Indian and isiZulu-speaking South African parents' estimates of their own and their children's intelligence

South African parents of both African and Indian origin estimated their own intelligence (on seven factors) and that of their first three children. Parents of Indian origin gave higher self-estimates than isiZulu-speaking parents, and fathers gave higher self-estimates than mothers. The results indicated that parents of Indian origin showed a greater gender difference discrepancy than isiZulu-speaking parents on spatial, musical and bodily kinaesthetic intelligence. Estimates of the intelligence of all the first-, second- and third-born children showed a similar pattern. While there were few sex differences in the estimations, parents of Indian origin tended to give higher estimates than isiZulu-speaking parents. The results obtained are discussed in terms of the educational and political history of South Africa.