I'm Not Lazy, I'm Thinking!

Laziness is a sign of intelligence. People who spend more time thinking are less physically active, researchers have claimed.

16:51 16 August 2016

A new study, which monitored the movement and activity levels of 30 “thinkers” and 30 “non-thinkers”, found that intelligent people live a more sedentary lifestyle, as they rarely become bored and spend more time lost in their own thoughts. It also found that physically active individuals need to move more to stimulate their minds to escape their own thoughts.

 

Researchers from the Florida Gulf Coast University explained that 'the relationship between cognition and physical activity is an important question for the human experience, and the interaction likely extends across the lifespan.'

 

'Thus, high-NFC (need for cognition) individuals seem more content to 'entertain themselves' mentally, whereas low-NFC individuals quickly experience boredom and experience it more negatively.’

 

The team used a ‘Need for Cognition’ questionnaire to rate people with how strongly they agree or disagree with statements such as “'I really enjoy a task that involves coming up with new solutions to problems' and ' I only think as hard as I have to'.”

 

The team then selected 60 undergraduate students from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina – 30 were deemed “thinkers” while the other half “non-thinkers.” The participants were made to wear an ‘actigraphy device’ for seven days so their movement and activity levels can be analysed.

 

After analysing the data, the team found that ‘thinkers’ were much less active than the ‘non-thinkers’. However, the weekends proved to be the same for each group, as 'activity levels for high- and low-NFC individuals did not differ significantly'.

 

'It is important to note that part of the 'weekend effect' in our study may be due to our sample population, which consisted of college students,' explains researchers.

 

'Although college students are a standard participant pool in the vast majority of experimental psychology studies, their behavior and habits may be more indicative of young adult behavior than adult behavior in general.'