Results of a recent research show that intellectuals are less active than less smarter people.
The study conducted by researchers at the Florida Gulf Course University reveals that more intelligent people are less physically active than their colleagues who spend less time on thinking.
These results confirm a theory that people with a high IQ level get bored less easily, so they spend more time engaged in thought. At the same time, people with a lower IQ are more physically active, because they need to stimulate their minds with external activities.
The researchers gave a test and selected 60 people. They then divided the participants into two equal groups. People from the first group said in the test they enjoyed tasks that involve coming up with new solutions to problems and enjoy thinking. The other group was composed of those who think as hard as they have to and avoid excessive thinking.
The participants wore a device on their wrist that tracked their physical activity for a week. Results show that the group of “thinkers” was much less active than “non-thinkers”. It’s interesting to note that no significant difference was detected on weekends. The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Health Psychology and described them as highly significant and robust in statistical terms.
The researchers suggest that people who don’t like thinking get bored more quickly, so they look for ways to fill their time with physical activity.
The drawback of intelligence is a negative impact of a sedentary lifestyle, scientists suggest and recommend intellectuals to move more and increase their physical activity, which will improve their health in general.
The British Psychological Society says, referring to the study, that if intellectuals realise their tendency to be less active, it will be a significant contribution to a healthier society. Being aware of their experimentally confirmed tendency to move less and its negative impact on their health, such people can raise their activity level.
However, a relatively small sample of people and a rather subjective way of dividing them into groups give grounds to take the findings with caution and avoid generalisation.
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