant parent (Statistics Finland, 2012) and the great majority of these were Russians and Estonians, whose average IQ is the approximately same as that of the Finns at around 100 (Lynn & Vanhanen, 2012). Those of non-European, including American, origin made up just 1.8% of the Finnish population in 2012 (Statistics Finland, 2012). Thus, the decline of IQs in Finland cannot be attributed to the arrival of significant numbers of immigrants who may have had lower average IQs than the indigenous population. The most probable reason for the declines in IQs that have now been recorded in a number of countries is the presence of dysgenic fertility..."

[In comparison to other European countries only few non-Europeans immigrated into Finland in the last decades. Therefore the negative changes of the Finnish national IQ-level seem to be mainly caused by dysgenic / IQ lowering fertility patterns of the Finnish population.]