Gen Z turns to IQ testing as a response to rising self-doubt and academic inflation.

In an environment where bachelor's degrees are increasingly seen as the new high school diploma, a growing share of Gen Z is seeking alternative ways to validate intelligence and potential. According to a CerebrumIQ survey conducted in August 2025 among 12,400 users aged 18 to 29, 64% believe their academic credentials fail to reflect their real cognitive strengths. Even more striking, 71% reported a noticeable rise in self-doubt over the past year, attributing it to academic inflation and a job market that no longer rewards traditional markers of success.

While the dataset reflects user behavior within the CerebrumIQ ecosystem, the platform’s reach, over a million users, with a demographic skew toward under-30s, offers a telling view into broader generational recalibrations around merit and capability.

IQ testing, long associated with institutional gatekeeping, is quietly being repurposed by younger users as a personal diagnostic. More than half (52%) of Gen Z respondents said they use IQ tests as a way to measure themselves on their own terms, independent of universities, employers, or standardized rubrics. On CerebrumIQ, this shift is quantifiable: users under 30 now account for a 31% year-over-year increase in test completions, and 42% say they have shared their scores publicly, either on social media or in private peer groups.

This emerging trend speaks less to vanity and more to the search for psychological grounding. In a cultural moment where self-worth is increasingly untethered from institutional recognition, cognitive benchmarking offers a kind of clarity. IQ scores, like fitness trackers or Duolingo streaks, are becoming new forms of status signaling, intellect not as elitism, but as effort.

What is notable is not just the use of tests, but the continued engagement with training. Among Gen Z users who benchmarked their IQ, 61% continued with regular neural training. This suggests a reframing of intelligence, not as a static quotient, but as a trainable domain. In this framework, intellectual development becomes a form of self-stewardship, less about competing with others, more about documenting personal evolution.

All these trends show a growing discontent with traditional institutions. As formal education systems struggle to adapt to a post-industrial labor market, and as credentials become both more accessible and less predictive, young people are building parallel frameworks for proving value. IQ testing is just one of the tools being reappropriated in this quiet reengineering of legitimacy.

Whether this signals a long-term shift in how society measures potential remains to be seen. However, for now, platforms like CerebrumIQ are part of a landscape where intelligence is no longer presumed, but continually demonstrated, and tracked.

About CerebrumIQ:
CerebrumIQ is a cognitive performance platform designed to strengthen mental skills through a blend of IQ testing, neural training games, intelligence puzzles, educational courses, and expert content. The assessments are calibrated to reflect standard IQ tests and used globally to track and enhance users’ thinking abilities. The platform, used by over a million people worldwide, offers more than 300 lessons on emotional intelligence, problem-solving, innovation, confidence-building, and decision-making, helping users develop essential life skills in a structured, engaging way. CerebrumIQ is redefining how people engage with their mental potential. Unlike entertainment-style brain games, Cerebrum IQ is a structured training ecosystem built to deliver lasting neural growth.

Media Contact:
CerebrumIQ
pr@cerebrumiq.com
Amelia Botha
PR Manager