Previous studies on the connection between personality and intelligence have been conducted on young adults. Now for the first time, a study compared what personality traits predict intelligence in both young and older adults. Research reports that openness and friendliness is linked with higher intelligence in young adults. However, grumpiness was found to be associated with higher intelligence in older adults.
The study, presented at the August 10-13, 2006 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in New Orleans, compared the connection between personality and intelligence in both young and older adults. Researchers at York University and Pennsylvania State University administered personality and intelligence tests to 381 healthy adults, ages 19 to 89. The participants were split into three groups including young adults ages 18 to 60, older adults who were intellectually comparable to the younger adults, and older adults who were intellectually superior to the other two groups. Five personality traits including openness, extroversion (friendliness), agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, were matched with intelligence test scores.
The researchers found that openness and friendliness were linked to higher intelligence scores in the younger group. However, lack of agreeableness was associated with higher intelligence scores in the intellectually superior older group. Findings also revealed that conscientiousness and openness were linked with strong short term memory and visual and auditory processing in older adults.
"Agreeableness was found to have a contrary relationship with general knowledge suggesting that a disagreeable nature may go hand in hand with better vocabulary and knowledge retention in older age," says researcher Thomas Baker, of York University, in a news release.
REFERENCES:
1. Study suggests that personality predictors of intelligence change from younger to older adulthood. APA Press Release, August 10, 2006: http://www.apa.org/releases/personality06.html
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on January 10, 2007 03:51 PM
