The study concluded that men's IQs are almost four points higher than women's.

British-born researcher John Philippe Rushton, who previously created a furore by suggesting intelligence is influenced by race, says the finding could explain why so few women make it to the top in the workplace.

He claims the 'glass ceiling' phenomenon is probably due to inferior intelligence, rather than discrimination or lack of opportunity.

The University of Western Ontario psychologist reached his conclusion after scrutinizing the results of university aptitude tests taken by 100,000 students aged 17 and 18 of both sexes.

A focus on a factors such as the ability to quickly grasp a complex concept, verbal reasoning skills and creativity - some of the key ingredients of intelligence - revealed the male teenagers had IQs that were an average of 3.63 points higher. The average person has an IQ of around 100.

The findings, which held true for all classes and levels of parental education, overturn a 100 year consensus that men and women average the same in general mental ability. They also conflict with evidence that girls do better in school exams than boys.

But Prof Rushton, who was born in Bournemouth and obtained his doctorate in social psychology from the London School of Economics, argues that the faster maturing of girls leads to them outshining boys in the classroom.

这项研究结果一定会让男人高兴，惹女人生气。一项具有争议的最新研究表明，男人确实比女人聪明。

研究发现，男人的智商比女人高四分。

英国籍研究员约翰·菲利普·鲁什顿此前提出的"智商受到种族影响"的观点一时引发众怒，他说，这项最新研究结果可以解释为什么很少有女性能成为职场精英。

他说，造成这种"玻璃天花板"现象的原因可能是由于女性的智商不及男性，并不是性别歧视或缺少机会。

这位西安大略大学的心理学家对10万名17至18岁的男女学生进行了大学智力测试，他在分析测试结果后得出了这个结论。

此项测试着重对学生快速理解复杂概念、语言推理能力和创造力等几项智力指标进行了考察。结果发现，男学生的智商平均高出3.63分。普通人的智商水平在100分左右。

这项研究结果适用于各类人群和各个年龄阶段，同时推翻了长期以来认为"男女智力相当"的普遍观点。此外，这项研究结果和女孩的考试成绩总比男孩好的事实相矛盾。

鲁什顿教授他说，女孩比男孩学习好是因为女孩比男孩成熟得早。鲁什顿教授出生在伯恩茅斯镇，在伦敦经济学院获得了社会心理学博士学位。