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That's the word from Morgan State University psychology professor Jacqueline Bichsel, who co-authored a study that found when people reach age 60, those who are disagreeable maintain a higher level of intelligence than their more easy-going friends, reports The Baltimore Sun. "These individuals have a higher vocabulary," she told the paper. "They have a better use of words, a better knowledge of facts." It doesn't end there. All those grouchy senior citizens are in many ways smarter than the young whippersnappers they probably spend a good portion of the day criticizing. And this has turned the world of psychology upside-down. Aren't we supposed to become more addled in our old age? Forgetful and a little goofy? Bichsel says not--provided you're a crab at heart. "People are just intrigued by the fact that disagreeableness can be a good thing, The study: Nearly 240 women and just over 140 men ages 19 to 89, some of whom had only attended a few years of high school and others of whom held graduate degrees, were given two tests. The first was a personality assessment that measured experience, continuousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The second was an intelligence test. The results: The researchers found that personality was a prime factor predicting general intelligence, that is knowing facts and vocabulary--the kind of intelligence that you would use to play "Jeopardy." Interestingly, those who were under 60 did not outperform those who were over 60 in any cognitive measure, but those who were over 60 and had disagreeable personalities had higher intelligence scores than the younger group. The study findings were presented at the American Psychological Association meeting in New Orleans. --From the Editors at Netscape | |||||||||||||
People who are grouchy, grumpy, feisty and difficult to get along with in their youth and middle age are getting the last laugh. It turns out that people who have this personality type are the most intelligent senior citizens.
