The study had 129 people given tests of personality and intelligence.
The trait is not normally associated with intelligent people.
The trait is not normally associated with intelligent people.
People who are generous by nature have a higher IQ, research finds.
Generous people are unselfish and sometimes deny themselves so that others can have more.
Although generosity is not something people usually associate with intelligence, psychological research clearly shows a link.
Intelligent people may be more generous partly because they can afford it.
People with higher IQs generally have greater resources, or can expect to recover what they have given away later on.
The conclusions come from a study in which 96 people played games that involved either donating to others or keeping things for themselves.
The results revealed that intelligent people were more generous to others.
In contrast, those who kept more for themselves tended to be less intelligent.
The study’s authors used the results of SAT tests, which can be converted into approximate IQ scores.
They write:
“We find that subjects who perform better on the Math portion of the SAT [Scholastic Aptitude Test] are more generous in both the dictator game and the SVO [Social Value Orientation] measure.
[…]Our results involving SAT scores […] suggest that measures of cognitive ability, which are less sensitive to the intrinsic motivation of the subject, are positively related to generosity.”
The study was published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (Chen et al., 2013).
Answers to: Is IQ dropping around the world? Where does human intelligence come from? What are the signs of a high IQ brain?
Answers to: Is IQ dropping around the world? Where does human intelligence come from? What are the signs of a high IQ brain?
While it is obvious to us that some people are smarter than others, scientists are definitely not agreed on the root of one of our most precious abilities: intelligence.
Certainly, many aspects of intelligence are mysterious, and these six recent studies published in the members-only section of PsyBlog have asked questions including:
Perhaps the last of these questions should concern us the most; after all, without our intelligence what a paltry being is left?
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In the last 30 years or so, there is evidence that the so-called ‘Flynn effect’ has been reversing..
Around half the children in the study had little or no experience of reading for pleasure or did not pick up the habit until later on.
The research revealed the facets of the major personality traits that are signs of high intelligence.
Where does intelligence lie in the brain? Scientists definitely do not agree.
There is no specific area of the brain that ‘masterminds’ our intelligence, research finds.
High IQ brains have greater functional connectivity and higher synchronisation, but this has an unexpected real-world effect.
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The ‘refreshment’ is linked to a slower brain and making more mistakes.
The ‘refreshment’ is linked to a slower brain and making more mistakes.
Drinking higher quantities of alcohol and smoking cigarettes are both linked to a lower IQ, research finds.
People who smoke and drink have a worse memory and poorer problem-solving skills.
Similarly, higher rates of binge drinking are also linked to a lower IQ, a previous study found.
Smoking may be even more damaging to thinking skills than drinking.
High levels of smoking and drinking both lead to a slower brain and making more mistakes.
The reason may be that smoking and drinking damage the blood vessels supplying the brain.
The conclusions come from a study of 172 men, some of whom were alcoholics.
All completed tests of IQ, memory and thinking skills and were followed up over nine years.
The results showed that the more they drank and smoked, the lower their IQ.
Drinkers and smokers also had worse memories and poorer thinking skills.
Dr Jennifer Glass, the study’s first author, said:
“We can’t say that we’ve found a cause-and-effect relationship between smoking and decreased thinking ability, or neurocognitive proficiency.
But we hope our findings of an association will lead to further examination of this important issue.
Perhaps it will help give smokers one more reason to quit, and encourage quitting smoking among those who are also trying to control their drinking.”
Professor Robert Zucker, study co-author, said:
“The exact mechanism for smoking’s impact on the brain’s higher functions is still unclear, but may involve both neurochemical effects and damage to the blood vessels that supply the brain.
This is consistent with other findings that people with cardiovascular disease and lung disease tend to have reduced neurocognitive function.”
The study was published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence (Glass et al., 2006).
People with efficient brains tend to have spare capacity.
People with efficient brains tend to have spare capacity.
Daydreaming is a sign of being more creative and having higher intelligence, research suggests.
Those who report more daydreaming have higher intellectual abilities and their brains work more efficiently.
People with efficient brains tend to have spare capacity, so it is natural for the mind to wander.
The conclusions come from a study in which over 100 people stared at a fixed point for five minutes while their brains were scanned.
The aim was to see how the areas of the brain worked together when they were given nothing in particular to do.
The results showed that those with more efficient brains were also smarter and more creative.
Dr Eric Schumacher, study co-author, said:
“People with efficient brains may have too much brain capacity to stop their minds from wandering.
People tend to think of mind wandering as something that is bad.
You try to pay attention and you can’t.
Our data are consistent with the idea that this isn’t always true.
Some people have more efficient brains.”
One sign of an efficient brain is being able to zone in and out of conversations without missing anything.
Dr Schumacher said:
“Our findings remind me of the absent-minded professor — someone who’s brilliant, but off in his or her own world, sometimes oblivious to their own surroundings.
Or school children who are too intellectually advanced for their classes.
While it may take five minutes for their friends to learn something new, they figure it out in a minute, then check out and start daydreaming.”
Ms Christine A. Godwin, the study’s first author, wants to examine exactly when mind wandering could be useful and when not:
“There are important individual differences to consider as well, such as a person’s motivation or intent to stay focused on a particular task.”
The study was published in the journal Neuropsychologia (Godwin et al., 2017).
Human beings are mostly primed by evolution to be optimistic, but it is not always the best policy.
Fluid intelligence refers to the raw speed at which the brain works.
Fluid intelligence refers to the raw speed at which the brain works.
A hunger for new, unconventional ideas is one of the strongest indicators of high IQ, research finds.
People with high IQs are intellectually curious and enjoy things like unusual activities, philosophical arguments and brain teasers.
This desire for new ideas is linked to an aspect of IQ called fluid intelligence.
Fluid intelligence refers to the speed at which the brain works.
It is like the raw power of an engine or the speed at which a computer can process information.
Fluid intelligence is contrasted with crystallised intelligence.
Crystallised intelligence is something like general knowledge: the information that people have learnt about the world over the years.
The conclusions come from a study of 2,658 employees working at 10 different companies in the UK.
They were all given tests of personality and intelligence.
The results showed that high fluid intelligence was linked to hunger for new ideas.
Like an interest in ideas, being willing to try new activities was also linked to intelligence, the authors write:
“Actions refers to willingness to try different activities, and to a preference for novelty and variety over familiarity and routine.
Fluid intelligence involves things like reaction times, quick thinking, reasoning, seeing relationships and approaching new problems.
This means that individuals high on [fluid intelligence] have an innate ability to cope more efficiently with novel experiences, and to deal with intellectually stimulating tasks such as brain teasers, which would thus make it rewarding for them to pursuit such activities.
Similarly, individuals low on [fluid intelligence] may in time grow to avoid such activities, due to their low ability to handle them, which would thus make them less rewarding.”
The study was published in the journal Learning and Individual Differences (Moutafi et al., 2006).
People with high IQs tend to share this quality.
People with high IQs tend to share this quality.
More intelligent people tend to follow rules and be less aggressive and better behaved, research finds.
People with higher IQs are also less likely to cheat and steal.
Young people with lower IQs, though, are more likely to take part in antisocial behaviour, such as harassing or alarming others.
Boys who are antisocial have an average IQ 10 points lower than their more social counterparts.
For antisocial girls, the IQ gap is 5 points lower than their more social peers.
The conclusions come from a study of more than 1,000 young people in the UK.
All were given tests of IQ and externalising behaviour.
For psychologists, externalising behaviour refers to physical aggression, flouting rules, stealing and cheating.
The results showed that fewer externalising behaviours were linked to higher IQ.
In contrast, those with lower IQs were at greater risk of antisocial behaviour.
The study’s authors write:
“Low IQ is a consistent risk factor for emergence and continuity of antisocial behavior across the life course in both prospective and cross-sectional studies, even when other relevant risk factors are statistically controlled.”
Genetic factors are likely important in the link, as well as situational factors, the authors write:
“…cognitive deficits might promote antisocial behavior if children with low IQs misunderstand rules, find it too difficult to negotiate conflict with words, find school frustrating, or become tracked with antisocial peers.”
The study was published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (Koenen et al., 2008).
This valuable and dynamic ability is linked to higher intelligence.
This valuable and dynamic ability is linked to higher intelligence.
People with above average intelligence are seen as better leaders by others, research finds.
The best IQ score for leading a group is 118.
That is 18 points higher than the average of 100 — making them smarter than around 80 percent of people.
Leaders who are around this much smarter than their followers are seen as the most effective.
However, being too intelligent is linked to worse leadership, the study also found.
It may be that highly intelligent leaders struggle to understand the challenges faced by less gifted workers.
They may also be worse at simplifying jobs and using straightforward language.
In other words, a leader who is too smart may be hard to understand.
The conclusions come from a study of 379 mid level managers working at seven multinationals.
They were rated by their peers, supervisors and subordinates, along with taking IQ and personality tests.
The results revealed that women were generally seen as better leaders, as were slightly older people.
However, the authors explain that these results hold only for mid-level managers:
“Our conclusions are limited too by the fact that the sample consisted of mid level leaders rather than company CEOs who might exhibit far more task-oriented than social-emotional leadership.
We would then expect CEOs to display much higher IQ peaks than those observed here, as well more Conscientiousness and less Agreeableness!
In partial support for this conjecture, recent research suggests that leaders in the top 1% of general intelligence are disproportionately represented among Fortune 500 CEOs.”
Another kink is that the effectiveness of a leader’s intelligence depends on the people they are leading.
More intelligent groups need even more intelligent leaders.
The authors write:
“…Sheldon Cooper, the genius physicist from “The Big Bang Theory” TV series is often portrayed as being detached and distant from normal folk, particularly because of his use of complex language and arguments.
[…] Sheldon could still be a leader—if he can find a group of followers smart enough to appreciate his prose!”
The study was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (Antonakis et al., 2017).
These traits are all linked to having higher intelligence.
These traits are all linked to having higher intelligence.
Having an active fantasy life, appreciating beauty, being emotionally sensitive and wide-ranging curiosity are linked to high IQ, research finds.
All of these are components of the major personality trait of ‘openness to experience’.
People who are open to experience are more interested in things that are complex, new and unconventional.
They are sensitive to their feelings, intellectually curious and seekers of variety.
Curiosity has an especially strong link to high IQ.
This may be because higher intelligence drives a ‘cognitive hunger’.
This encourages people to seek out new experiences to satiate the hunger.
The conclusions come from a study of 17,415 people from the UK.
They were given intelligence and personality tests and followed for 40 years.
The results showed the remarkable strength of the link between openness to experience and IQ.
The study’s authors explain their results:
“…childhood intelligence is indeed positively associated with adult trait Openness, even when it was assessed almost four decades earlier when participants were at 11 years.
Intelligence may influence the development of personality in that intelligent people develop habits to satisfy their curiosity and ‘‘cognitive hunger’’ which are an essential ingredient of Openness.”
The study’s authors think that it is high IQ that drives openness to experience:
“Parents of higher socioeconomic status may foster children’s trait Openness by providing better resources such as choosing good schools and cultural environment (theaters, museums, traveling abroad, etc.); intelligent children tend to use more mental activities (such as abstract ideas, learning new vocabularies, or math formulas) than those who are less intelligent; school settings (quality of teaching, good facilities) may enhance pupils to engage more in school learning.
All these three factors may influence educational and
occupational achievement, which in turn, may increase
the scores on Openness.”
The study was published in the Journal of Individual Differences (Furnham & Cheng, 2016).
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