Smarter people prefer to have fewer friends

So says a London School of Economics study that has caused quite a stir.

One of the most popular stereotypes about exceptionally intelligent people is that they generally tend to socialize with fewer people and find pleasure in solitary moments, they tend to socialize with fewer people and find pleasure in moments of solitude.. Of course, this is just a stereotype, and it is clear that there may be many, many people with a high intellect who are also particularly sociable and like to interact with many people whom they know very little.

However, a study by the London School of Economics in collaboration with Singapore Management University indicates that this myth may reflect a real statistical trend.

High IQ, few friends: against the tide

Specifically, this research has found a negative correlation between people's IQ and their propensity to spend time interacting with others.. That is, more intelligent individuals do not need to have a very active social life to feel good and, in fact, may be disgruntled if forced to do so.

This tendency is the inverse of that found in people with low intelligence or with an IQ very close to the population average, judging by the results of the statistical analysis. In this sense, those who show higher intelligence go against the tide.

What did the research consist of?

The study carried out by this team did not focus exactly on the subject of intelligence, but rather on how a set of variables affects the feeling of satisfaction with the life one leads. That is, with what we could call "happiness".

Psychologists Satoshi Kanazawa and Norman Li based their analysis on a large-scale survey involving some 15,000 people between the ages of 18 and 28 and point to the fact that, in general, the level of satisfaction with one's own life tends to be high in people with more active social lives, the level of satisfaction with one's own life tends to be high in people with a more active social life, while it is lower in people with a more active social life.The results show that the level of satisfaction with one's own life tends to be high among people with a more active social life, while it is lower among people living in more densely populated areas.

A rarity among the most intelligent people

However, when they focused on studying people with a higher IQ, they found that the correlation between happiness and frequency of social interactions was negative. In contrast to the rest of the population, particularly intelligent people who interacted more with other people showed lower levels of satisfaction than those with higher IQs. than those who had more time alone.

That is, judging from these results, the more intelligent individuals tend to be more satisfied with their lives if they have fewer social interactions with others, which would make them prefer to interact less often and with fewer people if they had a choice. While respondents generally valued the possibility of interacting with many people (as long as it was not in crowded conditions), the more intelligent individuals did not seem to show this need.

Why does this happen?

Kanazawa and Li adopt the perspective of evolutionary psychology to explain why the most intelligent people seem to go against the grain when it comes to valuing an active social life.

According to their explanation, based on the so-called savanna theoryThis phenomenon may have to do with the way in which the brain of our evolutionary lineage has been evolving over the past millions of years.

When it began to form into the large brain that defines the genus Homothe life of its component species had to be spent in large open spaces, similar to savannahs with scattered groves of trees, where population density was minimal and it was necessary to live together all day long with other members of the family or tribe in order to survive.

However, the more intelligent individuals would be better able to adapt to challenges on their own and adapt to new situations without the help of others, thus without the help of others, so being constantly accompanied by others would entail fewer benefits. Hence, they did not show the same propensity to be constantly accompanied and even tended to seek more moments to be alone.