| Title |
Bullshit Ability as an Honest Signal of Intelligence
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Evolutionary Psychology, May 2021
|
| DOI | 10.1177/14747049211000317 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Martin Harry Turpin, Mane Kara-Yakoubian, Alexander C. Walker, Heather E. K. Walker, Jonathan A. Fugelsang, Jennifer A. Stolz |
| Abstract |
Navigating social systems efficiently is critical to our species. Humans appear endowed with a cognitive system that has formed to meet the unique challenges that emerge for highly social species. Bullshitting, communication characterised by an intent to be convincing or impressive without concern for truth, is ubiquitous within human societies. Across two studies (N = 1,017), we assess participants' ability to produce satisfying and seemingly accurate bullshit as an honest signal of their intelligence. We find that bullshit ability is associated with an individual's intelligence and individuals capable of producing more satisfying bullshit are judged by second-hand observers to be more intelligent. We interpret these results as adding evidence for intelligence being geared towards the navigation of social systems. The ability to produce satisfying bullshit may serve to assist individuals in negotiating their social world, both as an energetically efficient strategy for impressing others and as an honest signal of intelligence. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 823 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 116 | 14% |
| United Kingdom | 40 | 5% |
| Japan | 33 | 4% |
| Spain | 18 | 2% |
| Indonesia | 17 | 2% |
| Germany | 13 | 2% |
| Australia | 11 | 1% |
| Canada | 11 | 1% |
| India | 10 | 1% |
| Other | 118 | 14% |
| Unknown | 436 | 53% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 693 | 84% |
| Scientists | 109 | 13% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 13 | 2% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 8 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 52 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 52 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 10 | 19% |
| Student > Bachelor | 8 | 15% |
| Other | 4 | 8% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 4 | 8% |
| Lecturer | 3 | 6% |
| Other | 7 | 13% |
| Unknown | 16 | 31% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 10 | 19% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 5 | 10% |
| Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 3 | 6% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 2 | 4% |
| Linguistics | 2 | 4% |
| Other | 12 | 23% |
| Unknown | 18 | 35% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 797. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 March 2024.
All research outputs
#24,672
of 26,036,664 outputs
Outputs from Evolutionary Psychology
#2
of 689 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#930
of 459,623 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Evolutionary Psychology
#1
of 7 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,036,664 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 689 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 36.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 7 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them