Are IQ Tests Reliable? +Their Importance, Use, & Downsides

IQ tests are pretty reliable, although they aren’t the ultimate indicator of intelligence. Despite their frequent and extensive use, they still aren’t the perfect psychometric tool—though they are the most reliable one we have.

To gain a deeper insight into IQ tests as well as their importance and shortcomings, we’ve consulted a team of psychometricians who spent years researching the topic. In this article, we’ll examine their views on IQ tests.

So, let’s dive in.

Key Takeaways

• IQ tests are reliable, but they can’t be used as the sole indicator of intelligence, as they often ignore some essential aspects.
• IQ tests are used for professional or academic assessment as well as discovering intellectual disabilities and giftedness.
• Online IQ tests have somewhat of a bad reputation, but they can be very accurate as long as they come from reliable sources.
• From the perspective of psychology, problems with IQ tests include their inability to measure emotional intelligence and social skills, as well as their potential for misuse.

What Is IQ?

A girl taking an IQ test and answering are IQ tests reliable

IQ is a score derived from an IQ test that measures the level of your cognitive abilities, which encompass pattern recognition, working memory, logical reasoning, problem-solving skills, and concentration.

Otherwise known as the intelligence quotient, IQ is measured by comparing your performance on the test to that of your peers. Then, your performance is turned into a percentile, which is finally translated into an IQ score.

For instance, if you perform better than 90% of your age group, you’ll belong to the 90th percentile. Once that’s transformed into an IQ score, it equals approximately 120, which is considered above-average intelligence.

Typically, IQ tests place intelligence on a scale ranging from 40 to 160, with an average score of 100. However, since most of the population’s intelligence falls into the 85–115 range, that is considered the actual average.

Scores below 85 indicate low intelligence, while results above 115 show intellectual giftedness.

IQ Tests Importance & Use

IQ tests are used for various purposes, such as academic placement, deciding on the best job candidate, and determining potential cognitive impairment or intellectual giftedness.

Currently, psychologists use a number of standardized tests to measure one’s IQ.

Here are the most commonly administered ones:

• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Alfred Binet developed the first IQ test in 1916 to determine which children could use help in school. Over the years, it went through many revisions, and it’s still one of the most popular tests today.
• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. WAIS is the most used IQ test in the world, designed specifically for testing adult and adolescent intelligence. To measure children’s intelligence, Wechsler developed a different test—the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children.
• Raven’s Progressive Matrices. RPM includes exclusively non-verbal tasks, specifically 3x3 matrices, that require the test takers to use their analytical skills and pattern recognition to discover which element completes the sequence.
• Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test. Cattell’s IQ test is yet another fully non-verbal test that attempts to be culture-neutral. And although it arguably comes close, no test can achieve true neutrality.

For a deeper dive into the significance of IQ and its real-world impact, check out our article 'Is IQ Important?'.

How Accurate and Reliable Are IQ Tests?

an image of a person using a calculator

IQ tests are fairly reliable, especially when administered by a psychologist with extensive experience in the field. In other words, they do measure the cognitive skills they set out to measure.

However, these cognitive skills are not the end all, be all of intelligence. They comprise only one aspect of it, and they are too narrow to paint a complete picture of how intelligent someone is.

More specifically, some IQ tests are often flawed because they measure logical-mathematical and verbal intelligence, disregarding many other types.

According to Howard Gardner, an American psychologist who developed the theory of multiple intelligences, there are at least seven other types of intelligence to consider.

In addition, your performance on an IQ test greatly depends on numerous factors. For instance, if you’re stressed or haven’t slept the night before taking the test, you’ll likely do worse than when you’re well-rested and in the right mindset.

Furthermore, you can improve your performance by taking practice IQ tests and familiarizing yourself with common tasks. When we take that into consideration, it’s obvious that most IQ tests can’t measure your general intelligence with full and absolute objectivity.

But then again, as far as the tools for measuring intelligence go, there’s nothing more reliable than an IQ test. As a result, many schools, institutions, and companies use them for admissions and hiring needs.

Are Online IQ Tests Accurate?

Certain online IQ tests can be very accurate, but nonetheless, they shouldn’t be used as the only measure of intelligence. Namely, even when they are designed by psychologists or psychometricians, they have certain limitations due to the tasker’s potential dishonesty while solving them.

One of those limitations is that you can complete an online IQ test from home with no one to oversee your work. As a result, you can easily be tempted to look up an answer to a task that’s troubling you and thus boost your score.

Of course, this is impossible when taking an actual IQ test, as the overseer wouldn’t allow cheating and would ensure there are no distractions. In addition, some low-quality online IQ tests aren’t accurate measures of intelligence and may even give you a drastically different score every time you take them.

Ultimately, their reliability largely varies from website to website, which is why it’s important to do your research and opt for high-quality tests like ours, which have been expertly designed by leading psychometricians and extensively tested and optimized for accuracy and thoroughness.

On top of that, good online IQ tests also provide some fun mental exercise and can be good practice for an actual IQ test.

What Are the Problems With IQ Tests?

The problems with some low-quality, unprofessionally designed IQ tests include their inability to measure certain important aspects of intelligence, as well as the fact that they can be used to further discriminate against certain groups.

Below, we examine these common issues with IQ tests in more detail.

#1. Disregarding Emotional Intelligence

Are IQ tests reliable and the difference between IQ and EQ

Emotional intelligence is often considered an even more important skill than IQ, both in professional settings and in personal life. In fact, lately, it’s been cited as a bigger predictor of success than general intelligence.

However, most IQ tests don’t address emotional intelligence at all. Their tasks are entirely focused on cognitive skills and logical-mathematical intelligence—no other kinds are taken into account. As a result, one important aspect of intelligence is largely disregarded.

Arguably, that’s not a huge issue; after all, there are tests specifically designed to measure emotional intelligence, so general IQ tests don’t need to. Still, some people find it difficult to consider common IQ tests reliable when they don’t address such an important aspect of intelligence.

#2. Not Measuring Social Skills

Social skills, otherwise known as interpersonal intelligence, are yet another crucial aspect of intelligence that often isn’t measured on standard IQ tests.

In fact, social skills have a lot in common with emotional intelligence, as they allow you to effectively communicate with others, which requires a degree of empathy.

Of course, social skills are very difficult to accurately measure on a test. Tests that do evaluate them usually ask the takers to self-assess and choose how they would respond to a certain situation, which is, in most cases, an unreliable way to measure skills, traits, or intelligence.

#3. Can Be Used as Tools of Discrimination

Although Binet’s original motivation behind developing an IQ test was benevolent, its uses weren’t always benign. Namely, IQ tests can be used for good and bad—in other words, to help people as well as to discriminate against them.

For example, racists and supporters of the eugenics theory used IQ tests to claim certain groups were less intelligent than others and, therefore, shouldn’t be allowed to have children or migrate to countries with a predominantly white population.

These beliefs resulted in 70,000 forced sterilizations of people who were deemed “feebleminded” in the early 20th century. And although IQ tests alone can’t bear responsibility for this, they did provide a “scientific” basis that allowed things to escalate to this extent.

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Final Thoughts

While many online IQ tests aren’t reliable indicators of intelligence, not all of them are built the same. As long as the test is expertly designed and accounts for various aspects of intelligence, like ours, it can be just as useful as a standardized IQ test.

On top of that, IQ tests can be an excellent way to practice your cognitive skills and improve your general intelligence, which can come in handy in many aspects of your personal and professional life.

Curious to learn more on IQ? Discover how artificial intelligence is impacting intelligence testing in our Artificial Intelligence and IQ post.