What would you rather go for—looks or intelligence? Although most of us would claim to value intelligence over attractiveness, deep down, looks tend to be a deciding factor in choosing a significant other. Is this because of the assumption that, naturally, intelligent people are unattractive?

Apparently this question has been a scientific inquiry for many years. Several scientists have conducted studies to verify whether physical attractiveness and intelligence go hand-in-hand. For instance, in 1918, a researcher in Ohio wanted to see if intelligence could be determined by the shape of an individual’s face. He presented pictures of several different students to teachers and asked them to rank the students based on their intellect. The results revealed that, in general, the teachers were able to determine the students’ intelligence only based on the picture. According to the researcher, the teachers were “greatly influenced by the pleasant appearance or smile… but for some, the smile denotes intelligence and for others, it denotes feeble-mindedness.”

In 1920, Edward Thorndike, a Colombia University psychologist, published his theory on the correlation between attractiveness and intelligence. He conducted experiments where he discovered that when people are shown pictures of handsome individuals, they assume that the individuals are smarter, more sociable, and better-adjusted. The results of these studies made scientists wonder whether it’s the good-looking people who are more intelligent.

This suggestion is further explained by evolutionary psychologist, Satoshi Kanazawa, who conducted a research in the UK. He found that, “…attractive children have an additional 12.4 points of IQ.” The controversial aspect of his experiments: “…either smart people are more beautiful than average, or dumb people are more ugly (or both).”

Based on recent studies, some scientists have concluded that it’s the ugly people who are extremely dumb as opposed to the good-looking people. However Kanazawa points out that, “the very ugliest people in his database are dumber on average, but they also tend to be the most diverse when it comes to intelligence.” Basically, if a person is on the low end of the spectrum for looks, then he or she is more likely to end up either extremely intelligent or extremely not-so-intelligent.

Have you ever wondered why we have the mindset that “ugly” people are smarter? It’s because media outlets such as TV and movies give us stereotypical nerds who are both ugly and smart. Beautiful women are typically shown to be “airheads” and muscular men as brainless. We see these characteristics on TV and apply them to real life situations although they do not represent the actual truth.

But what causes this connection between intelligence and looks? Some theories state that there’s a “common genetic factor that produces both smarts and beauty” or maybe an environmental factor that affects the child while it is gestating. Some scientists argue that “attractive children are treated better, and receive more attention from their caretakers and teachers, which helps to nurture a sharper mind.” An even wilder theory suggests that “intelligent men have tended to rise to the top of the social hierarchy and select beautiful women as their mates.” As a result, their offspring would end up having both traits.

Although most of these studies suggest that the two traits go hand-in-hand, it really is up to the individual as to how attractive he or she may be in the eyes of others, and his or her performance in school. In general, each individual has certain strengths that cannot be only limited to his or her innate personality; rather, one’s immediate environment also affects these traits.

For information on this study, visit this website:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/explainer/2012/01/are_smart_people_ugly_the_explainer_s_2011_question_of_the_year_.html