Sign in to use this feature.

Years

Between: -

Subjects

remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline
remove_circle_outline

Journals

Article Types

Countries / Regions

Search Results (4)

Search Parameters:
Keywords = Mensa members

Order results
Result details
Results per page
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
17 pages, 4767 KiB  
Article
Intelligence and Dietary Habits: An International Study of Mensa Members
by Anna Csák and Péter Przemyslaw Ujma
J. Intell. 2025, 13(6), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence13060067 - 10 Jun 2025
Viewed by 817
Abstract
Numerous studies have shown a positive relationship between intelligence and health, with higher intelligence quotient (IQ) linked to better health outcomes, longer life expectancy, and lower rates of non-communicable diseases. Better health behaviour in the more intelligent (either due to better health knowledge [...] Read more.
Numerous studies have shown a positive relationship between intelligence and health, with higher intelligence quotient (IQ) linked to better health outcomes, longer life expectancy, and lower rates of non-communicable diseases. Better health behaviour in the more intelligent (either due to better health knowledge or more advantageous social-financial opportunities) and system integrity theory (overlaps in the background causes of intelligence and health, such as genetic factors) are competing explanations for this link. This study aimed to examine the dietary habits of high-IQ individuals compared to a control group. An online questionnaire was completed by Mensa members (IQ ≥ 130) and control group participants from three countries, assessing various lifestyle factors, especially dietary habits. Key findings include lower smoking rates among Mensa members, special diets primarily for personal rather than medical reasons, and more frequent consumption of some national staples. There was no clear trend for healthier nutritional habits among Mensa members, suggesting that this aspect of health behavior does not account for better health in the more intelligent and supporting system integrity theory instead. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Approaches to Improving Intelligence)
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 1021 KiB  
Article
Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Hypersensitivity in Gifted Individuals
by Christelle Gillioz, Maroussia Nicolet-dit-Félix and Marina Fiori
J. Intell. 2023, 11(2), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11020020 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5930
Abstract
The goal of the present study was to investigate the associations between high intelligence, emotional intelligence (EI), and emotional hypersensitivity in a sample of 304 Mensa members. In addition, we aimed to shed light on how highly intelligent individuals process emotional information. In [...] Read more.
The goal of the present study was to investigate the associations between high intelligence, emotional intelligence (EI), and emotional hypersensitivity in a sample of 304 Mensa members. In addition, we aimed to shed light on how highly intelligent individuals process emotional information. In a previous study, we found that individuals with high EI in the general population are characterized by an attentional bias toward emotional information. We tested whether this effect holds for highly intelligent individuals by drawing on the same procedure: participants (N = 124 Mensa members) had to report a letter appearing behind a picture of a face with emotional or a neutral facial expression, and their reaction time to provide an answer was recorded. Comparing the results from the general population to those of Mensa members, we found that Mensa members did not show the attentional bias toward emotional information found in the general population. Mensa members were equally fast to evaluate letters replacing emotional and neutral expressions, and this result was not influenced by EI level. Possible explanations include the role of inhibitory processes (a factor related to intelligence), which might have contributed to treating emotional information as purely cognitive. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 853 KiB  
Article
An Investigation of the Relationship between Personality, Cognitive Ability, and Work Engagement in Intellectually Gifted Individuals
by Lindsey Macke, Flor de León, Tobias Hermansson and Petri Kajonius
J. Intell. 2022, 10(4), 100; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10040100 - 10 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3691
Abstract
Do personality traits in highly intelligent individuals relate to their work engagement? Seemingly little is known about the relationship between personality and work engagement for gifted individuals. In what may be the first study to do so, a Swedish Mensa sample (n [...] Read more.
Do personality traits in highly intelligent individuals relate to their work engagement? Seemingly little is known about the relationship between personality and work engagement for gifted individuals. In what may be the first study to do so, a Swedish Mensa sample (n = 353) was explored with a two-part aim: to assess psychometric personality properties and to investigate the relationship between personality traits (Mini-IPIP6) and work engagement (UWES-9). The results of the Mensa members and the Mturk sample (1.4 SD lower in cognitive ability based on ICAR-16) were compared using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and a regression. The findings indicated that the Mensa sample had higher openness (d = .50) and honesty-humility (d = .65) and that personality traits were similarly related to work engagement in both groups, with the exception that neither openness nor honesty-humility were related to work engagement in the Mensa sample. The characteristics of intellectually gifted individuals are further discussed. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 811 KiB  
Article
Is There a “Gifted Personality”? Initial Evidence for Differences between MENSA and General Population Members in the HEXACO Personality Inventory
by Jonathan Fries, Kristof Kovacs, Elisabeth L. Zeilinger and Jakob Pietschnig
J. Intell. 2022, 10(4), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10040092 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4516
Abstract
Contrary to the common notion that personality and intelligence are unrelated constructs, numerous correlational studies have demonstrated substantial associations between the two domains. Moreover, samples of intellectually gifted individuals have been found to differ from the general population in specific aspects of their [...] Read more.
Contrary to the common notion that personality and intelligence are unrelated constructs, numerous correlational studies have demonstrated substantial associations between the two domains. Moreover, samples of intellectually gifted individuals have been found to differ from the general population in specific aspects of their personalities. However, most studies so far have relied on the Five-Factor Model of Personality (FFM), while none have investigated this phenomenon using the HEXACO personality framework. We recruited 617 adult members of the international high-IQ society MENSA and compared them to 3 reference samples (combined N = 112,637) regarding their personalities as measured by the HEXACO-60 personality inventory. We found that gifted persons scored higher in Honesty-Humility and Conscientiousness but lower in Emotionality compared to reference samples. Interestingly, gifted individuals scored only slightly higher in Openness to Experience, and no consistent differences emerged for Agreeableness. We demonstrate that some known personality differences between gifted and non-gifted persons translate from the FFM to the HEXACO model, while others do not. Our results indicate that within the HEXACO factor structure differences in sociability are more pronounced, while intellect-related differences are comparatively weak. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop