The variability hypothesis, also called the greater male variability hypothesis, holds that human males generally show greater variability in traits than human females do. It has most often been discussed in relation to human cognitive ability, where some studies appear to show that males are more likely than females to score at either the very high or the very low end of IQ tests, and there remains active controversy over whether such sex-based differences in the variability of intelligence actually exist, and if they do, whether they arise from genetic difference, environmental conditioning, or some combination of the two.
Facts
Partially Attested
Origin Year1894 is the year of Havelock Ellis's Man and Woman, described as the first detailed empirical investigation of human sex differences in variability; the underlying notion of greater male variability is traced to earlier writings of Charles Darwin on sexual selection. Core ClaimHuman males generally display greater variability in traits than human females do. 1 Connections
Associated With
Challenged the variability hypothesis with empirical data showing no greater variability in male intelligence, undermining its use to justify inequality.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Variability Hypothesis
Introduction
is the hypothesis that human males generally display greater variability in traits than human females do.
Early history, Havelock Ellis paragraph
In his 1894 publication
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