The savannah happiness theory is the result of the findings of scientific research published in the British Journal of Psychology and, although not yet sufficiently trained, represents an interesting approach based on empirical evidence.
It all started when a group of researchers conducted a large-scale happiness survey, they wanted to know if it was related to the environment in which people lived, basically they wanted to compare the level of happiness experienced by people living in rural areas. with those living in urban areas.
- “The great man is the one who.
- In the midst of the crowd.
- Maintains the independence of loneliness with perfect sweetness.
- “Emerson?.
The survey also collected demographic and intellectual data on respondents’ quotient (CI) and interviewed a total of 15,000 adults, aged 18 to 28, resulting in the application of savannah happiness theory, the results of which were published. in the British Journal of Psychology. We will discuss them below.
One of the first conclusions is also one of the most surprising and concerns the relationship between the IQ and the preferred environment, according to the survey, smarter people prefer to live in urban areas, while those with a lower IQ have a particular predilection in the countryside.
This is one of the most important aspects of savannah happiness theory. Researchers wondered why smarter people preferred an urban environment that was obviously much more stressful and hard to bear.
The answer they found is that our brain retains many ancestral footprints, one of them encourages us to look for rural areas because they are easier to tolerate, as our ancestors did in the great savannahs, hence the name of the savannah happiness theory.
However, the brain has evolved and has been able to adapt to high population density environments, although it is more stressful, people with a higher IQ see these conditions better, which do not condition your life and, on the other hand, offer more opportunities for the development of their projects.
In particular, the survey asked questions about the quantity and quality of the social relationships of the interviewees, the data allowed us to find another interesting model, according to them, people with higher IQs are happier with little social interaction. , the opposite is true: the more social interactions they have, the happier they are.
Similarly, the researchers explained that those with a higher IQ use loneliness as a mechanism to better cope with urban stress, one way to reduce the amount of stimuli is to limit their relationships with others, which helps them avoid distress and gives them more time to invest. long-term projects.
On the other hand, those with a lower IQ feel happier when they can interact frequently with others. In fact, it is a factor that reduces your stress and anxiety; in turn, there they invest much of their productive time. Again, this applies to the logic of the savannah ancestor.
Finally, what the savannah happiness theory proposes is that the smartest are more urban and solitary, the lower IQs are more sociable, docile and have a predilection for rural areas, if the former prefer to be alone than uncompanied, the latter find little satisfaction in loneliness.
It can be a little hasty to give full validity to the theory of savannah happiness, because although it is based on a very broad study and definitely gathers new and proven data, it may be necessary to consider it more. built on the basis of a single study, entirely and technically.
Nor does it seem very credible to give the IQ such an important role in behavior. In fact, intelligence assessment itself remains a controversial issue. Similarly, in history we talk about “sociable geniuses” and “lonely geniuses”. Mozart was an example of the first group; Beethoven, second. However, research is interesting and will certainly lay the groundwork for future related developments.