Intelligent people are more trusting of others than their less smart counterparts, researchers have claimed – because they are better judges of character.
Bright individuals may also be more trusting because they are better at weighing up situations, according to researchers from Oxford University, Daily Mail informs.
The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, examined data from an American social attitudes survey, which evaluates people’s social status, their behaviour and social attitudes, and their intelligence.
It also found that people who are more trusting are more likely to have better health and greater happiness.
But the links between trust and health, and between trust and happiness, are not explained by intelligence, they added.
‘Intelligence is shown to be linked with trusting others, even after taking into account factors like marital status, education and income,’ said lead author Noah Carl, from Oxford University’s Department of Sociology.
‘This finding supports what other researchers have argued, namely that being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence which evolved through natural selection. However, there are other possible interpretations of the evidence, and further research is needed to disentangle them.’
