Health and Wellness

The Nurture of Intelligence: Insights from the Terman Study

Whatever your definition of success, it is clear that values, habits, and support systems play a crucial role in shaping one's ability to achieve it.

Jarret Morgan, PharmD Candidate

18 Dec 2024 • 3 min read

Photo by Daiga Ellaby / Unsplash

Starting in 1921 at Stanford University, the Terman Study of the Gifted initially aimed at disproving ideas of social inaptitude of the highly intelligent. By 1928, Dr. Lewis Terman amassed over 1500 children, dubbed the Termites, with an average IQ greater than 135 with the intent to follow them across their lifespan and see where their intelligence took them. While there was a multitude of invalidating extraneous variables in this study, a lot of interesting conclusions can still be drawn or pondered on.

assorted books on wooden table — Photo by Alexander Grey / Unsplash

Among the most notable outcomes from the Terman study was that an exceptionally high percentage of these children went on to attain higher education compared to national standards, even those seen today. The 1940 follow-up figures of the Termites found that 69.8% of men and 66.5% of women had graduated college. At the time, the average percentage of college graduates hovered around just 5%, paling in comparison to the Termites. According to US Census data, in 2023, just under 45% of Americans ages 25 and older had an associate's degree or higher. While it may not be too surprising that those who excelled in primary school would continue to find success in academic settings, it is even more impressive that this cohort superseded the expectations of the time, all the while during a time of economic uncertainty with the Great Depression and WWII.

group of fresh graduates students throwing their academic hat in the air — Photo by Vasily Koloda / Unsplash

Another notable finding was that this group of people lived longer than average, though again, maybe not the most surprising statistic since we know there exist correlations between longevity and education/income. More interesting to me were the associations with mental health, social adjustment, and conscientiousness with longevity. From the Lifetime Biopsychosocial Trajectories of the Terman Gifted Children, mental health was an important predictor of longevity.

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Participants of the study who were deemed severely maladjusted had a 1.61 relative hazard ratio for death compared to those who were deemed satisfactorily adjusted. Conscientiousness was perhaps the strongest predictor of longevity in the study, with an effect size the same as untreated hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. They found that a child in the 75th percentile on conscientiousness saw a 23% improvement in all-cause mortality when compared to a person in the 25th percentile in any given year.

text — Photo by Marcel Strauß / Unsplash

Some of the maladjustment seen in the Termites was attributed to external stressors including parental divorce. According to Schwartz in the Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Factors in Childhood as Predictors of Adult Mortality, around 13% of participants had experienced parental divorce by the age of 21 which was associated with a terrifying 34% higher mortality risk while family stability was a key predictor of positive health outcomes.

With all of these figures in mind, this study had many limitations including some meddling by Dr. Terman. It was said that Dr. Terman cared deeply for "his children" and went so far as to help many of them get into different colleges and programs. A majority of the children also came from middle-class or upper-class families with the means to provide additional opportunities and experiences amidst the historical limitations of the time.

While a majority of these students were already at a heightened advantage in life with a well-off family and a baseline IQ well above average, I believe the differences shown within the cohort are exceptionally meaningful and further emphasize the importance of family dynamics and instilling positive characteristics during formative years. Fortunately, the outcomes of this study don't mean that everyone who isn't born with a high IQ, with a loving family, or with enough money can't succeed. Whatever your definition of success, it is clear that values, habits, and support systems play a crucial role in shaping one's ability to achieve it.

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