Highly Intelligent People Prefer To Be Alone, Study Says

Eating alone, living alone, crying alone. These are just a few instances when being alone looked sad to some. Guess what? A recent study just revealed it’s normal – at least for some people!

If you actually like eating lunch alone or if you’re quite content with being the invisible fifth wheel with your coupled BFFs, then you’re probably very smart, says a study published by researchers from the Singapore Management University.

In the study posted by the World Economic Forum, the researchers gathered information from more than 15,000 individuals. Their research participants aged 18 to 28 gave information about about how intelligent they are and how satisfied they are with their lives. They also stated where they lived, how dense the population was in their area, and how social relationships made them feel.

The results showed that in general, nobody like huge groups. It also revealed that those with less intelligence feel the negative effects of huge crowds more. Consequently, the smarter ones enjoy work and adapt better with crowds.

The study also notes that consequently, the results reverse when they talked about being with friends. For the not-so-smart ones, association with friends is a positive thing.

Those who are considered to be really smart, however, find happiness in being alone.

“More intelligent individuals experience lower life satisfaction with more frequent socialization with friends.”

It could be for any reason, but it doesn’t necessarily mean being sad. If anything, it comes with a lot of perks most of us actually need.

Being alone is good for relaxing and recharging the brain.

Constantly socializing — online or otherwise — can be very tiring. Being alone solves that by letting your mind flit from thought to thought, process your experiences, and start with a clean slate.

Being alone trains your creativity and survival instincts.

Solitude teaches independence and creativity. When you’re alone, you won’t have time to panic at every problem because you’re on your own. You’ll be more resourceful, and you would develop a knack for creatively solving things.

Being alone gives you time for introspection and self-appreciation.

It’s pretty hard to think about yourself when you’re in the company of other people. If anything, it’s pretty hard to do any thinking at all. Being in solitude solves that for you. You’ll have time to reflect on your goals and assess where you are. It gives you time to take a good, hard look at yourself too.

So indulge in the quiet; you’ll be better for it.