Ohio – The findings from a new study published on Tuesday involving young baby boomers shows the stereotype of blondes being often described as “dumb” to be completely false, according to researchers at Ohio State University.
In order for researchers to acquire relevant data, a study involving over 10,800 American women was set in motion to verify if there was any type of connection between hair color and intellectual capacity. The data analyzed from a national survey of people consisted of people between 14 and 21 years old at the time of their interview far back almost 40 years ago.
The new study published last week in the journal Economics Bulletin, was founded with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79. Participants at the trials in the NLSY79 were given the aptitude test called Armed Forces Qualification Test of AFQT for short. The United States Pentagon commonly uses the test in order to accurately determine the intelligence of all recruits.
Still, the study found no significant separation between IQ scores of blonde volunteers and IQ scores from people with other hair color. So it appears that blondes can be as smart (or as dumb) as any other person regardless of their hair color. That being said, any discrimination on a person’s intelligence for conditions including their appearance or physical traits is not only wrongly based, but proven to be wrong thanks to the new research at OSU.
The author of the study and a research scientist at OSU, Jay Zagorsky, says the results show how stereotypes often have an impact on hiring for women, as well as promotions and other social experiences. He claims that, while most people around the world consider jokes denigrating blonde women’s intelligence as playful and, therefore, harmless, that can bring serious consequences for women.
Although the results could come as no surprise to many, if not all, the implications of the assumption of blonde women being unintelligent are worthy of attention. Zagorsky, who works in the university’s Center for Human Resource Research says the study also provides compelling evidence discarding any further discrimination against blonde women based on their intelligence.
Researchers at OSU found that naturally blonde haired women had an average IQ score in comparison with brunette women or women with black or red hair.
Even though the author of the study Jay Zagorsky has still plenty of work ahead in order to advance the research, he claims the major finding was certainly accurate. Any person can hold their own intellectually with others regardless of their physical appearance, including hair color.
Source: OSU