Reasoning about people reduces class differences in tests of cognitive aptitude

Class differences in aptitude testing are often attributed to working-class deficiencies in cognitive skills. The present research challenges this deficit narrative in the context of logical reasoning. We argue that, rather than being culture-neutral, reasoning tests often privilege middle-class norms and provide a poor match to cultural competencies promoted in working-class contexts. We evaluate this hypothesis in two pre-registered experiments on logical deduction (N = 990) and data from an international study of mathematical reasoning (N = 158,216). In Studies 1 and 2, reframing an abstract task to recruit social-cognitive skills (social inference and theory of mind) reduced differences in performance between working- and middle-class adults. In Study 3, questions higher in social-relational content (mentions of people) yielded smaller class gaps among eighth-grade students from 46 countries—an effect most pronounced in highly unequal countries. Our results support a cultural-psychological account of reasoning performance, highlight working-class strengths in social reasoning, and support inclusive approaches to testing.