Savanna Happiness Theory: If you live alone in the city, you're probably very intelligent.

Whether we prefer to live in the city or the countryside is one of the crucial questions of our modern times. Ironically, this preference is rooted in our Stone Age brains. They felt more comfortable in the manageable environment of savannas and the like and are anything but optimally equipped for the hustle and bustle of city life.

Based on this, the two psychologists Satoshi Kanazawa and Norman Li developed the so-called savannah happiness theory and examined it in a large study . They compared the environment in which participants felt comfortable—urban or rural, with many or few social contacts—with their intelligence. With interesting results!

Study: How is happiness related to lifestyle and intelligence?

For their study, Li and Kanazawa surveyed 15,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 28. They wanted to find out how happy people are in their respective living environments and how this relates to their IQ.

Among other things, the researchers concluded that intelligent people are more likely to live in cities than in rural areas, while less intelligent people tend to live in rural areas. The psychologists attribute this finding to the savannah happiness theory.

This is about how our brains work. According to Kanazawa and Li, the brains of many people today don't function much differently than they did in the Stone Age – only our way of life has changed dramatically. Intelligent people apparently find it easier to adapt to modern developments – which is why they cope well in hectic urban environments. Their brains have evolved to the point where they can live well even among large numbers of people, with noise and increased stress. People with high IQs often even find life in the city more inspiring and feel that they have more opportunities for self-realization there than in the countryside.

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Less intelligent people, on the other hand, often feel more comfortable in rural areas, according to the study. There, everyday life is significantly more similar to the original human life—for example, in the savannah (hence the name)—than in the big city.

Savanna Happiness Theory: Do intelligent people in the city need more time for themselves?

Another point that the two psychologists examined is the quality and quantity of interpersonal relationships: In other words: How much social interaction with other people do I need to be happy?

Here, too, they came to exciting results: Intelligent people tend to be more satisfied with fewer social interactions and lead more introverted lives. Li and Kanazawa discovered the opposite among the less intelligent participants: They feel lonely more quickly and are happier when they meet more people.

The psychologists were able to establish a connection between the key questions of urban or rural living and high or low social interactions: Smart people who live more in urban areas use their time alone to recover from the hustle and bustle of the city. If they then spent even more time with friends and family, the scientists hypothesized, this would cause additional stress.

The less intelligent people who, according to the study, feel more comfortable in the countryside, use the time with their loved ones to reduce stress - for them, maintaining their social relationships is apparently a means of relaxation.

Introverted city dweller = genius? It's not that simple

The results of this study on the savannah happiness theory are, of course, not universally valid statements—not every city dweller is highly intelligent, and not every loner is a genius, just as there are, of course, people who are both highly sociable and extremely clever. However, the study results do provide fascinating insights into the factors that play a role in the happiness and contentment of different people.

And the next time we don't feel like going to a party, we can simply say: I need some time for myself – I need to nurture my intelligence!

mbl Brigitte

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