Can you guess someone's IQ by looking at them?
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014 11:24 AM

Whenever you meet someone new, you analyze them either consciously or subconsciously. Do they appear to be honest, kind or smart? Sometimes it's difficult to tell what type of person a new acquaintance is by appearance alone, but you may be able to discern how intelligent they are. A study published in the journal PLOS One found that people can accurately perceive intelligence based on looks. However, people only have the ability to do so when looking at boys - guesses were inaccurate when assessing girls.

Facial assessment
Researchers asked volunteers to view photographs of 40 men and 40 women, then guess their intelligence based on the pictures alone. Each photographed person took an IQ test before the evaluations so researchers could compare perceived intelligence to actual intelligence. The results showed that people could accurately guess the IQ of boys from the photographs but not the IQ of girls.

Researchers also had participants perceive attractiveness. More people analyzed women's pictures based on beauty rather than intelligence, which may be why they have a hard time figuring out where a girl's IQ stands. However, attractiveness and intelligence were not related, according to the study. 

IQ versus looks
Researchers had a hard time pinning down what clued people in to the IQ results for men. They did notice that men with a more round chin, eyes set close together, a short nose and down-turned corners of the mouth were seen as less intelligent. Some of these features develop as kids age, as young children tend to have rounder faces. Researchers did not want to link facial shape to intelligence.