If you tend to laugh at things that other people find morbid or inappropriate, you’re not alone. Plenty of people have a dark sense of humor, and while not everyone will understand it, you should feel vindicated. After all, a new study has said you probably have a higher IQ than everyone too.
- You can’t argue with science. Research published in Cognitive Processing found that people who find dark jokes or subject matter hilarious tend to have higher marks of intelligence too. Hey, if science says it’s true, who are we to argue?
- How did they discover this? The study called on 133 participants, all of whom had an average age of 33. Of the participants, 76 were women. Everyone was shown 12 extremely dark and humorous cartoons drawn by German cartoonist Uli Stein, after which 14 researchers spent time analyzing each participant’s understanding and reaction to the cartoons. Their verbal and non-verbal IQ levels were also tested and the participants also self-certified their own levels of aggression as well as revealing their levels of education. Then, the researchers divided everyone into three distinct groups.
- The people who enjoyed dark humor the most also had the highest IQ. Those who loved Stein’s work and both understood and appreciated it the most also scored highest in both verbal and non-verbal IQ levels. Those same group members also tended to have higher education levels and be less moody and aggressive.
- Those who had a higher than average appreciation also had average IQ levels. They also tended to be a bit moodier and aggressive than those with the darkest sense of humor, so while not terrible, it’s also not as good as the first group. The final group were average in every possible way, from their love of dark humor to their intelligence levels and mood.
- Bottom line? The more you love gallows humor, the smarter you are. Feel vindicated now?
