High intelligence is usually counted as an asset at work. But a new study suggests that for women, it can also lead to worse treatment from colleagues.
Across 826 people in the United States and China, women who scored higher on an intelligence test were rated by their teammates as more hostile, received less help and were undermined more often. Men with high scores faced no such penalty. In one group, they were treated better.
The study examined whether people's cognitive ability affects how their teammates treat them, and whether that differs between women and men.
Since it was published this year, the researcher behind the study, Nitya Chawla, says, women have written to her saying the findings matched their own experience at work. Some told her they had wondered whether they were to blame for hostility.
The researchers ran two studies. The first followed 432 business students at a US public university working in small teams on a consulting project for real organizations. The second surveyed 394 full-time employees working in teams at a financial company in China.
Intelligence here means cognitive ability measured with a standardized test of reasoning and problem-solving that employers use in hiring. Teammates were not told of anyone's scores.
