Study: People with Higher IQs Don't Require Large Social Circles
 

While the average person is happier with a large friend circle, new research reveals those with higher IQs are better off with a small one.

Evolutionary psychologists Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics and Norman Li of Singapore Management University are the authors of this intriguing study published last month in the British Journal of Psychology, and they were driven to find out how friendship affects life satisfaction and overall happiness.

Digging into data from a long-term survey of 15,000 adults aged 18 to 28, Kanazawa and Li noticed two major trends. First of all, urban dwellers were generally less happy than those living in rural areas. Secondly, people reported higher life-satisfaction with increased social interactions.

Using the "the savanna theory of happiness" to back up their research, the researchers hypothesized their findings are rooted in early man and the hunter-gather lifestyle that had people living in tribes, much more akin to small towns that big cities. "Situations and circumstances that would have increased our ancestors' life satisfaction in the ancestral environment may still increase our life satisfaction today," they wrote.

There was also one major finding in the study that threw the researchers for a loop: Highly intelligent people became less satisfied the more time they spend with friends.

"The effect of population density on life satisfaction was therefore more than twice as large for low-IQ individuals than for high-IQ individuals," they wrote. And "more intelligent individuals were actually less satisfied with life if they socialized with their friends more frequently."

The Washington Post reached out to a Brookings Institution researcher who studies the economics of happiness to explain this anomaly.

"The findings in here suggest (and it is no surprise) that those with more intelligence and the capacity to use it ... are less likely to spend so much time socializing because they are focused on some other longer term objective," Carol Graham said.

A New Study Claims People with Higher IQs Don't Require Large Social Circles

I have 3 friends. Me, Myself and I

no you are just awkward and socially retarded.

Lol lol


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bingo: less likely to spend so much time socializing because they are focused on some other longer term objective

This study incorrectly correlates "Don't require Large Social Circles" with "Avoid idiots".

:2 cents:

I have a very small circle of friends.

Not because I have a high IQ, but apparently because I'm a 'Fat Cunt that smells of shit'... :(

This study comes as no surprise to exceptionally intelligent persons such as myself.

The latter being a very difficult task indeed.

I think the smarter you are the less likely you are willing to put up with your stupid friend's idiotic ideas and behaviors. You can't fix stupid and the older you get the more you look around and realize most people are broken.

Bingo! :2 cents::thumbsup

:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

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What a fucking relief.

I thought it was MY FAULT that I only had five friends!

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

It's not your fault you don't have many friends, you obviously live in an area with an unusually large number of high IQ people, they don't mean you any harm, it would be wrong to take offense

Fucking GREAT song! Nice. :)

"they are focused on some other longer term objective".

Why could "friendship" not be a longer term objective?

The problem I think that people with high IQ often have is that they, logically and inevitably, live in a world of mediocrity. Having an IQ of let's say 130 in a world where the average is around 100... It is a huge gap... Having a high IQ is not just a matter of better results at school... It often results in a complete different worldview; a complete other understanding of the world around us... thus other interests; other needs for satisfaction, etc...

Go sit down and talk with someone who is 20/30 IQ point below you... You will find it very hard to relate and to have a satisfying conversation. It's simply exhausting. It leads to misunderstandings; feelings of not being understood at all; etc...

It's not that people with higher IQ don't desire social interaction... I think that they find less people that are interesting to them....

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

+1 for these :thumbsup

I only become social myself when I find someone who is a fair bit above average, then I can't stop, the rest of the time I'm not that interested :2 cents:

You mean like this? It is where I got my idea from. Figured someone would have posted it by now but since I have no friends I had myself do it because me is making breakfast and I is pulling the pud.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orAfWcsMjJE

not sure why it does't work. Here is the link

I've always kept a small circle of friends as I prefer people I can 100% trust over being friends with everyone where 50% of them ain't worth a shit. I also tend to hang with people at the same level as me or above as we can bounce ideas off each other and learn from each other. Hanging out with losers might not make ya a loser but usually ya end up guilty by association and there is no way to continually improve yourself surrounded by losers. :2 cents:

:thumbsup