1. Creativity
Clinical neuropsychologist Dr. Cathy Davis told Business Insider about this sign of a truly intelligent person. To be creative, a person must have flexible outside-the-box thinking. And also be able to switch between its modes: concentrated and scattered. Ideas come in the background: when a person concentrates on a task for a while, and then gets distracted and stops thinking about it.
2. Sloppiness
The scientists asked two groups of people to come up with creative ideas for making ping-pong balls. One group worked in "chaos", and the other - in perfect purity. The sluts group came up with more creative and interesting ideas.
3. Curiosity
The University of London conducted a study on how and where people spend their time. The results were compared with the IQ of the participants. It turned out that people with higher test scores invest many hours in learning.

Another study found that children and adults who scored high on an IQ test were more curious and open to new ideas. And a Georgia Tech psychological study found that curious people are better able to understand ambiguous expressions that require a complex way of thinking.

4. Self-talk
A study by psychologists at Bangor University found that talking out loud improves self-control. And this is one of the signs of a smart person.

The scientists gave the participants tasks and written instructions. Some were asked to read them aloud, while others were asked to read them silently. At the same time, their concentration and productivity were measured. Read-aloud scores were much higher.
5. Self-control
Psychologists at Yale University have identified a link between self-control and intelligence. Scientists gave the task to take an IQ test and offered money: a smaller amount if taken immediately, and a larger amount if later.

It turned out that people with higher test results agreed to wait. Psychologists have come to the conclusion that really smart people can weigh options and resist impulsive decisions.

6. Coping with loneliness
According to a study published in The British Psychological Society, if a person enjoys being alone, then this is a sign of intelligence. People use this time to think, prioritize and plan. All this enhances self-control.

7. Willingness to hear other people
According to a Yale University study, smart people are open to different points of view. Before forming their attitude to something, they listen to the opinions of different people.

When an opinion is formed, it is difficult to manipulate smart people.

8. Sense of humor
This feature was revealed by a study by psychologists from the University of New Mexico. It turns out that professional comedians and screenwriters of funny cartoons have higher verbal intelligence. He is assessed on the performance of one or more tests that examine speech comprehension, the ability to define concepts and reason logically.

9. Doubt your mental abilities
We can say that this pattern was brought out by Shakespeare when he wrote the famous phrase in the play As You Like It:

"A fool thinks he is smart, but a smart person knows he is stupid."
In the late 1990s, this phenomenon was called the Dunning-Kruger effect. Its essence is that less competent people constantly overestimate their mental abilities. And smart people are much more aware of their “weak points” and surround themselves with specialists who compensate for them.

10. Teaching music
Several studies testify to this.

In 2011, researchers found that four- and six-year-olds performed better on a verbal test after a month of music lessons.
In 2004, Glennon Schellenberg conducted a study among six-year-old children. Some played the piano and took vocal lessons, others attended a theater studio or did not study at all. Nine months later, the children took IQ tests. Musicians received higher scores.
In practice, this means that teaching music can exacerbate differences in the mental abilities of children.

11. Skinny physique
Surprisingly, scientists conducted about 2,200 adult intelligence tests over the course of five years. It turned out that the larger the waist, the lower the mental abilities.

In 2006, another study was published that showed a link between weight and intelligence. It lasted 30 years. Children at the age of 11 were measured by IQ and body mass index. Then similar measurements were carried out at 16, 23, 33 and 42 years. It turned out that by the age of 40, people with lower scores were more likely to be obese.

The authors of the study believe that smarter children could be more likely to get a good education, better paying jobs and take better care of their health.