Trust Others? You're Probably Very Smart, Or, At Least, A Good Judge of Character
My son shocked me the other day when he said I don't trust most people. I suppose he's right. And maybe that means I'm not very intelligent.
A new study has shown that intelligent people are more likely to trust, according to medicalnewstoday.com (MNT). They are also better judges of character.
As the Web site reports, if you often put your trust in other people, that means you're, well, really smart.
In the study, participants' intelligence levels were measured through a 10-word vocabulary test and an assessment that determined how well participants understood the survey questions.
"The researchers found that participants who scored highly on measures of intelligence were more likely to trust others, compared with those who had low scores on intelligence levels," according to MNT.
Why? Since smarter individuals are better judges of character, "they tend to develop relationships with people who are less likely to betray them," says MNT. Intelligent people also tend to be better at weighing up situations, according to the researchers, therefore, identifying a strong incentive for the other party to stick to their side of an agreement.
"Being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence which evolved through natural selection," comments Noah Carl of the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford in the UK, who led the research team.
Now, back to me. Why don't I trust? It's a long story, but I have found that, since having my son, while some of my trust issues have escalated through the roof, I have also found that there are an awful lot of good people in this world, and I can let my barriers down a little.
A new study has shown that intelligent people are more likely to trust, according to medicalnewstoday.com (MNT). They are also better judges of character.
As the Web site reports, if you often put your trust in other people, that means you're, well, really smart.
In the study, participants' intelligence levels were measured through a 10-word vocabulary test and an assessment that determined how well participants understood the survey questions.
"The researchers found that participants who scored highly on measures of intelligence were more likely to trust others, compared with those who had low scores on intelligence levels," according to MNT.
Why? Since smarter individuals are better judges of character, "they tend to develop relationships with people who are less likely to betray them," says MNT. Intelligent people also tend to be better at weighing up situations, according to the researchers, therefore, identifying a strong incentive for the other party to stick to their side of an agreement.
"Being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence which evolved through natural selection," comments Noah Carl of the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford in the UK, who led the research team.
Now, back to me. Why don't I trust? It's a long story, but I have found that, since having my son, while some of my trust issues have escalated through the roof, I have also found that there are an awful lot of good people in this world, and I can let my barriers down a little.
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