In IQ and the Wealth of Nations, the authors show that 54 percent of national differences in wealth are explained by the intelligence levels of their populations. The remaining percent is due to other factors, such as a free vs controlled economy, or profitable natural resources like oil. These reasons are quite different from what research shows are the roots of personal financial success.

For individuals, social skills (SQ) and ambition play major roles in economic success. Little research as been done on ambition and similar self-skills. But social skills have been rigorously measured for over 2500 individuals in the United States. The resulting SQ numbers show a wide range in every population group. But the average SQ score of each group in the US is quite similar.

UPDATE 11/14/04: Research with international groups shows that Social Skills vary among nations. The most likely explanation for these results is cultural differences. See PDF paper Emotional Intelligence: Old Wine with a New Label: at https://www.talentsmart.com/learn/

Some travel magazine surveys indicate that tourists rate the friendliness of some countries (like Australia) higher than others. This leads to more tourists visiting a place than otherwise might be the case, boosting the travel part of their economy. In small countries (like Barbados) and tourist destinations (like Puerto Vallarta), the social skills of the locals boost local income. But France, the most visited country in the world, is not known for the friendliness of its people towards tourists. And many countries like Japan do very well economically without attracting lots of foreign visitors. So in most cases SQ has little impact at the national level.

Unlike IQ, Social Quotient does not appear to vary noticeably with race or skin color. The overall results for 61 classes measured for both SQ and ethnicity showed a very slight preference for non-white males and a slight preference for white females. Both results are in the margin of error, suggesting that race has little effect on SQ.

Race is one of many traits showing little correlation to Social Quotient scores. Results to date indicate that most physical characteristics (except for excess fat in females) do not affect an individual's likeabily. Most students look to internal qualities (like a happy attitude) in seeking out others. See: Traits that relate to Social Quotient in Vallejo CA high schools.

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