12 Odd Habits That Usually Indicate A Person Has A High IQ
You may think people who do these things are weird, but they're probably smarter than the average bear.
Andrii Nekrasov | Shutterstock You probably know someone, maybe even yourself, with a list of quirks that runs about a mile long. What you may not know is that there are several odd habits that usually indicate a person has a high IQ.
From the time they typically go to sleep to the way they process information, people who are highly intelligent tend to behave differently than most other people.
For one, they probably don't listen to Sabrina Carpenter or clean compulsively all day. They may even be lazy and are not likely to be as on top of their assignments as most people are lead to believe they would be.
No, a highly intelligent person's behavior tends to be a lot more unexpected than that.
Here are 12 odd habits that usually indicate a person has a high IQ
1. They like to learn lots of different skills
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One odd habit that usually indicates a person has a high IQ is learning lots of different skills.
They feel a need to be constantly challenging themselves to keep their big brains stimulated.
Samuel Kohlenberg, LPC, notes that while it's often assumed that people with a high IQ have it easy, this isn't actually the case.
They often struggle with boredom due to their keen ability to pick up on things easily.
This is why many high-IQ individuals are constantly learning lots of different and unusual sets of skills, such as music, new languages, or other challenging tasks that are typically right up their alley.
2. They talk to themselves
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Talking to yourself has long been associated with mental instability. This stigmatization has carried on throughout the years, leaving many people feeling hesitant to admit that they talk to themselves from time to time.
Yet highly intelligent people often can't help but talk to themselves sometimes. It's in their nature.
A study conducted by psychologists Gary Lupyan and Daniel Swigley found that speaking to yourself out loud stimulates memory, helps you stay focused, and helps you. clarify your thoughts.
So don't be too shocked when someone with a high IQ begins talking to themselves out loud. They're using their brain to process information and retain knowledge, which is something everyone could benefit from doing.
3. They're pretty messy
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Another odd habit that usually indicates a person has a high IQ is being messy.
Highly intelligent people have a lot going on inside their heads. Due to this, they don't always have time to clean up their desk or organize their room.
Research has found that being messy might not be such a bad thing. A study conducted by a team at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management found that people who are disorderly tend to be more creative.
4. They're always zoning out
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People who have an odd habit of zoning out don't always do it for no reason. Zoning out usually indicates a person has a high IQ.
According to Eric Schumacher, a Georgia Tech associate psychology professor who co-authored research on the topic, "People with efficient brains may have too much brain capacity to stop their minds from wandering."
Yet, that's not all zoning out is good for.
Professor of psychology Anna-Lisa Cohen, Ph.D. notes that daydreaming is a great way to "become a more flexible, open, and creative thinker."
So to the people who daydream or zone out often: don't feel too bad. Remember that it can even be beneficial!
5. They're night-owls
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The odd habit of staying up late often indicates a person has a high IQ.
People with high IQs have a lot to process and therefore don't get as much sleep.
Research recently published in BMJ Public Health found that people who are night owls typically have higher cognitive skills than people who are early birds.
The study's lead author Dr Raha West said: “Our study found that adults who are naturally more active in the evening (what we called 'eveningness') tended to perform better on cognitive tests than those who are 'morning people'."
6. They get swept up in creative projects
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An odd habit that usually indicates a person has a high IQ is getting swept away with creative projects.
High IQ people have a tough time staying still and like to engage in things that stimulate their minds. This is why intelligent individuals may love to paint or lean into their creative side.
That said, studies show that while people who are of higher intelligence rate more highly for creative potential, they do not necessarily rate more highly for creative intelligence.
7. They swear a lot
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People who can't stop swearing might just have a higher than average IQ. Though an odd (albeit terrible) habit, people with a high IQ often that swearing allows them to express themselves more fully of creativity.
Swear words can be used in many different contexts, and the same swear words can be used to express different things based on the tone or sentence. For a highly intelligent person who likes to give their mind a work out, this can be a fun activity to engage in from time to time.
Speaking to the results of a 2015 study conducted by Kristin L. Jay and Timothy B. Jay, Dr. Grace Tworek says, “They noticed a trend. The more curse words that you can generate, the more regular words you’re generating as well. So it’s likely that you have a larger vocabulary on both ends.”
8. They ask too many questions
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A person who has a high IQ isn't trying to be annoying by asking too many questions. Though an odd habit, asking tons of questions is just another part of being highly intelligent.
A person who has a high IQ has a deeply engrained desire to know everything. They're highly curious individuals and there's not a lot that challenge them. So when they find something that does challenge them they want to know everything about it until they're satisfied and well-informed.
Is this an odd habit that usually grows frustrating and annoying? Sure. However, the art of asking questions is great for those who want to not just retain knowledge, but understand it as well.
9. They doodle a lot
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A person who has a high IQ likely picked up on the odd habit of doodling. Whether they're in a boring meeting or a classroom, a person they can't resist drawing scribbles in their notebook.
Though it may seem insignificant, distracting, or straight-up disrespectful, intelligent people find that scribbling is great tool for processing and retaining information. It's important to understand that doodling helps ground a highly intelligent person's mind.
Yet, the impact of scribbling doesn't only benefit the highly intelligent.
One study of 40 people who were asked to listen to a dull message for two and a half minutes found that people who doodled recalled 29% more information than those who didn't.
So in the case of doodling, taking a leaf out of their playbook might not be such a bad thing.
10. They are risk-takers
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Taking risks and having a high IQ go together like peanut butter and jelly.
A 2015 study conducted in Finland found that high-risk-takers had more white matter in their brains. White matter, they explain, is "the neural network... that transmits signals in the form of nerve impulses and is crucial to the regulation of internal communication between the different areas of the brain. This network is designed to analyse and transmit information in a consistent and efficient way."
This can explain why a person who has a high IQ likes to take risks: their combined love of learning and the thrill of the unknown.
11. They wait until the last minute to get things done
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The worst part about being a highly intelligent person is the kind of procrastination that so often comes along with it.
Yes, another odd habit that usually indicates someone has a high IQ is their inability to get their work done in a timely manner.
One 2016 study found that students who procrastinate tend to score higher on IQ tests, showing them to have better cognitive abilities.
12. They can't stop listening to instrumental music
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Perhaps the strangest odd habit that indicates a person has a high IQ is their love for instrumental music.
Intelligent people have a love for instrumental jams because of the diversity found within the music. Specifically, the results of a study published in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences found that highly intelligent people enjoy analyzing and admiring instrumental music.
Their theory was tested on 467 Croatian high school students, out of whom those with higher IQ scores also had a greater love for instrumental music like jazz.
Marielisa Reyes is a writer with a bachelor's degree in psychology who covers self-help, relationships, career, family, and astrology topics.