Tatu Vanhanen (17 April 1929 – 22 August 2015) was a Finnish political scientist and sociologist. He was a professor ofpolitical science at theUniversity of Tampere inTampere,Finland. His late research onIQ,ethnocentrism and their connection to the economy was highly controversial.
Vanhanen was a coauthor withRichard Lynn ofIQ and the Wealth of Nations (2002) andIQ and Global Inequality (2006), and author ofEthnic Conflicts Explained by Ethnic Nepotism (1999). In these controversial publications, the authors argue that differences in national income (in the form of per capita gross domestic product) are correlated with differences in the average national intelligence quotient (IQ). The 2006 follow-up study, later described byScienceDaily as 'deeply flawed', claimed to show 'Africans' have an average IQ of 69, compared to a mean of 100 for "Western Europeans".[1][2]
The books have drawn widespread criticism from other academics. Critiques have included questioning of the methodology used, the incompleteness of the data, and the conclusions drawn from the analysis.[3][4]
Vanhanen developed an interest inevolutionary biology after studyingE. O. Wilson'ssociobiology and later in his career wrote about intelligence and inequality. He supported applying evolutionary andgenetic methods to social sciences.[6] However, most of his academic work dealt withdemocratization, which he had studied with international comparative methods. Vanhanen was known for his Index of Democratization.[7]
In 2004, the Ombudsman of Minorities, Mikko Puumalainen, asked the police to start an investigation regarding Vanhanen's interview with aHelsingin Sanomat magazineKuukausiliite, in which he stated that "Whereas the average IQ of Finns is 97, in Africa it is between 60 and 70. Differences in intelligence are the most significant factor in explaining poverty".[8] TheFinnish National Bureau of Investigations was considering launching a preliminary investigation on Vanhanen's speech but later decided against it, not finding that he hadincited hatred against an ethnic group or committed any other crime.[9]
Vanhanen, Tatu (1975).Political and social structures: American countries, 1850-1973. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press.ISBN9789514403019.
Vanhanen, Tatu (1976).Political and social structures: Part 2: European countries 1850-1974. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press.ISBN9780835702539.
Vanhanen, Tatu (1978).Multi-party democracy in action. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press.ISBN9789514406935.
Vanhanen, Tatu (1979).Power and the means of power: a study of 119 Asian, European, American, and African states, 1850-1975. University Microfilms International.ISBN9780835703987.
Vanhanen, Tatu;Lynn, Richard (2012).Intelligence: A unifying construct for the social sciences. Ulster: Ulster Institute for Social Research.ISBN9780956881175.
Vanhanen, Tatu (2014).Global inequality as a consequence of human diversity: A new theory tested by empirical evidence. Ulster: Ulster Institute for Social Research.ISBN9780957391376.
^Döbel, Ulrike (2010).Tatu Vanhanens 'Index of Democratization' als Beispiel einer Demokratiemessung. München.ISBN978-3-640-53094-6.OCLC724263048.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
