People With These Traits Often Have High Intelligence
If popular media is to be trusted, you could tell which people are smart by the presence of thick-rimmed glasses. It turns out that whether or not somebody is nearsighted has little to do with intelligence. There are some secondary characteristics that have been proven to be related to intelligence, though.
Keep reading to find out how you might be able to tell if your kid is a budding Einstein. See how fitness might have an effect on a person's intelligence.
People Who Swear
Would you describe yourself as having the "mouth of sailor?" If you're one of the millions of people around the globe who can't say anything with adding a curse word, you are very smart.
Language Sciences conducted a study in 2016 that showed that people who curse more have larger vocabularies than those who done. Funnily enough, the study debunked an earlier one that tried to prove the more you cursed the dumber you were.
People Who Don't Think They're Smart
Have you ever heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect? It says that people with lower intelligence tend to think more highly of themselves. On the reverse side, those who are smart usually sell their abilities short.
The truth about intelligence is that while it can be hidden, it cannot be taken away. A smart person is smart. A person with less abilities can learn to be more intelligent. Those who have built up their intelligence flaunt it, while those who haven't are more humble.
People Who Stay Up Late
Night owls tend to have higher levels of intelligence than people who get their forty winks in during normal sleeping hours. Scientists think that people who stay up late are better able to deal with tiredness and therefore they can be more attentive for longer periods of time.
Some people think that night owls tend to be more intelligent because they enjoy existing in the quiet so they can spend time alone with their thoughts.
People With A Sharp Sense Of Humor
Having a good sense of humor is a sign of above-average intelligence according to a psychology study involving 400 participants. The study examined the abstract reasoning skills and verbal intelligence of the group.
In order to assess the participants' sense of humor, the participants were asked to come up with captions for New Yorker cartoons. The captions were then rated by a third-party group. The results showed that participants who created funnier captions also had more advanced reasoning skills.
Disorganized People Have Active Minds
While it does seem slightly counter-intuitive, people who are messy and disorganized tent to be more intelligent than the average person. A lot of intelligent people tend to have messy rooms or messy desks. In fact, Albert Einstein who is widely considered to be the smartest person who ever existed was known to be very disorganized.
Sometimes messiness is a sign of laziness, but sometimes it can mean that a person pays more attention to their work than to the state of their room.
People (Especially Men) Who Are Monogamous
Here's a doozy of a thought for you. Intelligent men tend to be monogamous. The theory, which you can choose to believe if you want, states that intelligent men tend to go against nature's grain.
While male nature pushes men to "pass their genes" onto as many offspring as possible, intelligent men are less inclined to this. Bottom line, if you want a man who will stay faithful, your best bet (but no guarantee) is to find the smartest one you can.
The First Born Sibling Tends To Be The Smartest
While this is certainly not a hard and fast rule, older siblings tend to have higher levels of intelligence than younger siblings. This isn't because older siblings are naturally gifted. it's because parents have more time when they only have one child. They can use that time to teach their child skills at an earlier age which sets eldest children up for success.
Parents often expect more of their eldest children which also forces first-born kids to develop quicker.
People Who Were Breastfed
There are a whole bunch of advantages to breastfeeding, and some studies show that a higher level of intelligence is one of those advantages. Apparently, babies who were breastfed have a higher IQ than babies who were given formula. All of this data comes from a study conducted in 2007, however that study only examined children with one version of the FADS2 gene.
While breastfeeding is wonderful, it should be noted that the way mothers and fathers choose to feed their infants is dependant on a variety of factors. As long as the kid eats, they're doing their job perfectly.
People Who Own A Cat
People who own or like cats tend to be more intelligent than dog people (or people who own other pets). Cat people tend to be more introverted while dog people tend to be more outgoing.
According to a 2014 study, "cat people" may display higher levels of cognitive ability. This is most likely because people who like cats also like spending time alone reading, studying, and developing their cognitive skills. Or maybe cats just make us smart.
People Who Are Left Handed
While most people wouldn't think that their dominant hand would have an effect on intelligence, one experiment would say otherwise. According to Maria Konnikova, in a 1995 edition of The New Yorker, "Researchers found that the more marked the left-handed preference in a group of males, the better they were at tests of divergent thought…"
With the majority of the world being right-handed, it's interesting to think that being left-handed may indeed have an effect on intelligence.
People Who Regularly Drink Alcohol
Although it doesn't make all that much sense, apparently, there is a correlation between people having a high IQ and frequently drinking alcohol. According to evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa, British and American adults with high IQs as children or teens drank more alcohol when they grew up.
However, this is no reason to begin drinking more than you should, as alcohol can seriously lower your inhibitions and is unhealthy to frequently be putting in your body.
People Who Lie
Uh oh, the ability to lie convincingly is associated with higher intelligence. To be able to lie consistently, the brain has to be more developed. Anyone can lie, but if you're telling the same lie over and over, you need to memorize it.
This ability to recall memory is greater in smarter people. Just don't get caught with your pants on fire. You know how the song goes, so don't let it become a reality. Just be honest!
People Who Are Taller Than Average
Apparently, height can also be a factor in determining a person's intelligence. According to one study, as early as three years old, before children even attend school, their height may say something about how smart they are.
Supposedly, those who were taller as children and into adulthood perform significantly better on cognitive tests. Although being tall doesn't automatically make you smarter than other people, it may have some kind of effect on a person's intelligence.
People Who Work Out
There is a correlation between physical fitness and intelligence. A few studies have shown that people with lower BMIs tend to be smarter overall. There are many reasons why this might occur. One reason is that people who are financially successful can afford to work out and eat healthily. Financially successful people are usually intelligent people.
The connection between intelligence and fitness may just be a connection between wealth and fitness. Further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.
People Who Learned How To Read When They Were Young
Studies show that kids who learned how to read when they were quite young tend to become smarter adults. Now, we're not quite sure if that's because those kids were just naturally gifted readers or because early teaching helped them develop their brainpower, but nature vs. nurture is a debate that we will probably never fully resolve.
In a 2012 study, in pairs of identical twins, those who learned to read earlier tended to score higher in tests of cognitive ability as well as verbal and nonverbal skills.
People Who Took Music Lessons
Studies show that people who have taken music lessons at some point in their lives tend to have a higher IQ than people who haven't. The impact of music lessons is most significant when taken between the ages of four and six.
According to multiple studies, learning an instrument can help people interpret and analyze data. learning to read music is a unique skill that can open up areas of the mind that wouldn't otherwise be exercised.
People Who Experience Anxiety
Those with higher IQs tend to be more anxious than those of lesser intelligence. Smarter people tend to over-analyze situations or become easily troubled with existential questions or worrying about issues and problems that are out of their control.
While those who are anxious have been proven to score higher in tests of verbal intelligence, those not plagued by anxiety tend to score higher on tests that test for nonverbal intelligence.
People Who Experimented With Mind-Altering Substances
A 2012 study found that "in our large population-based cohort study, a high IQ at 11 years was associated with a greater likelihood of using selected illegal drugs 31 years later [...] a high childhood IQ may prompt the adoption of behaviors that are potentially harmful to health in adulthood.”
While there are many benefits to having a high IQ, it turns out that higher levels of intelligence can actually lead you down some pretty dark paths.
People Who Ask Deep Questions
Intelligent people aren't satisfied with just learning about their immediate surroundings. They are often asking themselves or others highly existential questions such as the meaning of life, whether God exist, and other similar questions.
Although there isn't a straight answer, they enjoy participating in conversations on these subjects, debating different philosophies and theories to help them wrap their head around such broad concepts. This often leads them to research and reading more than most people to satisfy their curiosities.
People Who Don't Think Luck Is Real
Very intelligent people don't believe in the concept of luck. This is so, because they have a better understanding of how the world works. To them, luck is just the result of hard work, planning, some coincidence, and preparation.
For example, a man who wants to start a business goes out and finds a good business idea for themselves. They don't sit around and wait for someone to come to them with a bright idea. In a sense, intelligent people make their own luck.
People Who Display A Sense Of Curiosity
Curious people tend to be a sign of higher intelligence because it means that somebody isn't content not knowing things. They want to understand how things work or why things are the way that they are.
According to Tomas-Prezumi, a professor of business psychology, "[Curiosity] leads to higher levels of intellectual investment and knowledge acquisition over time, especially in formal domains of education, such as science and art." Basically, people who are curious look for answers, which means they acquire knowledge during their search.
People Who Are Seen As Lazy
While being lazy may not sound like a quality that supports being intelligent, not exerting extra effort doesn't necessarily mean that someone is lazy. Intelligent people tend to not exert too much effort because they're smart enough to solve a problem or get something done without exerting more energy than they need.
This is often why intelligent people are unorganized, as they don't feel that they need to spend the time organizing things when they're confident they'll be fine without it.
People Who Can Focus
If you're not easily distracted, this can be a sign of intelligence. According to the 2013 journal Current Biology, Frank Zhu claims that "People who can focus for long stretches at a time and tune out distractions" are highly intelligent."
Intelligent people have the ability to focus on one thing, something that not everyone can say for themselves. They do this in order to get the job done and to not take time away from something else that they'd rather be doing.
People Who Admit When They Don't Know Something
The smartest people are those who have an understanding of how much they don't know. While they may be intelligent, they can admit that they don't know everything, which can make them more humble than most.
According to the academic Jim Winer "Intelligent people "are not afraid to say: 'I don't know.’ If they don’t know it, they can learn it". If an intelligent person doesn't know something, it may spark their curiosity and cause them to set out to find an answer.
Quiet People
Intelligent people who are quiet are often mislabeled as introverts and socially awkward. While sometimes this is true, it's not always the case. Not all silent people are smart, they just have nothing to say.
The smart silent type you'll notice start to open up later in a night or in a conversation. They start out quietly while they assess that situation, then make their response after thoughtful consideration. Does that sound like you?
People Who Enjoy Challenges
Intelligent people aren't scared of a challenge. As difficulties in their lives pile up, they refuse to crumble underneath the weight of it. To make their life easier, they prioritize these problems, then attack them one at a time.
This trick keeps stress levels lower and allows the person to work on their problem solving skills. In fact, highly intelligent people will even see new problems coming and be able to plan for them in advance to keep their world spinning out of control.
People Who Surround Themselves With Smart Friends
This is more of a general trend than a fact, but studies show that intelligent people tend to hang out with other intelligent people. If a majority of the people you socialize with are smart, then you're probably pretty smart, too!
We're not just talking book smart either. Intelligence can come in many forms. If one of your friends is an exceptional artist, then they're probably pretty smart. The same can be said for writers and even athletes!
People Who Are Perfectionists
Maybe you don't present yourself like an intelligent person. You wear grungy clothes and make crude jokes. Fear not, you might still be a smarty pants if you're a perfectionist. You want to be the perfect kind of grungy or crude!
Perfectionists tend to make little changes throughout their lives to reach their ultimate goal. Nothing is ever enough, but you will keep trying. And keep trying. And then try some more because you just can't help yourself.
People Who Question Themselves
One sign you might be highly intelligent is if your are constantly questioning yourself. Now, we don't mean you lack self-esteem. We mean you don't lie to yourself when you're bad at something or when you could be more sensitive to the people around you.
This doesn't mean you are actively trying to impress the people around you by questioning yourself. This means you are able to recognize your own faults as a person and are willing to work on them to better yourself.
People Who Follow The News
Intelligent people don't like to fall out of the loop of what's happening in the world. Staying up to date on world news is no easy task, but it's important to stay informed.
Staying informed also helps intelligent people learn new things that are important to their lives. They can learn the next trend and start developing the skills to make it apart of their repertoire. With so much to learn an do, it's impossible for intelligent people to run out of things to do.
People Who Can Multitask
Another trait of intelligent people is their ability to balance several projects at once. They might look like their doing nothing, but they're really solving twenty different problems all at the same time.
These projects can range from learning a new dance to building a new bookshelf. A smart person has ideas of thing they want to start and finish, and they will try and make those dreams a reality. The project might not help them in the long term, but it will be emotionally fulfilling.
People Who Aren't Addicted To Technology
Preferring to avoid an information overload, intelligent people tend to use less electronic devices in their lives. This doesn't mean they don't own a smart phone, laptop, tablet, and streaming device, they just don't use them all at the same time.
Not surprisingly, a study conducted by Hewlett Packard even concluded that workers who were overloaded on information were less productive and more easily distracted at work. The urge to check their personal email and social networks was more important that the urge to do their job.
People Who Seek Out Facts
Intelligent people are known skeptics, but this sign of brains has nothing do with skepticism. They enjoy being well-informed, and as a result, their opinions are well informed and based on facts.
When an intelligent person speaks, they demand the attention of the room. Even if they are trying to convince you that their point of view is correct, they are presenting their side with facts, not subjective thoughts. The ability to be objective helps with long term growth and adaptability.
People Who Are Empathetic
Intelligent people tend to be more empathetic then their peers. Empathy is a key trait of intelligence and major signifier that you're smarter than you give yourself credit for. One of the most important types of intelligence is emotional intelligence.
When you have empathy, you care about the way others around you feel. If they are hurting or sad, you want to know why, and you want to find a way to help them.
People Who Use The Internet
Because the internet "dispenses" knowledge, some people believe that it makes you smarter. This could not be further from the truth. Studies actually show that people who spend too much time on the internet lack deep thinking skills.
Therefore, more intelligent people tend be more internet savvy. They spend less time on electronics and know exactly where they need to go to get the information they need. The less time they spend looking up information, the more time they have for their hundreds of other projects.
People Who Seek Out New Information
With so much information being packed into their brains, intelligent people tend to have more high maintenance minds. They are constantly digesting and analyzing new information, bringing in the new while purging the old.
They want to know everything about as much as they can, not just one thing about everything. If you bring up any topic in a conversation with a smart person, their goal is to be able to talk intelligently with you about it.
People Who Learn From Their Mistakes
If you're the kind of person who doesn't make the same mistake, you might be more intelligent that your peers. The ability to learn from your mistakes is a sign of higher intelligence.
Basically, before you make the same mistake again, your brain yells at you not to. You realize that you are about to do something negative and react by stopping yourself. It's a good thing to make mistakes too when you're smart; you always learn from them!
People Who Are Resourceful
Intelligent people aren't just incredible problem solvers. They are also incredibly resourceful. When they come across a problem, they use all the tools they to have to find a solution. They don't try the same solution over and over again to no avail.
How do you solve your problems? Are the person who looks at the resources available to see if you could actually solve it? Not every problem has a solution, and learning when to move onto the next one is also smart.
People Who Take Risks
Finland used a study to show that more intelligent people tend to make riskier decisions. It was determined that there is a correlation between adolescents who make dangerous decisions learning better decision making skills.
Confused? To break it down to science, those in the study who made more dangerous decision had more white matter in their brain. White matter is associated with cognitive function. The behavior might not look very smart, but these young kids might surprise you with their success when they're adults.
People Who Trust
Surprisingly, intelligent people tend to be more trusting of the people around them. Oxford University made this declaration and determining that trust was linked to high IQ. Before you click away, listen to the reasoning.
Intelligent people are so observant, that it's not that they are more willing to trust anyone. They just choose who they trust more carefully. Before they give your their confidence, they vet you thoroughly in their minds.
