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People With A Dark Sense Of Humor Have A Higher IQ, Study Says

Updated September 8, 2021

Before we begin, here's a quick joke. Stop me if you've heard this one before.

So a guy is walking with a young boy into the woods. The boy says, “Hey mister, it's getting dark out and I’m scared." The man replies, "How do you think I feel? I have to walk back alone."

If you even remotely enjoyed that joke, I think it's safe to say you have a pretty dark sense of humor. And, as one study would suggest, that would mean you probably also have a higher IQ than the average person. So that's something.

A team of researchers, led by Ulrike Willinger at the Medical University of Vienna, conducted the study.

Their results, which were published in the journal Cognitive Processing, found that an appreciation for black humor could be an indicator of intelligence. Specifically, higher intelligence.

So the next time someone gets on your case for laughing at a joke they insist is definitely not funny, you can politely inform them of your above-average IQ and proceed with laughing over some (admittedly sick) quip.

A total of 156 people participated in the study with an average age of 33.4, including 76 women.

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The group was presented with 12 darkly humorous cartoons, courtesy of German cartoonist Uli Stein's collection, The Black Book.

It should be noted that, because the study group was so small, more studies will need to be done to corroborate their findings.

If you want an example of the type of comics they were given, here's just a little taste of Stein's work.

Uli Stein

Another comic shows a woman and a physician in a morgue where the latter has lifted a sheet to show her the dead body underneath.

Translated to English, the woman confirms, "Sure, that’s my husband – anyway, which washing powder did you use to get that so white?”

After participants were shown the dark comics, the team of 14 researchers rated each individual person's comprehension and enjoyment.

The participants were also tested for verbal and non-verbal IQ, and were asked about their mood, aggression, and how much education they had.

At the end of the study, researchers had divided the participants into three groups.

In the first group were all those with the highest appreciation for the comics' sick humor.

They were also the ones who were shown to have the highest comprehension, as well as the highest verbal and non-verbal IQ. In fact, these individuals were better-educated and were proven to be less aggressive and less prone to bad moods.

The second group showed somewhat-comprehension of the comics but enjoyed them less.

These people had average intelligence scores but tested the highest for aggression and negative mood levels.

In the third group, people typically fell somewhere in the middle. That is, they understood the black humor, liked it just OK, and were only somewhat aggressive and somewhat prone to bad moods. They had average scores of intelligence.

So what can we take away from all of this?

"The most surprising result," the researchers reported, "is that subjects who show the highest values with respect to black humour preference and comprehension show high values with respect to intelligence, have higher education levels and show lowest values regarding mood disturbance and aggression."

Basically, people with the darkest humor are also some of the smartest. Who knew?

Interestingly, despite most examples of dark humor referencing violence and aggression, these people weren't shown to be especially aggressive.

In fact, they scored the lowest for aggression and negative moods. So not only were they the smartest of the bunch, they were also the chillest, too.

So, in conclusion, if you like sick jokes, it's probably because you're really smart. Science said so.

h/t: Cognitive Processing

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