2020/11/26 by Susanne Schregel · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes #Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices #Cognitive Abilities and Testing
paper · doi:10.1177/0952695120970029
openalex publication_date 2020/11/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This article explores the history of British Mensa to examine the contested status of high intelligence in Great Britain between the late 1940s and the late 1980s. Based on journals and leaflets from the association and newspaper articles about it, the article shows how protagonists from the high IQ society campaigned for intelligence and its testing among the British public. Yet scathing reactions to the group in newspapers suggest that journalists considered it socially provocative to stress one’s own brainpower as extraordinarily high. To better understand such disagreements, the article analyses communicative patterns that were used to make judgements about intelligence. This case study sheds light on how aspects of difference and the ascription of social positions are negotiated in public understandings of intelligence.