It happens that parents argue about the qualities of a child, believing that beauty came from the mother, intelligence from the father, or vice versa.
American scientists decided to clarify this issue and conducted the appropriate research. Here is what they managed to find out.
The research was conducted by specialists from the Social Sciences Division of the US Medical Research and Public Health Council.
The results of the work were published on the Psychology Spot website.
In answering this question, experts came to the conclusion that most often a child inherits the mother's IQ.
Research details
An analysis of medical records of more than 12,000 volunteers aged 14-22 years was conducted.
IQ and education levels, social status, skin color and, most importantly, X-chromosome genes were taken into account.
Conclusions of scientists
According to the published findings, the genetic makeup that determines human intelligence is located on the X chromosome.
Since women have two of these (men have one), the likelihood that the child’s intelligence will be determined by the mother is significantly higher.
Moreover, this same genetic set of the paternal X chromosome is often inactive.
However, it is important to remember that genetics is only part of a child's intelligence.
At least half of the abilities and skills develop under the influence of external factors - education, environment, development, etc.
