While some teachers may view that one kid who likes to crack jokes as annoying, immature and probably not the brightest bird, a new study suggests that so-called “class clown” may be smarter than you think.
A study published in “Humor – International Journal of Humor Research” suggests that strong humor skills during adolescence may be indicative of high intelligence.
The study looked at 200 children, who were asked to write captions for 10 different cartoons. Adult “humor experts” then evaluated the captions on funniness and relevancy, and then researchers compared intelligence and humor. They found there was a correlation between general intelligence and being funny. Specifically, children who exhibited both higher general knowledge and higher verbal reasoning, tended to be funnier as well.
But if you are a funny adult the same may not be true. In fact, the research didn’t find a strong connection between humor and adult intelligence.
Source: Study Finds