These Personality Traits Correlate With Higher Intelligence

Are human beings essentially good or bad at their core? This philosophical question about the basic nature of humanity has been debated for centuries, and yet there remains no clear answer, despite what various religions or political ideologies might claim. In reality, it seems much more reasonable to think that some humans are more essentially decent than others, even though it might be more comforting to think of humanity as a whole as being fundamentally moral. 

But while we can't say for sure that our species is, at its core, good, we can at least take heart from studies that show a link between intelligence and being more thoughtful, considerate, and altruistic. And that's a seemingly positive correlation on the surface, given that intelligence and kindness are both seen as admirable qualities. But while it's certainly a comfort to think that as people get smarter they get kinder, things are a little more complex than that.

Research has established a clear link between higher intelligence and the likelihood of individuals being more thoughtful, considerate, and altruistic. A study published in the International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing examined the relationship between cognitive ability and charitable giving, using a survey of U.S. adults over age 50. The participant's cognitive ability was measured using a variety of tests, with researchers finding that those with higher scores on these tests had a higher probability of charitable giving, even after controlling for factors such as age, income, wealth, health, and education.

Elsewhere, research published in the Journal of Research in Personality showed that unconditional altruistic behavior was related to general intelligence. Researchers carried out two studies, both of which showed consistent support for the positive relationship between intelligence and altruistic behavior. Put simply, this research indicates smarter people are not only more likely to give to a group, they are less likely to take resources for themselves. Another 1998 study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology tested participants' intelligence before observing them in specific negotiation situations. The results were somewhat surprising, as smarter people actually gave their negotiating partners better outcomes in circumstances where both parties could benefit. In other words, more intelligent participants were concerned with making sure others received the best possible results — a sort of "everyone wins" mindset. 

Based on these examples, then, one might conclude that the more intelligent people are, the more generous and charitable they will be. But there are some caveats to consider.

While it's convenient to summarise research as showing intelligent people are more thoughtful, considerate, and altruistic, it also runs the risk of being too simplistic. After all, what constitutes intelligence? It turns out that — ironically, perhaps — answers to this question vary, and a rigid definition of its features are hard to pin down. Even the very concept of IQ has been challenged quite rigorously, both in public discourse and in the scientific literature. And while what science says constitutes genius has a few strong core ideas, there's still plenty being debated.

In his book "Intellectuals and Society," Thomas Sowell attempts to delineate between intellect, intelligence, and wisdom, writing, "The capacity to grasp and manipulate complex ideas is enough to define intellect, but not enough to encompass intelligence, which involves combining intellect with judgment and care in selecting relevant explanatory factors and in establishing empirical tests of any theory that emerges. Intelligence minus judgment equals intellect." Furthermore, Sowell defines wisdom as "the rarest quality of all — the ability to combine intellect, knowledge, experience, and judgment in a way to produce a coherent understanding." 

So, when we say that being more thoughtful, considerate, and altruistic is a sign of high intelligence, what kind of intelligence do we mean? In other words, various studies use different measures of intelligence, so it's important to keep in mind that these traits don't necessarily signal a universal form of intelligence. 

Beyond difficulties with defining intelligence, the idea that those with a charitable disposition are more intelligent is just simply an incomplete claim. American social psychologist C. Daniel Batson has written extensively about "the empathy-altruism hypothesis," which essentially claims that when someone is capable of empathy, they are more likely to help others. A 2014 study published in The Oxford Handbook of Prosocial Behavior reviewed 35 years of research and determined that there was "quite strong support" for the hypothesis. 

The converse is also true. A Frontiers In Psychology study showed that those with high scores on a Machiavellian personality scale struggled with empathy, which appeared to stem from specific emotional problems — anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure), being one example. One of the telltale signs of a Machiavellian personality is also the correlation with less altruistic behavior as a result of that inability of the brain to truly to feel empathy (via Current Issues in Personality Psychology).

This is all to say that being thoughtful, considerate, and altruistic might signify a person's intelligence, it could also simply suggest that the person in question has a better ability to empathize and more healthy emotional function overall. 

Despite the difficulties that come with simply stating that smarter people are kinder people, there remains an undeniable link between intelligence and what we might generally call more benevolent behavior. A 2024 study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science suggested that intelligent people are more self-directed and benevolent, and less traditional and conformist. That essentially means that, according to the results of the study, the more intelligent people are the more likely they are to form their own beliefs rather than stick to received wisdom and tradition, but also that more intelligent people are likely to be more benevolent than those with less cognitive ability.

There's still a lot to learn about intelligence itself, though (even including questions of whether intelligence is actually a genetic trait). But as more research is conducted, the nature of this link between intelligence and being more thoughtful, considerate, and altruistic could become more clearly defined. As it stands, if you encounter someone who comes across as kind and caring, while that's no guarantee of their cognitive ability, based on the available studies, they're might also be pretty smart.