Specifically, I calculated the average IV of individual stocks at the end of each week and compared it to the SPY IV. Meanwhile, the SPY average IV has remained relatively low at about 13.5% (orange). It makes sense if traders expect big moves from individual stocks, but they expect the big moves in both directions. Based on these tables, I would say SPY options have performed better than options on the average individual stock. SPY calls had a higher average return, and SPY straddles lost less money than straddles on stocks.