Smarter people are more trusting - research

Researchers say smarter people are more trusting, and trusting people are more likely to have better health and greater happiness. Photo / Thinkstock

Clever people are more trusting than their less intelligent counterparts, researchers have claimed.

Those who are smarter than most may be better judges of character, they said. That group may also be more trusting of other people because they are better at weighing up situations, according to research from academics at Oxford University.

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, examined data from an American social attitudes survey.

It also found that people who are more trusting are more likely to have better health and greater happiness.

But the links between trust and health, and between trust and happiness, are not explained by intelligence, they added.

"Intelligence is shown to be linked with trusting others, even after taking into account factors like marital status, education and income," said lead author Noah Carl, from Oxford University's Department of Sociology.

"This finding supports what other researchers have argued, namely that being a good judge of character is a distinct part of human intelligence which evolved through natural selection.

"However, there are other possible interpretations of the evidence, and further research is needed to disentangle them."

Professor Francesco Billari added: "People who trust others seem to report better health and greater happiness.

"The study of social trust therefore has wider implications in public health, governmental policy and private charity, and there are good reasons to think that governments, religious groups and other civic organisations should try to cultivate more trust in society."

The academics analysed data from the General Social Survey, which is conducted every one or two years.

The survey, which has been running since the early 1970s, examines social status, behaviours and social attitudes as well as intelligence.

- PAA