People who are impressed by inspirational quotes have lower IQs, study says

We've all got those Facebook and Instagram friends who repeatedly post inspirational quotes, positive mental attitude memes and motivational links. Yeah, we hate them too.

Well, research has confirmed what a lot of us probably expected. Those who post those wise-sounding-but-meaningless quotes tend to have a lower IQ.

The findings come from a study which asked individuals to evaluate a number of statements. Some of the statements were mundane, like "most people enjoy some kind of music", some were a little deeper such as this from author and public speaker Deepak Chopra: "Nature is a self-regulating ecosystem of awareness", and others were buzzwords generated by a website.

Some people failed to notice the difference between the meaningful quotes and the genuinely profound ones.

Gordon Pennycock, the PhD student leading the research, wrote in the Judgement and Decision Making journal that people were impressed by the sound of the quotes and that their "results support the idea that some people are more receptive to this type of bulls**t".

Those more receptive to bulls**t are less reflective, lower in cognitive ability – numeracy, verbal and fluid intelligence), are more prone to ontological confusions and conspiratorial ideation, are more likely to hold religious and paranormal beliefs, and are more likely to endorse complementary and alternative medicine.

More: Can the music you listen to determine how clever you are?