11 Personality Types Highly Intelligent People Refuse To Deal With
Not everyone is going to get along, and that's okay.
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A | Shutterstock.com Highly intelligent people often have a variety of characteristics and habits that set them apart from the typical person — from asking more questions to living in messier spaces and even indulging in more alone time. While their routines might be unique and their social skills different from those of the typical person, they tend to be more self-aware, intuitive, and creative than their counterparts — and to protect their peace, there are some personality types highly intelligent people refuse to deal with.
Whether it’s due to their ignorance or emotional manipulation, the self-awareness and intuition highly intelligent people possess generally guides them to steer clear of people who put their general well-being at risk.
Here are 11 personality types highly intelligent people refuse to deal with
1. Blame-shifters and guilt-trippers
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Many people who rely on blame-shifting or guilting others to get what they want are actively avoiding accountability and trying to burden others with the discomfort they don’t know how to cope from, according to psychologist Lynn Margolies.
For highly intelligent people who often succeed at and pride themselves on having hard conversations and asking difficult questions, being around someone constantly trying to dodge discomfort can be frustrating.
Not only will they often struggle to find common ground, with an intelligent person refusing to take on the emotional burdens of a blame-shifter and them not being able to find comfort in embracing accountability, they may feel resentful towards each other over time.
2. People without self-awareness
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Considering confidence, creativity, and self-awareness all play into each other, highly intelligent people often excel at knowing themselves and their needs, as well as how they are perceived in other people’s eyes. They understand when a conversation takes a shift or someone feels left out, to the same degree that they understand what emotions they’re feeling or what thought they want to share.
This kind of awareness not only gives them the confidence to engage in productive and creative conversations, it ensures they find peace in expressing their emotions, actively listening to others, and building stronger, healthier, and more engaging relationships.
3. Ignorant or close-minded people
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According to a study published in the Personality and Individual Differences journal, there’s a link between dichotomous thinking — a stagnant view of the world with little curiosity, ambition for learning, or creativity — and low intelligence and cognitive skills. While highly intelligent people are open to conversations around differing opinions and new perspectives, their ignorant counterparts may struggle to find comfort or common ground in the same conversations.
While they may still have relationships with close-minded people, they’re less likely to continue investing time and energy into conversations with them — knowing they’ll end up speaking without true engagement or curiosity on the other end.
4. People who lead blindly by status quo and societal expectations
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Many people make connections based on shared experiences and things they both relate to. When a highly intelligent person, who’s more likely to question their surroundings and creatively reimagine rigid expectations, meets someone whose entire identity is crafted within the context of societal stereotypes or the status quo, they don’t relate on a fundamental level.
Even an intelligent person’s small subtle habits, like asking questions or bringing up differing opinions in the name of open conversation, can be disillusioning or offensive for someone who holds a lot of value in those regulations and rules.
While this trait of the personality types highly intelligent people refuse to deal with may take many forms, from seeking validation to people-pleasing, it ultimately comes down to differing values and an inability to openly communicate through them.
5. Narcissistic people with big egos
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Hypnotherapist Nancie Barwick argues that narcissistic people generally struggle to cultivate truly healthy relationships and social connections, driven by a desire for power, superiority, and external validation. With such a heightened desire to get their way, without considering other people’s well-being, they often engage in behaviors like blame-shifting or condescension to burden other people with doubt.
Narcissism is one of the personality types intelligent people refuse to deal with. Not only do they have the self-awareness to pick out the insecurities of a narcissistic person, they can acknowledge how failing to set boundaries and advocating for themselves in relationships with a narcissist can genuinely impact their health and well-being.
Rather than make excuses for their behavior or remain committed to sticking up for themselves in the face of this toxic behavior, intelligent people prefer to keep their distance from egotistical and narcissistic people.
6. Inconsistent people
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Inconsistency is more commonly characterized as a trait in a person who cares more about themselves than keeping promises and commitments to others.
Whether it’s anxiety, insecurity, or pure ego that keeps them from fulfilling their commitments — the same ones that contribute to the health of their relationships — their inconsistency is rooted in the personality types highly intelligent people refuse to deal with.
Despite being more likely to trust people, according to a study from the University of Oxford, highly intelligent people are more cognizant about who they spend their time with — especially if someone’s inconsistency is consistently harming their own relationships or wellbeing.
7. Gossipy people
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As a study from The Academy of Management Review suggests, gossip and rumor-spreading actively work to erode the trust that intelligent people are consistent about maintaining in their close relationships.
As self-aware and generally observant people, many highly intelligent people refuse to deal with this kind of drama in their lives, instead preferring to spend time and invest energy into productive and empowering relationships.
8. Codependent people
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Of course, codependent partners aren’t only incapable of maintaining healthy relationship dynamics, they also tend to adopt unhealthy habits and toxic behaviors like blame-shifting, as a 2009 paper titled “The Impact of Codependency on Relationships” explains, to cope with the discomfort associated with separation or disconnection.
For highly intelligent people who are highly observant of toxic behaviors and self-aware enough to recognize when another person’s habits are harming them, ensuring they refuse to deal with codependency is an important part of their relationship building.
9. Nonambitious people
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Considering many intelligent people tend to find success in traditional institutions like the workplace, able to read others and intuitively solve problems, they also learn to adopt high expectations for success earlier in life.
Not only do they feel obligated to challenge themselves and succeed, they’re often motivated and excited by learning opportunities, new things, and creative outlets — especially in conversations or collaborative environments. However, people who don’t share the same curiosity or ambition as intelligent people may find it difficult to connect and empathize with them — unable to recognize their own weaknesses or stagnancy in the face of challenges.
As the Harvard Business Review suggests, this perfectionism and ambition isn’t always beneficial for intelligent people, but at the very least, it’s a motivating factor in their identity and often a spark behind the curiosity that connects them with new interests, people, and perspectives.
10. Overly judgmental people
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Considering many highly intelligent people often form unique perspectives, seek out stereotypically uncomfortable conversations, and even struggle with stigmatized mental health problems more than their counterparts, as a study from the Intelligence journal suggests, it’s essential that they have open-minded and empathetic people in their inner circle.
When faced with judgment rather than healthy criticism or challenge in their relationships, highly intelligent people struggle to feel empowered. While judgmental people may be operating from an innately insecure place when judging others, they don’t often find a safe place to land with highly intelligent people. In fact, they may actively refuse to deal with them to look out for their own wellbeing.
11. Simple-minded people
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According to the Davidson Institute, many highly intelligent people have a tendency to over-philosophize basic conversations and seek out complex conversations that encourage everyone to feel challenged. Their curiosity and creativity broadens their perspectives and often contributes to more deep conversations than mindless small talk.
Rather than invest energy and time into teaching and encouraging simple-minded people to challenge themselves intellectually in a conversation with them, these highly intelligent people instead seek out like-minded people that they can feel challenged with.
They chase discomfort and challenge, while simple-minded people actively work to avoid it.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.