At least, that’s what a recent study in the British Journal of Psychology claims. The question that evolutionary psychologists Kanazawa and Li were looking to answer is what makes a life well-lived and how intelligence, population density and friendship can affect our happiness.
The psychologists theorized that the lifestyle of our ancient ancestors form the basis of what makes us happy in modern times,
“Situations and circumstances that would have increased our ancestors’ life satisfaction in the ancestral environment may still increase our life satisfaction today.”
Their study was carried out on 15,000 adults aged between 18 – 28 and their results weren’t actually all that surprising.
Firstly, their findings showed that people who lived in more densely populated areas were less satisfied with their life in general, compared to those who live in less populated areas.
The second finding that the psychologists discovered was that the more social a person is with their close friends, the greater they said their happiness was.
These correlations were diminished or even reversed when the results of intelligent people were analyzed. In other words – when smart people spend time with their friends, it makes them less happy.
Why would intelligent people not gain happiness when they’re around close family and friends? There may be many explanations, including the one given by Carol Graham, a researcher who studies the economics of happiness,
“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.“
This generally makes sense since those intelligent people are so focused on achieving their intellectual goals, anything that takes away from those ambitions makes them unhappy.
The modern day human life has changed rapidly since our ancestors’ time and with technological advances rapidly improving, there may be a kind of mismatch between our brains and the way our bodies are designed to handle situations, according to Kanazawa and Li.
So there we have it. We thought that human interaction would make people happier, but it turns out intelligent people are better off alone.
What do you think of these recent findings? Do you agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments.
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I agree with this but sometimes i feel also better with intelligent people talking
I spent most of my youth alone because we lived in a terrible neighborhood with lots of crime. We had to spend our free time locked up in our homes. So I would spend my time listening to shortwave radio broadcasts from around the world (Radio Habana Cuba, HCJB, Radio Nederland, among others) and reading. I wasn't must of a sports person and TV gave me headaches. Now I realize that this experience gave me the tools to survive well by myself. In college and in law school, I declined study groups because I always did better by myself. Even now, in my professional life, the same holds true. So.....don't know about the intelligence factor but in my case, it was environmental conditioning. I learned to be alone and make the most of it.
I think that it depends on the quality of the relationships we have whether we are happier alone. I do think that if we don't have an affinity with our family members and friends, we are better off alone. If we have relationships with those who are like us, who think the way we do, then we become One, spiritually speaking. It's like being alone, there are just two of us being One.
Isaac Newton is a prime example of this. He worked his butt off and couldn't have a conversation with anyone because he was so focused
Really, it's true. Me,whenever I'm together with My friends, they become very happy but, me I feels like, I'm waisting My time instead of doing something that's lucrative to My life. I'm more than Happy when I'm alone because, there'll be no one to break My Heart.