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Jordan Peterson
Canadian clinical psychologist, former University of Toronto professor, and author of Maps of Meaning (1999) and 12 Rules for Life (2018). Peterson has never published a personal IQ score and has publicly declined to state his own. Figures such as 150 that circulate online are uncited internet estimates with no documented test administration - no named instrument, no examiner, no public score.
Early life and education
Jordan Bernt Peterson was born June 12, 1962, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and grew up in the small town of Fairview in the province's north. He studied at Grande Prairie Regional College and then the University of Alberta, where he completed a bachelor's degree in political science (1982) and a second bachelor's degree in psychology (1984).
He went on to earn a PhD in clinical psychology from McGill University in 1991, supervised in the area of personality and abnormal psychology. His early research interests included the psychology of alcoholism, aggression, and the structure of belief systems - themes that later shaped his first book.
None of this educational record includes a published IQ score. Advanced graduate training in psychology is consistent with high ability, but it is a biographical fact, not a psychometric measurement, and it does not produce a specific number.
Academic career and books
After completing his doctorate, Peterson worked as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an assistant and associate professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1993 to 1998. In 1998 he returned to Canada to join the faculty of the University of Toronto, where he taught as a full professor of psychology for roughly two decades.
His first book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (1999), drew on mythology, neuroscience, and personality theory. His second, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018), became an international bestseller and brought him a large public audience through lectures, interviews, and online video. Within psychology, his published academic work spans personality assessment, the Big Five trait model, and the measurement of individual differences.
This record reflects a substantial academic and publishing career. It does not depend on, or reveal, any particular IQ figure.
The IQ question and where the number comes from
Figures such as 150 - and other numbers in the 140s and 150s in different posts - appear on "celebrity IQ" list sites and social media. None of these sources cite a named test (Stanford-Binet, WAIS, Raven's, etc.), a date, an examiner, or a documented administration. The numbers are presented without provenance.
There is a particular wrinkle in Peterson's case. He is himself a psychologist who lectures at length on intelligence and psychometrics, and he has been asked directly about his own IQ - yet he has consistently declined to state it. In other words, the one person best positioned to clarify the matter has deliberately chosen not to, which leaves the circulating figures entirely unsourced. Discussing IQ as a researcher and disclosing a personal measured score are separate things, and only the former is on the record.
Absent a published, named, dated test result from Peterson himself, the honest answer to "what is Jordan Peterson's IQ" is: undisclosed - there is no public measurement.
Why celebrity IQ numbers are usually wrong
Three recurring problems make figures like this unreliable:
- No instrument. A score has no meaning without the test it came from. A 150 on a high-ceiling research test is a different population position than a 150 on the WAIS-IV.
- No administration. Real scores come from a documented sitting: where, when, scored by whom. The figures attributed to Peterson have none of this.
- Reverse inference. Assigning an IQ based on someone's academic credentials is circular - it assumes the conclusion (high ability) and dresses it up as a measurement.
For how real scores are produced and why they are not comparable across tests, see our methodology page and the historical IQ tests archive.
Frequently asked questions
What is Jordan Peterson's IQ?
There is no documented IQ test result for Jordan Peterson. He has never published a personal score and has publicly declined to state his own IQ. Figures such as 150 that circulate online have no primary source - no named test, no administration record, and no public score. Any specific number attributed to him should be treated as a rumor, not a measurement.
Why has Jordan Peterson not disclosed his IQ?
Peterson has said in interviews and lectures that he prefers not to state his own IQ. This is notable because he is a psychologist who discusses IQ and psychometrics extensively in his teaching, yet he has chosen to keep his own figure private. The reason is his own; what matters factually is that no score from him exists on the record.
Where does the 150 IQ figure come from?
It does not come from any traceable source. The number appears on celebrity-IQ list sites and social media without citation to a test, date, or examiner. Such lists frequently assign round, impressive-sounding figures to well-known academics by reasoning backwards from their credentials, which is not how IQ is measured.
Does Jordan Peterson study IQ?
Yes. As a clinical and personality psychologist, Peterson has lectured extensively on intelligence, psychometrics, and the predictive validity of IQ. His academic familiarity with the topic is well documented, but discussing IQ as a researcher is separate from disclosing a personal measured score, which he has not done.
Can I compare my IQ to Jordan Peterson's?
Not meaningfully, because there is no verified score to compare against. You can take a properly normed IQ test to estimate your own percentile, but comparing it to an unsourced or undisclosed celebrity figure tells you nothing. Treat celebrity-IQ numbers as entertainment.
References
- Peterson, J. B. (1999). Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. Routledge
- Peterson, J. B. (2018). 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Random House Canada
- University of Toronto and Harvard University - faculty appointment records (psychology)
- McGill University - PhD in clinical psychology (1991)
- Note: no primary psychometric source exists for any IQ figure attributed to Peterson; he has publicly declined to disclose an IQ, and circulating figures are uncited
Other modern figures
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