The Science of Looking (Though Not Necessarily Being) Smart

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Julie Beck has an interesting little feature up on Atlantic detailing certain studies that attempt to pinpoint what exactly goes into looking intelligent. Unsurprisingly, some particular physical traits, styles, and characteristics have been found to communicate the essence of intelligence — even if they’re not necessarily indicative of the existence of intelligence.

Your mind might immediately steer toward eyeglasses, a practically universal emblem of nerdom. As Beck notes, a 2011 British College of Optometrists survey found that 43% of respondents thought wearing glasses made people appear more intelligent (though of course, there are exceptions).

Other findings shared by Beck include the connection between drinking in public and appearing unintelligent:

The perceived association between alcohol and stupid behavior is so strong, according to a 2013 study, that merely holding a beer makes you appear dumber.

As well as the power of the punctuating middle initial:

Participants in a study published this year rated writing samples more favorably when the author’s name included a middle initial; they also presumed people with middle initials to be of higher social status than their uninitialed peers.

(As one of the article’s comments points out, the middle initial definitely seemed to work for Bill S. Preston, Esq.)

All joking aside, is there really anything to take away from these investigations into looking smart? A lot of the findings are fairly common sense. Yes, we associate eyeglasses with intelligence. No, you shouldn’t compose your résumé in Wingdings. But these sorts of studies aren’t designed to break new ground as much as they seek to confirm societal biases for and against certain characteristics. In that sense, they’re quite successful. The maps of human preference and dislike are always changing and occasionally need to be redrawn to reflect shifting societal landscapes.

Give Beck’s article (linked again below) a quick read. It’s well sourced so, if you’re interested, you can go on and learn more about the individual studies.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find out how to change my byline to Robert X. Montenegro.