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Literature, cinema and television have created a series of stereotypes, not always consistent, that we associate with intelligent people. From the clueless genius to the arrogant intellectual, these clichés are often intermingled with reality. In part because of the complexity of matter and partly due to the existence of this type of preconceived ideas, studying the link between cognitive abilities and personality traits is especially complicated.
So what do we know about the relationship? One of the greatest studies in the field was carried out by two researchers at the University of Minnesota. It is a meta -analysis published in 2023 and that analyzed more than a thousand studies on the subject.
The results of this analysis do not offer us a list of personality traits that we can associate with intelligence, but illustrates a complex network of connections between cognitive abilities and personality traits.
Complex relationships. Something that should not be especially strange if we take into account how difficult it is to define intelligence. Some experts talk about multiple types of intelligence. The study refers to cognitive skills, and is not limited to These eight either nine typesbut includes a total of 97 skills.
Study study. The team studied the relationship between these 97 skills and 79 personality traits. He did it through a review of scientific literature and subsequent meta -analysis. That is, they conducted a quantitative study from a total of 1,325 previous studies.
The details of the process and the results can be consulted In an article In the magazine Psychological and Cognitive Sciences of the US National Academy of Sciences. A graphic summary of the results was also published in the form of Interactive tool on-line.
Breaking stereotypes. Personality features are often simplified in “Big Five“O Five great features: openness, scrupulity or consciousness, extraversion, affability and neuroticism. The team indicates to what extent these traits are positively or negatively linked to cognitive skills.
For example indicate that facets related to neuroticism were negatively correlated with most cognitive skills. This would imply that the cliche “melancholic and depressive” scientist is not exactly successful.
On the opposite side, extroversion and scrupulity or consciousness were positively linked to a wide range of cognitive skills. Another detail observed by the study is that, although the affability as a whole was not associated or negatively with intelligence, some related features, such as compassion were linked to some analyzed skills.
What makes us intelligent. Knowing what traits are most linked to which capabilities we will surely help us better or more easily identify intelligent people due to the enormous complexity of these interactions. Adapt our personality to what is observed in studies like this is not going to make us smarter. However, it can help us understand how these features of our brains evolved.
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Image | Weermeijer Robina
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