Why Smart People Are More Trusting | GinaConspiracy
Should YOU trust ME? If you're intelligent enough, you can probably figure it out [[MUSIC PLAYING]] Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews
Here's something you might not think about everyday: TRUST Trust is a vital part of life and relationships I mean, if you're unwilling to trust anyone or anything, it would be a cynical, sad life indeed A few years ago, the Pew Research Center found that, worldwide, societies that trust each other have lower rates of crime and corruption They found the most trusting countries are Canada (of course), Sweden (also not surprised), Britain, and the USA
Relevant (!) because trust ultimatelymakes the wheels of society turn Social institutions like financial markets, public health departments, and welfare programs require trust to operate
The ability to trust others has also been linked with higher rates of happiness and health by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center Recently, Oxford published another study about trust in PLOS 1, and what they found was verrrrrry interesting They found that people who score higher on measures of intelligence are more likely to trust others, while those who score lower on intelligence measures are more suspicious of people This is after controlling for things like income, marital status, and level of education What does intelligence have to do with something like trust? They have a couple theories
One is that the smarties are better able to tell someone's character Are they the right kind of person to let their guard down with? Or are they a shady brady? A better read of someone's character may help intelligent people to avoid those who are more likely to betray Another theory is that intelligent people are better at looking at the full context of a situation — so they can better evaluate if another person has an INCENTIVE to betray their trust The finding is important not just because trust is a key player in the ever elusive goal of peace — but it also lends a hand to another evolutionary theory The theory being that a good judge of character is an important part of human evolution passed on through natural selection
In other words, reading someone's trustworthiness has a survival advantage Of course, that would need some further testing Question for you folks: do you tend to trust people? Or do you find it challenging? I mean hey, maybe you've had some experiences that taught you otherwise Thanks for joining me for DNews! I'll see you again soon with more science updates
Source: Youtube
Leave a Comment