National IQs, Years of E, and a Difficult Decision

Abstract

In the study “Likely Electromagnetic Foundations of Gender Inequality” across 98 countries, published in Cross-Cultural Research, 2023, 57, 2-3, 239-263, the author of this note reported that, through apparent actions on a genetic polymorphism (ACP*B) and pathogen prevalence, as well as directly, ultraviolet radiation (UVR) impaired cognitive performance - with the final result of increasing gender inequality. A reader complained that the use of Becker’s (2019) National IQs dataset, based on Lynn and Vanhanen’s national IQs derived from cognitive ability tests, invalidated the study’s results and conclusions. However, the Becker National IQs were not used alone but averaged with years of education per country. In the present note, it is demonstrated that reanalyzing the data with the use of years of education alone produces virtually the same outcomes reported in the original study on the basis of a combination of the two variables. That is, the use of Becker’s IQs did not invalidate the study’s conclusions. Nonetheless, the author retracted the article in order to stimulate improvements in the Becker collection.