“Eyes and IQ: A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Intelligence and ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’”, Crystal A. Baker, Eric Peterson, Steven Pulos, Rena A. Kirkland2015-05-01 (IQ, autism)⁠:

• Meta-analysis finds relationship between RMET performance and intelligence.

• Contrary to previous assumptions, RMET performance is influenced by intelligence.

• It is important to control for intelligence when using the RMET.

• Verbal and performance IQ contribute equally to RMET performance.

Although the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET; Baron-Cohen et al 1997_27ya, Baron-Cohen et al 2001_23ya) has been used as a measure of mental state understanding in over 250 studies, the extent to which it correlates with intelligence is seldom considered.

We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate whether or not a relationship exists between intelligence and performance on the RMET. The analysis of 77 effect sizes with 3,583 participants revealed a small positive correlation (r = 0.24) with no difference between verbal and performance abilities.

We conclude that intelligence does play a substantial role in performance on the RMET and that verbal and performance abilities contribute to this relationship equally.

We discuss these findings in the context of the theory of mind and domain-general resources literature.

[Keywords: mental state, mentalizing, RMET, social cognition, theory of mind]

See Also:

• A meta-analysis of the relationship between emotion recognition ability and intelligence

• What matters more for entrepreneurship success? A meta-analysis comparing general mental ability and emotional intelligence in entrepreneurial settings

• Personality and Intelligence: A Meta-Analysis

• Meta-analytic relations between personality and cognitive ability