Smart people may be far happier with their own company than meeting friends.A new study has found that for intelligent people, the more frequently they socialise with friends, the less satisfied they are with life.The findings come from two evolutionary psychologists who challenge the modern view that the more social contact we have the happier we will likely be.
Satoshi Kanazawa of the London School of Economics and Norman Li of Singapore Management University propose that the core social skills developed in our ancient past still hold sway over our happiness today.
They propose that the ‘savannah theory’ is at the root of modern happiness. This theory dictates that the factors which made early humans satisfied are still true with modern life.
Using data from a large long-term study, which surveyed adults from 18 to 28, they applied the theory to explain the findings of self-reported levels of life satisfaction.The pair focused on just two of myriad factors, which they say characterise basic differences between modern life and the way our ancestors lived – population density and how frequently we interact with friends.
I Word Understanding
Evolutionary psychologists – is the science that seeks to explain through universal mechanisms of behavior why humans act the way they do
Social contact – an incidental social interaction between individuals
core social skills – skills we use to communicate and interact with each other, both verbally and non-verbally
Self-reported – any test, measure, or survey that relies on the individual’s own report of their symptoms, behaviors, beliefs or attitudes
Population density – measure of the intensity of land use, expressed as number of people per square kilometer or square mile
II Have your say
1.Why are so many Japanese men left the society?
* Less-interested in relationship and marriage
* Refuse to talk with foreign people
* Japanese people do not want to stand out in the group
* Losing power or desire to do what he wants to do
* Lots of Japanese parents aren’t hugging their children,
he will probably give her a strange look and think that she is crazy
2.Why in Japanese home there are lack of love and affection?
3.Is Hikikumori disease or not?
4.How to deal with hikikomori?
5.Why are so many intelligent people are less happy or unhappy?
* People in densely populated areas reported lower life satisfaction
* Highly intelligent people, seeing friends too often was negative
* Researchers said there may be conflict between aspiring to greater goals
