Their secret often lies in what they value most.
Behind IQ scores and exam results, a quieter force is at work: the principles that steer daily decisions. Recent psychological research suggests that three specific life values tend to show up more often among people with higher general intelligence.
How values quietly shape a sharper mind
Psychologists describe “core values” as the inner rules that guide what we see as right, meaningful or worth fighting for. They influence how we treat others, where we put our energy, and even which news we trust.
In a large study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers Jeromy Anglim and Andrew Marty examined how intelligence, personality and personal values overlap. More than 15,000 adults, aged 18 to 66, took part.
Participants completed detailed questionnaires on what they valued in life, answered personality items, and sat for recognised tests of intelligence. Those tests measured both:
- Crystallised intelligence – what you know and can do, based on skills, education and experience.
- Fluid intelligence – how well you reason, spot patterns and solve new problems.
One of the striking findings: intelligence wasn’t spread evenly across all value systems. Certain principles were consistently more common among the most cognitively able participants.
People with higher general intelligence tended to prioritise autonomy, benevolence and universalism – and to care less about strict conservatism and rigid tradition.
The three core principles smart people tend to live by
1. Autonomy: the freedom to think and choose
Autonomy, in this context, is not selfish independence. It is the value placed on thinking for oneself, making informed choices and resisting blind conformity.
In practice, an autonomy-driven person asks questions, checks facts and does not simply follow the loudest voice in the room. They adjust opinions when evidence changes. They also want others to have the same freedom.
The study found that people with higher general intelligence rated autonomy as more central to their lives. This lines up with what many educators see in classrooms and workplaces: curious minds tend to resist “because that’s how it’s always been done”.
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Autonomy acts as a mental filter: instead of copying the group, intelligent people test ideas against logic, data and their own ethics.
That does not mean they reject all rules. Rather, they want rules that make sense, can be questioned, and can be updated when reality changes.
2. Benevolence: caring about the people close to you
Benevolence is the value of kindness, loyalty and support toward the people in your immediate circle: family, friends, colleagues, neighbours.
In the study, more intelligent participants were more likely to score high on benevolence. On the surface, that might sound surprising: popular clichés often paint smart people as cold or detached. The data suggest something different.
A likely explanation is perspective-taking. Strong reasoning skills help you anticipate how your actions affect others. You spot subtle emotional cues, understand long-term consequences and see that cooperation usually beats short-term self-interest.
- You think about how a harsh email will land on a stressed colleague.
- You weigh the cost of a quick win against damage to trust.
- You notice who gets left out and adjust your behaviour.
These are concrete expressions of benevolence, powered by cognitive skills like forecasting, pattern recognition and self-control.
3. Universalism: caring beyond your own group
Universalism goes a step further than benevolence. Instead of stopping at “my people”, it widens the circle to “people in general”, and even the planet itself.
Those who value universalism tend to care strongly about human rights, fairness, environmental protection and the dignity of strangers. They are more open to cultural differences and more willing to rethink their assumptions about “us” and “them”.
High scorers on general intelligence showed a stronger pull towards universalism – a concern for justice, equality and the welfare of people they may never meet.
Again, this connects to cognitive skills. If you are good at linking causes and effects, you notice how distant events and policies shape local lives. You also see through simple narratives that blame entire groups for complex problems.
Where intelligence pulls away from rigid conservatism
The researchers expected that higher intelligence would go hand in hand with less attachment to conservative values like strict tradition, conformity and security at all costs. The data broadly matched that expectation, but with nuance.
Participants who scored higher on general intelligence were indeed less likely to strongly endorse:
- Tradition as an untouchable rulebook.
- Conformity as an absolute good.
- Security as more important than inquiry or change.
Yet the detailed analysis showed that crystallised and fluid intelligence played slightly different roles. The link between values and intelligence was mainly driven by crystallised intelligence – the kind you build over years of learning and experience. Fluid intelligence, the raw mental horsepower used for puzzles and novel tasks, was especially associated with lower attachment to “security” and “tradition”.
| Type of intelligence | Key link to values |
|---|---|
| Crystallised | Stronger autonomy, benevolence, universalism; weaker emphasis on rigid conservatism |
| Fluid | Less attachment to security and unquestioned tradition |
This pattern suggests that the more knowledge and life experience you accumulate, the more you may move towards open, prosocial values. At the same time, raw reasoning ability can make you more sceptical of “we do this because we always have”.
Personality: where openness fits into the picture
The study did not stop at intelligence. Participants also took a personality assessment based on the HEXACO model, which overlaps with the well-known Big Five traits.
Only one personality dimension showed a consistent link to crystallised intelligence: openness to experience. That trait includes curiosity, imagination, a taste for new ideas, interest in art and culture, and comfort with novelty.
People who scored high on both intelligence and openness were more likely to embrace autonomy, benevolence and universalism. In daily life, this combination often looks like someone who reads widely, enjoys debate, listens more than they speak and changes their mind when faced with strong evidence.
Openness acts like fertile soil: intelligence provides the tools, but openness lets new values and perspectives take root.
What this means for your own principles
These findings do not create a hierarchy of “good” and “bad” people. Plenty of highly intelligent individuals hold conservative views on some issues, and plenty of less academically minded people care deeply about others and about fairness.
The research does point to a pattern: when people sharpen their reasoning and continue learning over time, they tend to place more weight on three guiding principles – thinking for themselves, caring for those near them, and caring for the broader human community.
For anyone curious about their own values, a few simple questions can be revealing:
- When was the last time you changed your mind on something important because new information convinced you?
- Do your daily choices match the kindness you say you value, especially towards people you know well?
- How often do you consider the impact of your actions on strangers, future generations or the environment?
Psychologists would describe this kind of self-questioning as a form of “meta-cognition”: thinking about your own thinking. It supports both smarter decisions and more coherent values.
Practical ways to train these “intelligent” values
You do not need to sit formal IQ tests to benefit from the patterns uncovered by the study. Small, regular habits can nudge your life in the same direction:
- For autonomy: before agreeing with a group opinion, pause and list two arguments for and two against. Notice where the evidence actually points.
- For benevolence: pick one relationship each week and ask, “What does this person need that I have been ignoring?” Then act on it.
- For universalism: read or watch something produced by people outside your usual social or political bubble. Focus on understanding, not winning an argument.
These exercises build both cognitive skills and value-based habits. Over time, that combination can shift the way you see yourself and other people, in line with what the research team observed among their most intelligent participants.
There are also trade-offs to recognise. A strong pull towards autonomy can clash with tightly controlled institutions; a deep sense of universalism can produce moral fatigue in the face of constant global crises. Being aware of these tensions helps you set boundaries, choose where to act and where to let go.
The central idea emerging from this work is simple: intelligence is not only about problem-solving speed or memory tests. It is also reflected in the principles people choose to live by – the quiet rules that guide who they protect, who they listen to and how wide they draw their circle of concern.