Why Anxious People Aren’t Geniuses: How Worry Is Really Linked to Intelligence
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03.10.2026 22:54
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2 min read
A comforting theory is gaining traction on social media: a tendency to worry constantly is a sure sign of genius. Users claim that continuously scanning for threats and mapping out worst-case scenarios in detail takes an exceptional intellect. Psychologists and neuroscientists disagree with this romanticized view: moderate anxiety can indeed be useful in everyday life, but its presence says nothing about your IQ.
Worry within reasonable limits serves an important adaptive function. As clinical psychologist Marianna Abravitova explained to AiF, people prone to anxiety often turn out to be more responsible and more empathetic. They pay closer attention to their own safety, prepare more thoroughly for difficult negotiations or trips, plan a backup option in advance, and pick up on changes in other people’s moods faster.
But there is a clear line here: this applies only to mild, everyday wariness. If anxiety makes you spend hours replaying a single awkward conversation, gives you an obsessive urge to check door locks, or keeps you from sleeping, that is not a superpower — it is a reason to see a specialist and ease the strain on your mind.
Contradictory Research Findings
Attempts to link genius to anxiety through science run up against contradictory experimental results. There is no simple rule that the smarter you are, the more you worry.
In 2015, a study published in ScienceDirect involving 126 students did show a correlation between high verbal intelligence and a tendency to ruminate — to obsessively chew over the same thoughts. But the authors did not conclude that anxious people are smarter than others. Once the statistics accounted for confounding factors, the direct link between high intelligence and symptoms of an anxiety disorder disappeared entirely.
Other work reaches the opposite conclusion. A study of 312 children and adolescents found that high verbal intelligence indirectly helps lower anxiety levels. People with well-developed cognitive abilities handle uncertainty more easily, find logical explanations for frightening situations faster, and calm themselves down more effectively.
So justifying your own neuroses with imagined genius is unscientific. Moderate anxiety makes a person more cautious, but on its own it is no substitute for intelligence.
