Zulu Mothers' Beliefs About Their Own and Their Children's Intelligence

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1 The Journal of Social Psychology ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: Zulu Mothers' Beliefs About Their Own and Their Children's Intelligence Adrian Furnham & Nhlanhla Mkhize To cite this article: Adrian Furnham & Nhlanhla Mkhize (2003) Zulu Mothers' Beliefs About Their Own and Their Children's Intelligence, The Journal of Social Psychology, 143:1, 83-94, DOI: / To link to this article: Published online: 03 Apr Submit your article to this journal Article views: 69 Citing articles: 15 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

2 The Journal of Social Psychology, 2003, 143( 1) Zulu Mothers Beliefs About Their Own and Their Children s Intelligence ADRIAN FURNHAM Department of Psychology University College, London NHLANHLA MKHIZE Department of Psychology University of Natal, South Africa ABSTRACT. Zulu women (N = 133) were given a structural interview concerning their own and their children s multiple intelligences. The best predictor of their own self-estimated overall intelligence rating was mathematical and spatial intelligence. Mothers showed few significant differences in their estimates of their sons and daughters overall or multiple intelligences. However, they rated their daughters interpersonal intelligence higher than those of their sons, and their sons bodily-kinesthetic intelligence higher than those of their daughters. The mothers believed that overall their children were about 6 IQ points more intelligent than themselves. Although mothers estimated their own spatial, inter-, and intrapersonal intelligence to be higher than those of their children, they also believed that their children had higher mathematical intelligence. Key words: self-estimated intelligence, South Africa, Zulu mothers INTELLIGENCE is of considerable interest to academics and lay people alike (Cattell, 1987; Eysenck, 1981; Flynn, 1987; Gardner, 1999; Goodnow, 1980; Kline, 1996; MacIntosh, 1988; Sternberg, 1985). Studies on beliefs about intelligence span over 50 years (Flugel, 1947; Shipstone & Burt, 1973). Researchers in this area have investigated and found differences in views between adults and children; between parents and teachers; and among people from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe (Furnham, 2000a, 2000b). There is consistent evidence that lay people include many practical skills and even temperamental factors in their definitions of intelligence. Studies on self-estimates of intelligence have examined both overall g (Beloff, 1992; Bennett, 1996; Byrd & Stacey, 1993; Furnham & Fong, 2000; Furnham & Rawles, 1995, 1999; Hogan, 1978; Reilly & Mulhern, Address correspondence to Adrian Furnham, Department of Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London WCIH OAP: a.fumham@ucl.ac.uk ( ). 83

3 84 The Journal of Social Psychology 1995) and multiple intelligence (Bennett, 1996, 1997, 2000; Furnham, 2000a; Furnham & Baguma, 1999; Furnham, Clark, & Bailey, 1999; Furnham, Fong, & Martin, 1999; Furnham, Hosoe, & Tang, 2001; Furnham, Rakow, Sarmany- Schiller, & de Fruyt, 1999; Furnham, Reeves, & Budhani, 2001). Studies of selfestimates of the seven (or more) multiple intelligences have tended to show a gender difference on two intelligences only: Men have higher self-estimates on mathematical and spatial intelligence than do women. In three studies, researchers have specifically examined parents estimates of their children s intelligence in mostly White, middle-class British parents. Furnham and Gasson (1998) asked 184 British adults to estimate their own overall IQ and those of their children. Fathers thought their own overall IQ higher than did mothers (108 vs. 104, respectively). Men also thought their male children were more intelligent than their female children (for the first child, male = 109, female = 102; for the second child, male = 108, female = 101; for the third child, male 105, female 102). Regression analysis showed that the gender, not the age, of the children was the best predictor of their parents IQ estimates. Furnham (2000b) asked British parents to rate the multiple intelligences of themselves and their children on the basis of Gardner s (1983) seven types. Fathers rated themselves as more intelligent on mathematical and spatial intelligence than did mothers. Overall, parents tended to believe that their children were more intelligent than themselves. Differences in perception of children s intelligence lay only in the areas of mathematical and spatial intelligence, which may be conflated with lay concepts of overall intelligence. Both parents indicated that they thought their sons more numerate than their daughters, and this result was stronger for the first child than for the second, suggesting a cultural significance attached to first-born sons. Furnham and Budhani (200 1) studied the differences between the ratings of parents, their children, and teachers of their own multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983). The children (mean age = 15.4 years, SD = 0.95) showed some differences in self-estimates, with boys giving higher mathematical, spatial, and intrapersona1 intelligence but lower musical intelligence than did girls. Mothers estimated their children s IQs to be equal (girls 105, boys 105), but fathers thought their sons marginally more intelligent than their daughters (girls = 108, boys = 11 1). The teachers thought boys had lower interpersonal intelligence than girls; otherwise, their scores were almost identical. As in other studies, the only significant difference between boys and girls lay in boys reporting higher self-estimates of spatial ability, in which they do have higher scores than girls. The present study followed the procedure of Furnham (2000b) except that all previous studies required participants to complete a questionnaire, whereas participants in this study were given a structured interview. Participants were Zulu-speaking mothers from South Africa who were administered a structured interview because most were only semiliterate. Furthermore, for sociohistorical and political reasons (the legacy of apartheid), it is rare for Zulu nuclear families to live together, and it often remains the mothers task to raise children. Hence

4 Furnharn & Mkhize 85 only mothers (but not fathers ) estimates were solicited in this study because many fathers had relatively little contact with their children. Often in Third-World countries, male children are explicitly more valued than female children (Ansah, 1991), which is also the case among the Zulu, one of the major Black groups in South Africa. We predicted that mothers would rate their sons as more intelligent than their daughters on all ratings of multiple intelligence. Participants Method Participants were 133 adult Zulu mothers. Their average age was years (SD = 11.95), and they had on average 8.54 years (SD = 3.41) of schooling. They all lived in Kwazulu-Natal, home of the Zulu. As for their first-born children, there were 69 boys (M age = years, SD = 8.63) and 64 girls (mean age = 20.38, SD = 7.70). Of second-born children, the participants had 70 boys (mean age = 14.73, SD = 7.46) and 59 girls (mean age = 17.10, SD = 7.86). The mean age of the third-born children was for 43 boys (SD = 4.99) and for 36 girls (SD = 6.46). Questionnaire On the questionnaire, participants were requested to rate their own overall IQ first, and then their seven multiple intelligences. Then they rated the overall and specific IQ of each their children, specifying their gender and age. The descriptions of the specific intelligences were adapted to be consistent with the education and experiential backgrounds of the target population. Following the recommendations by Bracken and Barona (1991) and Brislin (1986), we had the questionnaire used by Furnham (2000b) translated from English into Zulu by a bilingual, postgraduate psychology student. The resulting Zulu version was then given to another bilingual postgraduate student to be back translated into English. A small committee was then formed, consisting of the two postgraduate students and a bilingual psychologist. The committee reviewed the two English versions by looking for problematic concepts that needed further discussion. It was finally agreed that some changes were necessary to make the Zulu version more relevant to the target population. On further discussion, an appropriate Zulu version was created and then pilot tested on a small sample of 10 participants, some of whom were students; others were customers in a busy shopping mall near a local university. Procedure An adult female Zulu-speaking postgraduate student conducted the interviews in the street with women aged 28 to 50 years who were waiting for transportation.

5 86 The Journal of Social Psychology The interviewer chose people at random. After introducing herself as a postgraduate student, the interviewer attempted to explain the concept of the normal distribution as was done in previous studies (e.g., Furnham, 2001). The explanation involved describing the range of IQ scores (55-145) and their distribution in the population so that participants had some idea of normative scores and what they mean. Participants were then invited to estimate their own scores. Thereafter, they were asked to estimate their own scores on each of the seven multiple intelligences. These were read aloud along with examples in the language, experience, and metaphors they could understand (e.g., mathematical: your ability to count, do sums, and do arithmetic). The items were all fully piloted to ensure that they were appropriate. Respondents specified the age and gender of all their children and made eight estimates for each. The procedure took on average min per participant. Approximately 85% of participants who started the interview completed it. Results Table 1 shows the Zulu mothers self-estimates of intelligence. Their overall mean self-estimate was (SD = 7.31). The self-estimates of the seven multiple intelligences showed fairly dramatic differences compared with results of previous studies (Furnham, 2001). The Zulu mothers estimated their verbal, mathematical, and musical intelligence within a half standard deviation of the mean. They awarded themselves very high spatial (M = , SD = 6.54), bodily-kinesthetic (M = , SD = 12.13), interpersonal (M = , SD = 9.67), and intrapersonal intelligence scores (M = , SD = 10.26). The ratings are higher than those in previous studies in the area (e.g., Furnham, 2001). The correlation matrix showed the ratings to be independent of each other overall. However, when the seven self-estimates were simultaneously regressed onto the overall g measure, as in various previous studies (reviewed by Furnham, 2001), mathematical and spatial intelligences were the strongest predictors. Interestingly, self-estimates of musical intelligence were a significant negative predictor of the overall score; the higher the self-estimate for musical intelligence, the lower the overall estimate. The estimates of only the first three children were considered because of the smaller number of fourth children. The results are shown in Table 2. The rank orders of the child estimates were similar to those of the self-estimate in that spatial intelligence received the highest score, with the two social intelligences (interand intrapersonal) and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence receiving scores around or greater than one standard deviation above the norm. Differences in estimates between sons and daughters were completely consistent for the first- and second-born children. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) on the overall score for each child showed no significant gender differences. Further multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) on the seven multiple

6 TABLE 1 Mothers Estimated Scores, Correlations Between Them, and Regressional Results Onto the g Estimate Correlation Intelligence M SD P t P R Overall I. Verbal 2. Mathematical 3. Spatial 4. Musical 5. Bodily-kinesthetic 6. Interpersonal 7. Intrapersonal Note. F(7, 125) = 2.20, p <.03. Adj. R2 =.06. *I, < * I I I * -.I 1.oo I I I I5.I3.OO.09.I4.I3 -

7 88 The Journal of Social Psychology TABLE 2 Estimates of the Intelligence of Sons and Daughters Intelligence Male Female F P 1st child Overall Verbal Mathematical Spatial Musical Bodily-kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal I2.56.oo.oo.29 2nd child Overall Verbal Mathematical Spatial Musical Bodily-kinesthetic oo Interpersonal oo lntrapersonal rd child Overall Verbal Mathematical Spatial Musical Bodily-kinesthetic Interpersonal oo lntrapersonal o 1 Nofe. For male 1st children, n = 72; for female 1st children, n = 62; for male 2nd children. n = 70; for female 2nd children, n = 59; for male 3rd children, n = 43; for female 3rd children, n = 36. intelligences between sons and daughters for each of the first, second, and third children revealed no significant differences. However, individual ANOVAs on the multiple intelligence estimates showed a few significant gender differences. Sons were thought to have higher bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, but daughters had higher interpersonal intelligence. In third children, there were also differences on spatial and intrapersonal intelligence, with girls getting higher scores. However,

8 Fumham & Mkhize 89 TABLE 3 Regression of Child s Sex and Age, Mother s Age, and IQ Estimate on the Child s Overall Intelligence (9) Estimate 1st child 2nd child 3rd child Variable P t P P t P P t P Self-estimated IQ.I I Self age Sex of child lo I Age of child I I Nore. For 1st child, F(4, 123) = 2.1 1; Adj. R2 =.04. For 2nd child, F(4, 119) = 3.93; Adj. R2 =.09. For 3rd child, F(4, 69) = 1.88; Adj. R =.05. TABLE 4 Differences Between Mother and Child Scores Intelligence Difference score t P Y2 1st child Overall oo.2 1 Verbal oo Mathematical oo.30 Spatial oo.44 Musical oo Bodily-kinesthetic oo Interpersonal oo.46 Intrapersonal oo.26 2nd child Overall oo.33 Verbal Mathematical oo.25 Spatial oo.57 Musical oo Bodil y-kinesthetic Interpersonal oo.33 Intrapersonal Overall Verbal Mathematical Spatial Musical Bodil y-kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal rd child oo SO oo 8.86.oo oo 5.97.oo.24.o

9 90 The Jourml of Social Psychology TABLE 5 Responses to the Six Questions on IQ Tests, in Percentages Question Have you ever taken an intelligence test? 11.2 Do you believe they measure intelligence fairly well? 91.1 Do you believe males are on average more intelligent than females? 12.9 Do you believe intelligence is primarily inherited? 97.0 Do you believe IQ tests are useful in educational settings? 100 Do you believe some races are more intelligent that than others? 21.2 Yes No an examination of the effect size (q2) revealed that even the significant differences were not large (for the first child, bodily-kinesthetic q2 =.15, interpersonal q2 = 0.18; for the second child, bodily-kinesthetic q2 =.11, interpersonal q2 =.16; for the third child, bodily-kinesthetic q2 =.07, interpersonal q2 =.17, intrapersonal q2 =.08). A series of simultaneous regressions were then calculated to ascertain the best predictor of the overall IQ for the first three children (see Table 3). The independent variables were the gender and age of the parent and the child. The first regression was not significant. The second regression for the second child showed that the mother s self-estimated IQ was the only significant predictor of the second child s IQ. The same result occurred for the third child, although the regression was not significant overall. To establish where the differences lay between mother and children, we calculated a series of f tests (Table 4). There seemed to be a fairly consistent pattern across the three children. The mothers believed themselves to be a third to a half (5-8 points) less intelligent than their children overall as well as on mathematical ability. However, the mothers believed they had much higher spatial and interpersonal intelligence than their children. Just over 10% of these respondents claimed ever to have taken an intelligence test, yet more than 90% believed that such instruments measured intelligence well, and a full 100% said they were useful in educational settings (see Table 5). Most (97%) said they thought intelligence was primarily inherited, but fewer than three quarters thought there were gender or race differences. Finally, the results on these six questions were simultaneously regressed onto participants overall g score, revealing no significant results. Discussion The results of this study were in many instances dramatically different from the few others on the subject. The first noticeable differences were in the selfestimates. Overall intelligence estimates of were similar to those in other

10 Furnham & Mkhize 9 I studies (Furnham, 2001). This result compares favorably with those of Furnham and Gasson (1998), who found that the mean self-estimate for 112 British mothers of similar age was (SD = 7.25), and those of Furnham, Reeves, and Budhani (ZOOO), who found a mean score of (SD = 10.41). With the exceptions of overall, verbal, and mathematical intelligence, participants gave estimates far higher than in all previous studies (Furnham, 2001). This was particularly the case for spatial intelligence, for which participants tended to give self-estimates in the range of IQ points. In previous studies, eight of which were reviewed by Furnham (2001), nearly all results showed that participants gave higher estimates to the personal intelligences-particularly interpersonal intelligence-but once again, the mean was around one standard deviation, whereas in this study it was two standard deviations above the norm. There seem to be two types of explanations for these findings. The first is methodological, referring not to the linguistic translations but the examples given for each of the multiple intelligences. They had to be changed to make them interpretable to this particular audience. Thus, the example for spatial intelligence referred to finding one s way around the environment. Spatial intelligence was translated as the ability to form a mental picture of one s place or surroundings. However, because of the difficulty that was experienced with this item during the pilot phase, a number of examples were given, some of which may have been too vague for the participants. The following are two examples: Can find one s way around a place that one has been to because he/she can recall the picture of the place in one s mind ; Can call to mind a clear picture of a place that they have been to, and will be able to give directions to someone because they can resort to the mental picture in their mind. It is possible that the examples were nonequivalent, which may have accounted in part for these results. A second methodological problem may have occurred because of participants lack of familiarity with any sort of IQ test. Whatever the explanation for these very different patterns, the regressions of the seven multiple intelligences onto a total self-estimated score were in line with nearly all previous studies by this author and colleagues (Furnham, Clark, et al., 1999; Furnham, Fong, et al., 1999; Furnham, Rakow, et al., 1999). This result indicated that what these participants thought was at the heart of intelligence, as shown in the overall general intelligence rating, were mathematical and spatial intelligences. Interestingly, musical intelligence was negatively correlated with the overall score. The estimates of the participants children s intelligence were contrary to results of studies in Europe (e.g., Furnham, 2000b; Furnham & Gasson, 1998). These mothers did not believe their sons were brighter than their daughters. The mothers did think their first and second sons had significantly higher bodily-kinesthetic intelligence but lower interpersonal intelligence. However, effect sizes showed these differences to be small. Interestingly, for third children, daughters were thought to have higher spatial and intrapersonal intelligence than

11 92 The Journal of Social Psychology sons, but again the effect size was very small. The finding that daughters have higher interpersonal intelligence than sons has been replicated, but this study did not show significant differences on mathematical and spatial intelligence that occurred in the results of Furnham (2000b). The second set of multiple regressions indicated that neither the child s gender and age nor the parents age predicted the parents general intelligence estimate. However, at least for the second and third child, parental self-estimates of IQ were significant predictors. The higher the mother s self-estimates, the higher they estimated their children. This could reflect ra.ing styles and errors. Parents tended to believe that their children were brighter than themselves (Furnham, 2000a; Furnham & Gasson, 1998). There was a slight trend indicating that parents believed that the younger their children the more intelligent they were, using general measures of intelligence. This may be because for most of the participants educational opportunities had improved in the recent past, which benefited the younger children most. It is interesting to note that there is indeed a large amount of data that suggest that there has been an actual increase in IQ during the past 50 years in 14 different nations (Flynn, 1987). Parents thought that their own verbal, musical, and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence was essentially no different from that of their children. They also believed they themselves had significantly lower mathematical intelligence than their children. However, they rated their own spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence far higher than that of their children. The most interesting and unexpected finding is that the mothers did not rate their sons as brighter than their daughters. This finding may be due to cultural differences in the way these Third-World and semiliterate mothers thought about intelligence. That is, their conception was much broader than those used in the West and related as much to temperament and knowledge as to intelligence per se. Furnham (2000a) argued that for Western mothers, the concept of intelligence is male normative because abilities that men are considered best at are the essence of intelligence. Although these mothers seemed to have implicit faith in intelligence tests (see Table 5), it is possible they have a much broader definition of intelligence, as Wober (1974) found in East Africa when investigating Ugandan views about intelligence. In future research, exploration of cultural differences in the definition and conception of intelligence may enhance understanding of perceived gender differences. There are obvious implications of the present study that relate to three questions: How did these Zulu mothers conceptions of multiple intelligences influence the way they reared their children? How did their conceptions relate to the formal education of their children? And how did these mothers beliefs affect the expectations of their male and female children? As to the first question, much depends on whether the mothers tried to enhance the perceived strengths (spatial, interpersonal intelligence) or weaknesses (verbal, mathematical intelligence) of their children. No doubt they would want the formal education system, where possible, to

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