The Genius Less Interacting, Really?

Most people are happy to be in a lot of friends. But a study revealed people with high IQ argue otherwise. These geniuses feel comfortable in a small social environment with little interaction.

Developmental psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa from the London School of Economics in England and Norman Li from Singapore Management University in Singapore published this research in the British Journal of Psychology. They want to know how friendship affects the comfort of life and happiness as a whole.

Based on survey data from 15,000 adults aged 18 to 28, Kanazawa and Li see two major trends. First, city dwellers are generally less happy than those who live in rural areas.

Second, life is more comfortable as social interaction increases. In this study they used The Savanna Theory of Happiness method. The researchers proposed allegations based on ancient human lifestyles and hunters, assuming people living tribes, similar to small towns and big cities.

"The circumstances and conditions of increasing the satisfaction of our ancestors living in ancestral environments may still increase our satisfaction in our lives today," they wrote.

The main thing in this study, they found that very smart people are not comfortable spending time with friends.

The effect of population density on living comfort for people with lower IQs is twice as comfortable as those with high IQs, "they wrote.

And "Smarter people are not comfortable with life that demands they often interact socially."

The research, supported by The Washington Post for a researcher at the Brookings Institution, who studies the economics of happiness can explain this anomaly.

"It is not surprising that those with higher intelligence and ability tend to spend less time socializing because they focus on some other long-term goals," says Carol Graham.