At home, are you more of a “comfort team” (with big socks and sweatshirt) or the type to throw everything away once you get home, very comfortable with your nudity? The answer, according to a study carried out in the United States, could well teach you a little more about yourself. (Or change your outlook on this neighbor who is a little too natural for your taste).
When nudity meets psychology
Researchers at the University of Rochester analyzed data from more than 700 Americans collected in the 1990s. These participants responded to questionnaires on their daily behaviors and personality traits. By cross-referencing the information, the scientists observed that those who reported lounging at home without clothes more than 15 times a year also displayed signs of higher intelligence.
Please note, no IQ test in this survey. Instead, researchers have assessed intelligence through traits such as intellectual curiosity, creativity and openness to new experiences.
Non-conformity would go hand in hand with a free spirit
Why this correlation? According to the Rochester team, intellect is often linked to non-conformity. In other words, the most intelligent people would feel less constrained by social norms. Walking naked at home would therefore not be a simple whim, but a way – conscious or not – of defying decency and asserting a certain freedom of spirit.
But other behaviors also evoked this little superiority. Among the behaviors also associated with high intelligence were other data: playing an instrument, producing artistic works, speaking several languages… but also, more surprisingly, swearing in front of other people, smoking cannabis or practicing sports shooting (let’s not forget that the study is carried out in the United States), an activity considered mentally and emotionally demanding.
Small clarification: the data came only from (naked) residents of Oregon, which limits the universal scope of the study. The researchers would like to replicate the experiment in other cultural contexts to check if the trend is confirmed elsewhere.
Living naked, the key to happiness?
This is not the first time that nudity has been studied as a positive fact. According to another study, Eve’s outfit is simply linked… to happiness. A team from the University of London studied 850 Britons and found that naturist enthusiasts had better body image and greater life satisfaction.
At nudist events, researchers have even observed immediate improvements in self-esteem and mood after participants got naked. Results which seem to confirm what naturists have been repeating for a long time: nudity, far from being a taboo, could be a key to psychological well-being. At least a way of getting rid of the superfluous, concretely speaking.
Knowing that half of French people tend to walk around their homes naked, should we conclude that many of us are happy and smart?