Attractive people have higher IQs

Attractive people were given even more reason to celebrate Sunday after scientists claimed handsome men and pretty women were more likely to have a high IQ.

Researchers from the London School of Economics (LSE) said that physically-attractive people have above-average IQs, with good-looking men around 13.6 points above the norm and attractive women 11.4 points above average.

The findings, based on UK and US studies, suggested that the link between beauty and intelligence means the children of attractive couples will inherit both attributes, forming a genetic link between the qualities.

“Both in the British and American samples, physical attractiveness is significantly positively associated with general intelligence, both with and without controls for social class, body size and health. The association between physical attractiveness and general intelligence is also stronger among men than among women,” said LSE lead researcher Satoshi Kanazawa, writing in the latest edition of the journal Intelligence.

More than 52,000 people across the UK and US were measured on their academic progress and intelligence, as well as scored on their appearance.

“If more intelligent men are more likely to attain higher status, and if men of higher status are more likely to marry beautiful women, then, given that both intelligence and physical attractiveness are highly heritable, there should be a positive correlation between intelligence and physical attractiveness in the children’s generation," Kanazawa said.

He added, however, that his findings were statistical and should not be applied to individuals, saying that “it goes without saying that our contention that beautiful people are more intelligent is purely scientific. It is not a prescription for how to treat or judge others.”

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