Essay Sample on Societal Implications of the Knowledge and Beliefs About Intelligence

Introduction

For many years, psychologists tended to believe that there is a "general intelligence" extending throughout the cognitive activity of human beings (Visser, Ashton, & Vernon, 2006b). The notion of "general intelligence" is supposed to elaborate on the positive manifold, the finding that intelligence tests with different content all correlate. However, there is a lack of consensus on the psychological basis of such ability. The process-overlap theory explains the positive manifold but does not factor in the general intelligence concept. Given this, IQ has been redefined as an emergent formative construct rather than a reflective latent trait (Kovacs & Conway, 2019). This implies that IQ does not reflect an underlying general intelligence, but is interpreted as an index of specific cognitive abilities. Many different laymen and expert theories about intelligence have been advanced, a discussion of their societal implications would be prudent.

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In her article "Beliefs that Make Smart People Dumb," Carol S. Dweck discusses some common beliefs that make smart people do dumb things and remain behind in terms of intellectual ability. Research shows that there are people who have the greatest abilities one could wish for, but fail to use them whenever they need it the most, which results in them losing it gradually (Dweck, 2002). The justification is that smart people are too preoccupied with their smartness. They believe that smartness is a rare ability that they possess, and others do not, which makes them more special than others. The weird belief is potentially dangerous to society since it could lead to discrimination. "Smart" people would avoid associating with "dumb" people simply because they believe they do not belong to the same social class.

Some people believe that intelligence is a fixed trait while others believe that it has the potential of getting further development (Dweck, 2002). Those with the view that intelligence is a fixed trait usually hope that they rank among the intelligent bearing in mind that the cognitive ability is rare within society. In contrast, some people hold the assumption that intelligence can be developed over time. They believe that working hard, and taking on the challenges to improving oneself would make a person more intelligent contrary to the belief of ranking people among some intellectual elite (Dweck, 2002). For psychologists, getting to know the correct view among the two is the primary concern.

Previous psychological research indicates that intelligence is highly resistant to change (Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). This is contrary to the view held by other contemporary and traditional psychologists who believe that intelligence is a repertoire of intellectual abilities that can be developed over time. Contemporary and traditional psychologists also hold the view that intellectual abilities can grow through personal striving and education. Those who believe that their intelligence is fixed may not be aware of the actual level that it is fixed (Ma & Schapira, 2017). As a result, they would look at the outcome of their performances as a way to gauge their intelligence levels. Subsequently, a variety of defensive and self-defeating behaviors set in, which make them neglect excellent learning opportunities for fear of exposing some inadequacies. This denies them the chance to have long-term success in society.

Another popular belief is that performance measures intelligence and self-worth. A study conducted at an Ivy league university confirmed that most students believe that their examination scores determine their intellectual ability (Kamins and Dweck, 1999). Those who held the view that intelligence is fixed believed that failing in a Graduate Record Exam would mean that they are dumb even though they had a long history of academic success in their previous undergraduate study. Holding the view that intelligence is fixed could be detrimental to the lives of many students. This is because they tend to give up easily and some could engage in the abuse of illicit drugs to try to overcome their depression.

In contrast, students who believe in malleable intelligence react differently to failure (Hong, Chiu, Dweck, Lin, & Wan, 1999). They did not dwell on condemning their intellect and self-worth but chose to question what made them perform poorly in particular examinations. They decided to evaluate their themselves and also plan on how they would overcome their failures to reach their desired goals. To them, failure was not a measure of how dumb they had become, but a reminder of what they need to do differently to achieve success in the future. This group of students is less likely to get depressed and give up on their education as compared to those who believe that intelligence is fixed. The society needs students who can overcome their failures since they are future leaders and drivers of the economy. If the present generation of young people despairs, then economic prosperity of future generations would be doomed.

The belief that learning is risky, held by those who believe that intelligence is fixed, could be potentially dangerous to society (Mueller & Dweck, 1998). Learning exposes a person to new ideas and concepts, which the learner did not previously know about. However, people holding the view that intelligence is fixed feel that they cannot reveal their ignorance and errors for the fear that their intelligence and self-worth would be put into question. When asked about when they felt smart, those holding the malleable view on intelligence said that they felt smart when striving to learn and understand new things. Those holding the fixed view believe that they felt smart when they are performing better than others in whatever thing that they are doing.

Research indicates that students with a fixed view on intelligence prefer to perform safe tasks on which they could appear smarter than their peers rather than taking personally challenging tasks (Sternberg, Kaufman, & Grigorenko, 2008). Some even state that if they previously knew that they would fail in the task, they would not attempt to do it even if they had the potential of learning many things out of the challenging exercise. A potential consequence of this behavior is that smart people would become dumber because they ignore great learning opportunities. For instance, a person who refuses to get into a remedial English class would have poor language proficiency, and this would be revealed in the way they take their examinations printed in English.

Some people believe that effort is only for the incompetent and this produces negative consequences for the society since there is a lot of stagnation (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Those with a fixed view on intelligence are unwilling to learn, and this makes organizations stagnate since there are minimal innovation and creativity. Some organizations lose out to competing firms since their employees believe that they are smarter and do not need to learn more. It is a dangerous point of view that can lead to laziness and a false sense of contentment. Effort and constant improvement are what makes a person better and well experienced but for those holding the fixed view on intelligence, a person who is smart at something does not need to work so hard at it.

People holding the view that effort is only for the incompetent fail to maximize their full potential. If two people are performing a particular task, where one performs it easily as compared to the other, it means that the person is more skilled at that time. However, some tasks in life require extensive effort, no matter how smart a person may be. This justifies the view that motivation makes people become creative geniuses by performing creative exploits. On the contrary, those with a fixed view on intelligence would probably not put in the required effort that would propel them to greatness in line with their capabilities.

When confronted with challenges that require their effort, people holding the view that intelligence is fixed would decide to focus on their intelligence and inadequacies rather than taking on the challenge. Although they may have all the resources needed to handle the challenge, they focus on their inadequacies, and this could lead to a drop in their self-esteem. The feeling of inadequacy messes with the ego of many who could decide to lose hope out of mere desperation. Psychologists would agree that hopeless people are the most dangerous people in society since they are difficult to deal with. It is very easy for homeless people to take desperate actions such as suicide or engage in alcoholism, which appears to be their "haven."

Those who avoid looking dumb by failing to work hard miss excellent growth opportunities and this makes them inculcate self-defeating attitudes (Rhodewalt, 1994). Researchers described this as a self-handicapping attitude where a person avoids doing things that would make them look like they have little ability, even if it would jeopardize their performance (Berglas, 1990). The people care more about looking smart than accomplishing anything. This could make them withdraw their effort or slacken and deny themselves the opportunity to have a true assessment of their performance, and in turn doom it even further.

Society puts a premium on the fulfillment of potential and the achievements of individuals. Authors have published countless self-help books which guide the reader on how to make the most out of their talents. Parents have also had countless child-rearing guides to assist them in guiding their children into maximization of their natural potential. A false belief in most American societies is that praising a person's abilities or intelligence would raise their level of achievements through boosting their confidence and motivation. Although the concept seems sensible, research shows that people who are so focused on their intelligence are more vulnerable to underachievement (Sternberg & Wagner, 1993).

Ideally, praising a person's intelligence when they succeed, will make them focus on measuring their intelligence, avoiding risks, worry about the inadequacies, and question their intelligence upon failure (Hunt, 1995). All these processes are potentially damaging to the person's feeling of self-confidence and overall achievement. A psychological study was conducted where three groups of students were given challenging tasks to work on (Mueller & Dweck, 1998). On completing the tasks, some were praised for their intelligence on the tasks, others were praised for their effort, while others were commended for their excellent performance. Afterward, the students were offered the choice between taking more challenging tasks that made them learn new things and safe tasks that ensured success. Those who were praised for their intelligence preferred taking the safe tasks. The students were then given a second round of tasks that were more difficult than those done in the first round.

Results from the study indicated that those who received praises for being intelligent showed a steep decline in their enjoyment once they hit difficulty (Skipper & Douglas, 2012). They also failed to show interest in taking some problems to go and practice at their homes. On the contrary, those who got praised for their efforts did not show any decline in their enjoyment even when the tasks became more difficult. Many of the students even liked the tasks better and decided to take the difficult problems home so that they would get assistance from their parents. In essence, when performance is centered upon intelligence, the person's enjoyment drops when the performance turns poor (Neisser e...