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In educational contexts and since classic ancient times, we judge the abilities of self-control, focus and attention as desirable personal qualities. Commonly we view uncontrolled expressions of emotion as a sign of the weak-minded and unprincipled who are enslaved by their emotions and bodily needs. This view has stood up through shifting pedagogical paradigms; from Pythagoreans, Epicureans and Pyrrhonism, through the monastic schools of the middle ages and into the era of mass education. Restless and unfocused pupils engage teachers, teacher educators and researchers in order to manage overactive behaviour, lack of impulse control and difficulties in concentration. There are different technology solutions for this challenge, such as behaviour management strategies, social skills training programmes, classroom tools and neuropsychiatric investigations.

Inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness also constitute the essential components for the diagnosis of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both the diagnosis and medical treatment of ADHD have become highly prevalent during the last two decades but there are considerable regional differences, both within and between countries, in the proportion of children and adolescents with this neuropsychiatric diagnosis. Hitherto, there is however no established objective biological marker for ADHD.

Previous research studies have shown associations between ADHD with lower socioeconomic status on the one hand, and intelligence, on the other hand. For this study, we aimed to evaluate the causal directions and strengths for these associations by use of a bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization design.

We used summary‐level data from the largest available genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) to identify genetic instruments for diagnosis of ADHD, intelligence, and socioeconomic markers including the Townsend deprivation index, household income and educational attainment. Effect estimates from individual genetic variants were combined using inverse‐variance weighted regression.

Our results indicate that an ADHD diagnosis may be a direct and strong intelligence-independent consequence of socioeconomic related factors, whereas ADHD appears only to lead to modestly lowered socioeconomic status. Low intelligence seems not to be a major independent cause or consequence of ADHD.

The results of this study raise questions about basic assumptions with long historical roots: 1) how pupils’ conditions and expressions are interpreted in educational contexts and 2) how aristocratic norms relate to educational practice and pedagogical ideals.