Intelligence and semen quality are positively correlated
Human cognitive abilities inter-correlate to form a positive matrix, from which a large first
factor, called ‘Spearman’s g’ or general intelligence, can be extracted. General intelligence itself
is correlated with many important health outcomes including cardio-vascular function and
longevity. However, the important evolutionary question of whether intelligence is a fitness-
related trait has not been tested directly, let alone answered. If the correlations among cognitive
abilities are part of a larger matrix of positive associations among fitness-related traits, then
intelligence ought to correlate with seemingly unrelated traits that affect fitness—such as
semen quality. We found significant positive correlations between intelligence and 3 key
indices of semen quality: log sperm concentration (r=.15, p=.002), log sperm count (r=.19,
pb.001), and sperm motility (r=.14, p=.002) in a large sample of US Army Veterans. None
was mediated by age, body mass index, days of sexual abstinence, service in Vietnam, or use of
alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or hard drugs. These results suggest that a phenotype-wide fitness
factor may contribute to the association between intelligence and health. Clarifying whether a
fitness factor exists is important theoretically for understanding the genomic architecture of
fitness-related traits, and practically for understanding patterns of human physical and
psychological health.
Odd.