Sapiosexuals
Named sexual orientation, suitable only for 10% of the "chosen"
Julia Kufman, Copper News based on PsyPost: Study of sapiosexuality suggests some people are really sexually attracted to intelligence
Scientists from the University of Western Australia in their recent study came to an unexpected conclusion: almost one in ten people on Earth is "sapiosexual" – that is, they consider intelligence to be the most attractive sexual feature of a partner. The study showed that men are sapiosexuals as often as women, and an IQ of about 120 was recognized as the most attractive level of intelligence.
(Article by Gignac et al. Some people are attracted sexually to intelligence: A psychometric evaluation of sapiosexuality published in the latest issue of the journal Intelligence – VM.)
Sapiosexuals are people who are sexually attracted to intelligence much more than any other quality of a partner. Moreover, for sapiosexuals, a high level of intelligence is not just a desirable trait for a partner, but causes sexual arousal. While 9 out of 10 will prefer a partner with a thin waist, big breasts or pumped-up muscles, sapiosexuals are excited not from the partner's external data, but from his mental qualities.
The researchers studied the romantic and sexual preferences of 383 people aged 18 to 35 years. The participants in the experiment were asked to rate on a scale of one to five the level of sexual arousal they experience from certain qualities of a partner. It turned out that in the first places of the sexual qualities of the partner – kindness and understanding, the ability to arouse interest, as well as a balanced calm character. While most people showed no significant sexual interest in intelligence, a small group of people participating in the experiment reacted to this trait.
A high level of intelligence aroused no more than 8% of the participants in the experiment, and the most desired IQ level was 120. As the IQ level of a potential partner increased (from 121 to 135), his attractiveness decreased – such an intellectual coefficient seemed to the participants of the experiment too high to cause sexual attraction.
Interestingly, the high level of intelligence of the person himself (tested using standard IQ tests) does not mean that he will be a sapiosexual. At least during the experiment, subjects with normal and high IQ had equal chances to identify traits of "sapiosexuality".
The average for the world's population is considered to have an IQ of about 100, and an IQ of 120 is a level significantly higher than average. Only 2% of the population has an IQ of about 140, and such people belong to a closed community of people with a high level of intelligence – Mensa.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Gilles Gignac from the School of Psychological Sciences of the University of Western Australia (School of Psychological Science), believes that sapiosexuality is a genuine sexual orientation that exists in a small group of the population – no more than 10% of the population.
Scientists have found that high intelligence makes a partner sexually attractive due to a certain evolutionary mechanism that promotes survival. The sapiosexual subconsciously believes that it is easier for smart people to feed a partner and offspring (in modern society, to succeed, to find a high–paying job), in addition, intelligence means higher competence in all spheres of life.
The concept of sapiosexuality is becoming more widely known thanks to the media. Currently, there is even a special dating app called Sapio, which is designed to help sapiosexuals meet each other.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru