Why beautiful people are more intelligent
This paper breaks down the theorem “beautiful people are more intelligent” into 4 assumptions. These assumptions are short and sweet and evidence is provided in the actual paper.
- Men who are more intelligent are more likely to attain higher status
- Higher status men are more likely to mate with more beautiful women
- Intelligence is heritable
- Beauty is heritable
Hence, it logically follows that beautiful people are more intelligent.
Note that while the correlation between beauty and intelligence is statistically significant (p < .05), the strength of the relationship is fairly weak (d = .07), compared to for example, beauty and popularity (d = .65).
Kanazawa, S. & Kovar, J. L. (2002). Why beautiful people are more intelligent. Intelligence, 32(3), 227-243. [PDF]