Samenvatting

In our highly digitalized society, cybercrime has become a common crime. However, because research into
cybercriminals is in its infancy, our knowledge about cybercriminals is still limited. One of the main considerations
is whether cybercriminals have higher intellectual capabilities than traditional criminals or even the
general population. Although criminological studies clearly show that traditional criminals have lower intellectual
capabilities, little is known about the relationship between cybercrime and intelligence. The current study
adds to the literature by exploring the relationship between CITO-test scores and cybercrime in the Netherlands.
The CITO final test is a standardized test for primary school students - usually taken at the age of 11 or 12 - and
highly correlated with IQ-scores. Data from Statistics Netherlands were used to compare CITO-test scores of 143
apprehended cybercriminals with those of 143 apprehended traditional criminals and 143 non-criminals,
matched on age, sex, and country of birth. Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses were used to compare
CITO test scores between cybercriminals, traditional criminals, and non-criminals. Additionally, a discordant
sibling design was used to control for unmeasured confounding by family factors. Findings reveal that cybercriminals
have significantly higher CITO test scores compared to traditional criminals and significantly lower
CITO test scores compared to non-criminals.