Have you ever been down in the rut and felt as if you were not that smart? Or maybe you felt dumb for saying something that maybe wasn’t right. It is scientifically proven that more people tend to believe they are not as smart as they actually are.
Yes, there are more people in this world that feel less smart than there are people who are overly confident about their mental capacity.
We have done some research and concluded that you are smarter than you think. Here’s why:
1. You’re creative.
Believe it or not, being creative is one of the biggest signs that you are smarter than you think. According to Dr. Katie Davis, a clinical neuropsychologist, creativity is a definitive sign of intelligence because it requires thinking flexibly/outside the box and necessitates the ability to shift and change your patterns of thinking from one way to another.
According to Davis, being “book smart” isn’t the only measurement of intelligence. Her study revealed that creative people’s ability to take insight and translate it into a message that illuminated her brand’s benefits in a compelling, memorable way is a task few merely “book smart” people could do.
So remember, just because you may not be “book smart” doesn’t mean you are not intelligent. Go out there and create art!
2. You’re messy.
It is said that messy people live a messy life. But it is also said that messy people may just be smarter than everyone else.
Kathleen Vohs from the University of Minnesota says the messier you are, the smarter you are. A study Vohs published in Psychological Science featured two groups asked to devise creative uses for Ping-Pong balls. One group worked in a messy, cluttered environment while the other worked in a tidy setting. The messy group brainstormed substantially more creative and interesting ideas.
So if you are messy, don’t fret. It could just mean you’re onto something others aren’t.
3. You’re curious.
“Curiosity killed the cat.” That’s a saying that should gain a different meaning.
According to a study from the Goldsmiths University of London, “how people invest their time and effort in their intellect” (i.e. feeding their curiosity) plays a huge role in cognitive growth.
The more curious you are about things the more you are able to learn things.
But it’s not just learning more that makes you smarter, it’s wanting to learn more, which is a trait common in intelligent people. A study in the Journal of Individual Differences showed a correlation between people who scored high on IQ tests as a child and adults that were more curious and open to new ideas.
So be curious and ask questions.
4. You talk to yourself.
It has been frowned upon when people talk to themselves because it seems “crazy.” But the reality of it is that people who tend to talk to themselves are actually more intelligent.
A study by psychologists Paloma Mari-Beffa and Alexander Kirkham of Bangor University showed that talking out loud to yourself improves self-control, an important form of intelligence.
The study showed that the subjects who read tasks out loud performed those said tasks better than those who read it in their heads.
Talking out loud nets control, which is why so many professional athletes talk to themselves out loud during games.
5. You have high self-control.
Having high self-control is actually a sign of high intelligence. You may be wondering how that is.
Well, a 2009 psychology study from Yale University gave participants IQ tests and offered them reward money they could receive immediately or later (for a higher amount). Those choosing to wait also had higher IQ scores, indicating that resisting making impulsive decisions and carefully weighing options correlates with intelligence.
So if you find yourself holding back during an argument or patiently waiting on something, it could just be a sign of intelligence.
