Intelligence is one of the most interesting psychological traits that exist. Knowing our cognitive abilities allows us to know the degree to which we are able to adapt to new challenges, changing environments and, in general, to situations that require a certain degree of improvisation.

But another fascinating aspect of intelligence is that statistically it also tends to go hand in hand with many other personal, physical, social and psychological characteristics. For example, people with higher IQ test scores tend to live longer, earn more money and look better.

In the world of love and matchmaking, this also has curious implications. For example, it has been seen that the most intelligent people tend to be more unfaithful than the average, a pattern that is especially accentuated in the case of women. Why does this happen?

The relationship between intelligence and infidelity

A few years ago, psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa showed that, according to data from the General Social Surveys, people who answer “yes” to the question “Have you ever had an affair outside of marriage” tend to score significantly higher on intelligence tests, even controlling for variables such as social class, ethnicity, educational level and, of course, age.

This difference was somewhat greater in the case of women. In their case, those who had committed an infidelity were about 3 IQ points higher than those who had fulfilled their commitment, while in the case of men the difference was two points.

Kanazawa acknowledges that there is no data that clearly indicates why there is such a direct relationship between intelligence and propensity to infidelity, but he outlines some hypotheses that could point in the right direction.

Attractiveness, intelligence and gender

First, the researcher highlights a fact that has been amply proven over the years: generally, the smartest people tend to be taller and more attractive than the rest.

This means, among other things, that they have less trouble finding someone interested in having relationships with them. The stereotype of unattractive people who are too intelligent “to compensate” is not confirmed by the data provided by reality, at least for the time being.

On the other hand, as an evolutionary psychologist, Kanazawa is convinced that, when it comes to sexual behavior, women have the most power, since they are the ones who choose how and where the encounters take place.

From here, Kanazawa draws an interesting reflection. Although it may seem contradictory, the most intelligent men tend to value monogamy and fidelity more, which is not the case with the representatives with higher IQs of the opposite sex. However, as we have seen, in practice both men and women with high IQ scores are more likely to break that commitment to fidelity. This may be because women with higher IQs have more opportunities to be attractive and to break sexual exclusivity.

As for the latter, the fact that they value sexual exclusivity more could explain why even the smartest (and potentially attractive) ones tend to have fewer affairs. On the other hand, Kanazawa points out that since men have less room for choice in sexual behavior, they cannot be as consistent with their ideals and values, under the assumption that to keep up with one’s values one needs to have control in that area of life; in this case, the sexual one.

A matter of temptation

Thus, the hypotheses Kanazawa points to have to do with the degree to which the most intelligent people have to say “no” to a greater number of occasions to commit infidelity. Women with higher IQs only place an average value on sexual exclusivity, and are therefore somewhat more likely to fall into temptation, while in men this desirability associated with intelligence is partially cushioned by their positive assessment of monogamy in an “ideal” sense.

Of course, there are still many unknowns to be solved. For example, whether this pattern of behavior, or relationship between IQ and sexual activity, is true in all cultures (probably not). There is also a need for more data on how sexual attractiveness and propensity to infidelity are related: so far only data on the latter and on IQ level have been cross-checked.

Finally, we must remember that we are only talking about numbers, about statistical patterns. It is clear that each case is unique and a person is not predestined to be unfaithful because he or she is gifted, far from it. However, in general, the smartest people may have had more opportunities to say “no” to offers that seemed irresistible.