W

e all probably know
someone who is intel-
ligent, but does sur-
prisingly stupid things.
My family delights in
pointing out times when I (a professor)
make really dumb mistakes. What does it
mean to be smart or intelligent? Our every-
day use of the term is meant to describe
someone who is knowledgeable and makes
wise decisions, but this definition is at odds
with how intelligence is traditionally mea-
sured. The most widely known measure of
intelligence is the intelligence quotient,
more commonly known as the IQ test,
which includes visuospatial puzzles, math
problems, pattern recognition, vocabulary
questions, and visual searches.
The advantages of being intelligent are
undeniable. Intelligent people are more
likely to get better grades and go farther in
school. They are more likely to be success-
ful at work. And they are less likely to get

into trouble (e.g., commit crimes) as ado-

lescents. Given all the advantages of intel-

ligence, though, you may be surprised to

learn that it does not predict other life out-

comes, such as well-being. You might imag-

ine that doing well in school or at work

might lead to greater life satisfaction, but

several large-scale studies have failed to

find evidence that IQ impacts life satisfac-

tion or longevity. University of Waterloo

psychologist Igor Grossmann and his col-

leagues argue that most intelligence tests

fail to capture real-world decision-making

and our ability to interact well with others.

This is, in other words, perhaps why “smart”

people, do “dumb” things.

The ability to think critically, on the oth-

er hand, has been associated with wellness

and longevity. Though often confused with

intelligence, critical thinking is not intelli-

gence. Critical thinking is a collection of

cognitive skills that allow us to think ratio-

nally in a goal-orientated fashion, and a

disposition to use those skills when appro-

priate. Critical thinkers are amiable skep-

tics. They are flexible thinkers who require

evidence to support their beliefs and rec-

ognize fallacious attempts to persuade

them. Critical thinking means overcoming

all sorts of cognitive biases (e.g., hindsight

bias, confirmation bias).

Critical thinking predicts a wide range

of life events. In a series of studies, con-

ducted in the U.S. and abroad, my col-

leagues and I have found that critical

thinkers experience fewer bad things in

life. We asked people to complete an in-

ventory of life events and take a critical

thinking assessment (the Halpern Critical

Thinking Assessment). The critical think-

ing assessment measures five components

of critical thinking skills including verbal

reasoning, argument analysis, hypothesis

testing, probability and uncertainty, deci-

sion-making, and problem-solving. The

inventory of negative life events captures

different domains of life such as academic

(e.g., I forgot about an exam), health (e.g.,

I contracted a sexually transmitted infec-

tion because I did not wear a condom), le-

gal (e.g., I was arrested for driving under

the influence), interpersonal (e.g., I cheat-

ed on my romantic partner who I had been

with for over a year), financial (e.g., I have

over $5,000 of credit card debt), etc. Re-

peatedly, we found that critical thinkers

experience fewer negative life events. This

is an important finding because there is

Heather A. Butler is an assistant professor in the psychology
department at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She
has a number of research interests, including critical thinking,
advanced learning technologies, and using psychological sci-
ence to prevent wrongful convictions.