The Relationship Between Intelligence, Conscientiousness, and Success

This video describes the relationship between intelligence, conscientious, and success. IQ is positively associated with many positive occurrences like earnings, longevity, career success, and many other items. Conscientiousness is negative correlated with IQ, which was a surprising finding. One theory is that individuals with higher IQ scores do not need to develop conscientiousness, because they can rely on their intelligence to achieve goals.
Conscientiousness is a personality trait in the five-factor model of personality traits, which is also known as “The Big Five” model of personality. In this model, personality comprises five personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The acronym OCEAN is helpful for remembering the personality traits. Openness to experience is characterized by insight, creativity, an appreciation of art, intellectual curiosity, and a high awareness of feelings. Conscientiousness is characterized by impulse control, planning tasks carefully, being highly organized and prudence. Extraversion is characterized by getting energy from social interaction, talkativeness, and having a large number of acquaintances. Agreeableness is characterized by being cooperative, increased level of caring, empathy, friendly, seeking to compromise. Neuroticism is characterized by mood dysregulation, anxiety, worry, depression, frustrating, nervousness, being easily upset, and low emotional stability.

[@godivafromsteamhouse7419]

I found this to be true for myself growing up where I relied a lot on my intelligence and didn't develop any degree of conscientiousness. I found that however to be a handicap later in life when self disciplined could have given me long term success. Conscientiousness is something I have to actively try to develop now and it's been difficult.

[@jennahumphrey1]

Good for you! Yes, conscientiousness can be developed & it's awesome you're pushing yourself.

[@jasonblack4208]

just a theory: I would consider myself medium-high intelligence and medium-low in conscientiousness. the main thing I notice when I'm trying to focus is that there are so many ideas I can dive into and so many potential subjects of interest that I constantly have to combat the seductive pull of just living in my imagination, reading books on history or economics, or watching videos like this one. people with medium to low intelligence don't see to have this tendency, which may mean there are a lot less potential distractions.

[@diedertspijkerboer]

Very recognizable. I only had to learn to be more organized when I did my PhD. Before that, I relied on intelligence and ability to learn quickly to pass exams. I still don't know how I managed it, but apparently it worked.

[@kelly4321]

When explained this way I can see how intelligence and conscientiousness have a negative correlation. It surprised me a bit to learn this but it does make sense why it is this way.

[@Encryptus1]

I have an IQ from 127 to 131 and conscienciousness from 96 to 100, both measured several times. I got that conscienciousness in the last 10/15 years. As I entered the labour market, I realised I could not deliver quality work reliably without creating bullit proof work methods. In fact, I learn a new profession very quickly and then procede to dissect it of it's work methods flaws. The improvement makes me stand out from other people. It has got me fired and gaining enemies to being promoted. I also apply this to myself in learning new skills, like woodworking, mechanics, bodywork, etc.

[@timmyleary9232]

I came here because my actual wife really did cheat on me. I was in despair. no kidding. but what did I find? I stand in awe, dr. grande. you are a man among men

[@ericsondasilva1618]

Excelent video man. Straight to the point, using numbers to explain it and showing both sides of the coin. Exactly what I was looking for

[@rickmorrow993]

My cousin has both high conscientiousness and a high IQ. She was always the top of her class, except in her last year of medical school when she dropped to third in her class. It probably had something to do with raising three kids at the time. My two brothers are both incredibly smart. One was held back in elementary school because he was bullied by his classmates and his teacher. The other always got straight As in school, despite only reading his books one time. I used to read my books three times before classes started and still struggled for my Cs. I learned more in the classes where I got Cs than in my classes where I got my As. I have an incredible visual memory, though. The really quick learners I have known in my life had good garbage collection. They could dispose of unnecessary information very quickly. As a rule, their memories were not as good as mine. My good memory is probably due to my fondness for reading from a young age. I used to daydream a lot as a kid. Daydreaming is good for building an imagination. I am glad that they did not have Ritalin when I was a kid. I am pretty sure they would have insisted I take it. Just say "No" to drugs.

[@virginiamurrey9139]

This was a really great topic to explore, I enjoyed hearing about these topics!

[@MatthewAshworth]

I think a big factor of what makes someone intelligent is to have an open mind, which allows the person the ability to see more things at a deeper level and to be open to more possibilities rather than to create rigid structures that stifle this mentality. I am pretty sure IQ has some correlation with Openness to Experience trait, which should explain it. Of course even conscientious people vastly differ and it's possible to be high on both openness and conscientiousness (I definitely am and I've met some other people who are). I think it's quite interesting how highly open conscientious people differ from non-open conscientious people. The non-open conscientious people seem to like existing structures a lot and they are good at adapting to them and following orders, whereas highly open conscientious people often despise existing structures and prefer to create their own instead which they deem to be more efficient (I am so guilty of that). I noticed that INTJ personality people like myself (from MBTI 16 personalities) tend to often fall in the latter. What I'm really confused about is that despite having a high IQ, high openness, and high conscientiousness, I really struggle to find career success and a place in the world (although I used to get very good grades at school). I've been analyzing this to death and so far my suspicions is that my overly high openness (~90th percentile) makes it almost impossible for me to tolerate monotonous jobs where I can't have some sort of autonomy and creativity, and majority of jobs don't exactly offer that at all, so I'm just stuck being self-employed, but the income from that fluctuates like crazy from one month to the next. If anyone has any advice or insight at all, it'd be greatly appreciated. :)

[@birkit1133]

Matthew Ashworth Sounds like you figured it out.

[@dougruscoe8664]

Thanks for the comment...you have thusly affected my brain-thoughts.

[@MatthewAshworth]

Thank you both. I am glad to hear what I've written is of help. :)

[@thenarcissistsscapegoat5091]

I'll take a guess although its a projection of myself. Your high openness makes you highly agreeable therefore you don't CHARGE ENOUGH for your valuable time. :) Plain and simple. I was shocked to discover guys with half my experience were charging $60 and $80 per hour for what I was happy taking $25. Creative people are the worst negotiators for $$ because we get excited about the job itself. What I will do when I start coding again (if I ever go back to it) is give someone 15% to be my front-person who names the fee, tracks the hours, and collects the money. Work should be priced depending on what the client can pay, not how much we like it. I've also discovered autonomy is more important than creativity because when nobody's looking I tend to make everything creative. Likewise creativity as a trait tends to get sucked out pretty quickly when the boss is over your shoulder. All I wanna do is punch them. :)

[@fredjones554]

High iq, high openness, high conscientiousness are not always all good. You sound gifted, but at the same time these gifts can become burdens. Try the simple approach. Figure out what you might want to do. Find someone who has done it and ask them what it's like. Most people are quite willing to talk for hours about themselves. Ask enough questions and you will find what you want re: hours, pay, working conditions, etc. The drawback: what you want, maybe harder than you think, or are willing go through. Good luck in your journey.

[@ushalincoln9224]

This video was very interesting and help me better understand the difference between the two and how it determines ones overall success. I had no idea the link between it all before watching this video.

[@elizabethwilliamson7373]

This video helped me understand how neuroticism plays in what I call the 'Worry gene' yet on the other end of the spectrum is intro/extroverted personality. I take notes on your Video's Dr. Grande so I can re-read it later on. So I may have memory lapses.

[@loriwardwell2957]

Interesting point that those with a high IQ may not feel the need to develop conscientiousness

[@birkit1133]

lori wardwell That's what I thought, too. Perhaps it's all organized in the head and written lists, detailed plans, records, etc., are not required. If your memory is better than others, you don't require written records as much.

[@deltaxcd]

I think it is bit different, not that people with high IQ do not need to be orderly, but more that people with low IQ usually just hate using their brains so they are way more likely to just to believe things and follow established routine instead of thinking every time and dealing with chaos.

[@alexdeloach6472]

This was a very interesting video. I was not aware of some of the correlations you mentioned.

[@drflux5276]

Interesting theory. I have high IQ and low conscientiousness, but I have a lot of success in my professional life and I'm on the top 1% percentile in earnings. I'm very high in openness to experience too.

[@chrisvaccaro229]

I’m mad this video doesn’t have like a million views. Great content.

[@ProbablePeople]

Very elucidating. Thank You

[@mrswhite3513]

Amazing...as always..!

[@DrGrande]

Thank you so much!

[@insjen]

Very clear and interesting explanations as always. It is much appreciated.

[@BeattapeFactory]

i conclude that school needs to be harder for the gifted kids

[@akshaypatyal3228]

Very nicely explained sir

[@angelinastanton7996]

These were interesting topics to explore. I would have never thought to consider how intelligence relates to conscientiousness.

[@drmichaelsunsschoolformath]

This was the best video I have seen on KZbin. Thank you. What is the relationship between iq and conscientiousness if you only restrict to a high iq range of individuals say 135+? What’s R squared for conscientious and similar measures of success? Is it much more?

[@amandagerrick5004]

I would not have thought that intelligence and conscientiousness are negatively correlated. Instead, I would have thought the complete opposite.

[@thenarcissistsscapegoat5091]

I definitely lost tons of brain cells when I developed PTSD. From that point on I realized I finally had to learn to be conscientious, so I feel the correlation is real. When I felt smarter I didn't doubt my ability to pull things off flying by the seat of my pants.

[@johnfranciskennedysongwrit2639]

Wow, never heard this before, explains my life a bit 🤪

[@ChrisKadaver]

I'm doomed. I have a high IQ, super low conscientiousness, high neuroticism. Most likely ADHD as well. My biggest problem is the fact that I'm musically talented but never seem to be able to complete any projects. I just keep starting new ones since I easily get bored and want to create something new all the time. However, 3 years ago I was diagnosed with burn out syndrome but since I haven't recovered I'm up for a ME/CFS evaluation which seems more likely, so it seems I'm doomed anyways. Doooomed I tell'ya! Great channel btw! :)

[@largestfern]

Wow you've just described me! High IQ, low conscientiousness and high in neuroticism! Least we can say we're creative lol

[@charlesandhisworld]

old skool dr grande!

[@monicaperry13]

I was surprised to hear about the negative correlation between intelligence and conscientiousness. I think it makes sense when you said about people having higher IQs being able to be less conscientious because they have their intelligence to fall back on.

[@briannagoitiandia9833]

I agree that this explanation clears up why this correlation exists.

[@mostaanroya]

Thank you for all your wonderful videos , would you please explain what causes people to radicalize? Religions, cults, health, sports, nutrition..... I heard serotonin is related to being religious!

[@shararmahmood380]

Great video. Would love a video on how the definition of success varies with psychiatric disorders

[@percelldeberry8397]

Nicely done!

[@DrGrande]

Thank you!

[@yourstruly256]

Excellent video, but I wouldn't expect anything less from you :)

[@DrGrande]

Thank you so much!

[@jameshendrick2099]

Even a smart child would be forced to develop conscientiousness if the environment-especially the school environment-were challenging enough. Our education system ends up enabling high-IQ students to slack off, which compromises their development of conscientiousness, which in turn hobbles their potential. If the bit about compensatory effects is true, it’s an argument for identifying high-IQ children early on and making sure they are just as challenged as their lower-IQ peers.

[@johnharrisjr2808]

Good video! i thought it was interesting that intelligence(IQ) is associated with success and conscientious is associated with being organized and goal directed yet these two constructs are negatively correlated

[@brianjonker510]

I would have liked for him to state the correlation. He did mention one (some) studies show zero correlation. This leads me to believe what corrrelation that was found is so small to be meaningless.

[@XuerLi]

I am in my late 20s and work in some sh1tty average paying technical job which is completely meaningless to me, I did well throughout my studies from primary sch to college,and according to professional tests I found out I have rather high IQ, high openess, high artistic talent, high neuro, and average conscience, what I've observed is that those boys that I knew who were average IQ who did badly in studies, low neuro,zero artistic talents, low conscience and high openess are the the ones who earn big bucks now because they have very little sense of shame they can communicate really well in front of large crowds and worry nothing about how others judging them, so most of them ended up becoming military officers, celebrities/comedians, sales leaders.

[@rickmorrow993]

LOL!

[@andersbech4377]

Thanks a lot for the videos Todd, but a tip, skip the greenscreen, its uncanny. Again thanks for the good videos

[@talosvalcoran4714]

I am watching your videos more and more every day. Jordan Peterson covers a wide variety of topics. Your videos are easier to follow and remember.

[@MisterTutor2010]

That's because there are no lobsters :)

[@Cosmopolitanaa]

Extremely interesting! Thank you so much for this in depth explanation. As far as I know, the Big Five character traits are considered to be relatively stable; however, is there any way to increase one's conscientiousness?

[@DrGrande]

That is a question I hear often about conscientiousness. I talk about that a little in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3ScZZh_hMSbqMk. Personality traits are stable over time, however, I believe some change can occur and someone can engage in specific conscientious behavior if the underlying personality facets of conscientiousness remain unchanged.

[@billhildebrand5053]

Comment 105: 10,753 views. Thanks Dr. Grande that was a splendid view of how we can be intelligent - the bias of conscientious vs intelligence.😃😃😃😀😃

[@sHART1780]

I measured 120 IQ and had a high GPA without even working hard most of the time, had an easy time grasping concepts etc., but my conscientiousness has always fallen way short. Its my biggest downfall. I'm definitely trying to work on it. I think my biggest problem in learning new tasks is that I overthink them and am too hard on myself, thinking I should get it right away, and since im not conscientious, I give up too soon.

[@jr.srevang5652]

I think it's cool how music is the mimic of the mix of both. A mimic of how we would want to live our lives with order and spontaneity using an idea of moving sounds as to abstract our emotions. I'm talking about how rhythm is a mimic of routine (Consciousness) and how chords and harmonies is a mimic of peace (Agreeableness) or diminished chords for (disagreeablility) and how melody and tone is a mimic of expressionism (extroversion/introversion) and... and..wait.. I don't know how it has anything to do with intelligence. 😅

[@detailed8962]

I got oppenes 100% and 85% conscientiousness and I'm 20 yo

[@legzfalloffgirl5148]

Not going to lie... I hate the concept of IQ because I'm pretty sure mine is average at best. And I'm not particularly conscious. I guess I should do something about that...

[@TheCrusaderRabbits]

Well, I'm dumb as a brick and a slob. I guess it's over for me.

[@gamercatsz5441]

So what, just live a simple life then. You don't need to be so materialistic. I'm sure you can manage to provide enough income for yourself and your family, that's being a good man in my book. With some luck you will find a passion that you can monetize, and then you don't need concienciousness or intelligence to be happy and make money.

[@HemiChrysler]

summary : while Intelligence and Conscientiousness are both desirable attributes, Conscientiousness is a better indicator of financial success. There is no substitute for developing a plan.

[@getmyvibe762]

So as a result people who have higher IQ sometimes will have more impulsive behaviours. They are more easier to get addictive? Am i right?

[@veronicabetz9452]

I thought it was very interesting that when IQ goes up conscientiousness goes down.

[@angelinastanton7996]

I also found this interesting and will keep this in mind for future reference.

[@bernetajohnson3296]

Very interesting however I do not believe we can necessarily equate ones earnings to their level of intelligence. We must consider the dynamics of ones experiences within his environment. Both micro and macro.

[@JadyGrudd]

In reference to the different scales of intelligence: It is my opinion that only a few matter, and Weschler has nothing to do with it. The first measure of intelligence is the ability to adapt to and thrive in a given milieu. Philisophically, this may be expressed as a form of flexibility or adaptability coupled with strength of will. My justification in coupling the two concepts is that an intelligence that does not will to impose itself upon its world will not test itself and gradually loses experience as a source of input. This lack of use translates to lesser degrees of milieu-specific capability when compared to the intelligence that actively seeks to apply itself in every situation -- and my scale of measurement rests on demonstrated ability. Social position therefore rests as my everyday determinant regarding individual intelligence. This definition, however, seems something of a Darwinian corollary to me, when I look upwards in the food chain of society... Intelligent input on this is welcome.

[@deltaxcd]

By the way, you think I assume that you must be a woman because women measure everything in the form of reproductive success. But no this is no how you measure inteligece this is how you measure reproductive success, in comparison to flatworms and rabbits and as we know not much intelligence is required for this task at all, if not to say that less is better. Usually, intelligence is defined by the speed fo your thinking and possibly the amount of data you can operate at once. even a stupid person with lots of determination can still solve the problem in a few days where a smart person can give a solution almost instantly and without any effort.

[@TheLillipuss]

6:15 or necessarily have the environment where their parents were too busy for them or where consciousness was deemed important or worth developing?

[@dths389]

Conscientiousness doesn't have to be developed at an early age. I have an IQ of 129 and I never really tried in school too much so I got okay grades but not great. However, after I was hit in a moped accident, and suffered a traumatic brain injury, I went back to college and have gained a 3.89 GPA due to working harder than ever before because the brain injury makes school harder. In this way, I developed conscientiousness at a later age.

[@annmurry8589]

I have a high IQ across many areas and moderate IQ in spelling. I have high openness and conscientiousness. I am happy and surviving but I am only moderately successful. Other factors might be EQ and Social IQ. I think these are more important. I am probably moderate in EQ and crushingly low in Social IQ which is necessary for notable levels of success beyond anonymous mediocrity.

[@randallpattee1561]

Dr. Grande. I suffer from grandiosity which technically means I am a REASONABLY intelligent working class fool..It also means that discussions about intelligence within a highly distressed social system are going to increasingly seem like gratuitous fodder. People at top positions continue to use unpredictable mixtures of simple reward and punishment just in case you are wondering.

[@lizconnor1820]

I wonder if this correlation would be the same with individuals who have average IQ scores, particularly if they are in an environment where their success would be compared with individuals who have lower IQ scores. Very interesting video!

[@mprplaysguitar]

What’s the relationship between mental health and intelligence?

[@thenarcissistsscapegoat5091]

Our mental health is directly proportional to our parents intelligence?

[@getmyvibe762]

I think mental will be collerate with neurotism

[@zureezee1887]

It is a little obvious that intelligence would predict success because intelligent people are more likely to make better choices in life. The biggest surprise was learning that intelligence and conscientiousness have negative correlation which I would have thought the two would have positive correlation

[@alandove7181]

Intelligent people making better choices in life isn't necessarily correlated. Firstly you have to specify what you mean by 'better' choices. Someone could be incredibly smart and not particularly value material goods. Maybe trying to discover a fundamental truth about the universe has dire consequences for a person. What's the better 'life choice'? Tesla died bankrupt. By all accounts he should have died as the the world's richest person, but he didn't. He financial choices most people would flat out call dumb, but alas, he is one of the world's most celebrated brains.

[@Acapellachick27]

do you work with individuals?

[@qiuwbr091]

I have really small female friends who believe they are taking up huge space. I am Scandinavian on one side of my family so I’m a bit larger and taller than the average American woman. I don’t consciously think of myself physically in general. If I do I think I’m average. If other people force me to admit it I know I’m above. Is the difference in our physical beliefs about ourselves based on IQ or is it environmental. I know I shouldn’t laugh at an 83 pound 5 ft tall woman who thinks she’s taking up space like a Space Sputnik. So I wait til I get home. I’m really good about controlling my expressions in front of ppl.

[@tomasrandom6430]

my IQ on different tests 140~150, and consciousness is like 2.5 in the scale of 2.7 - 4.2... Also high in openness. Believe me, I would trade like 20 IQ points to get my consciousness to the average..

[@fadlinugraha347]

why?

[@OrehBelich92]

@@fadlinugraha347 because he probably does not have control over his/her life

[@babblingalong7689]

Due you mean conscientiousness?

[@swindler1570]

Which research papers are you referencing with these claims?

[@mollytovxx4181]

Georgiann Fibbe I don’t distrust Dr Grande, but it would be interesting to read the papers or books he draws on. Maybe this commenter is just interested in looking into the topic further? Might be difficult as many papers are behind publisher paywalls, which is a downside to those outside academia who are curious.

Learn how to use Google Scholar (write the claim, the papers will appear)

[@brianjonker510]

indeed! I would have liked for him to state the correlation. He did mention one (some) studies show zero correlation. This leads me to believe what corrrelation that was found is so small to be meaningless

[@qahirpeco1804]

How does this relate to POC who have IQ 100 - 115but face adversity because if racism so doesn't earn what you may measure as being successful

[@thenarcissistsscapegoat5091]

I would think emotional intelligence has more of an affect on earnings than IQ. Over three decades in the workforce it was very rare someone would be passed over, fired over quit over their intelligence or quality of their work, rather it was almost always about their ability to work well with others or to follow guidelines they didn't agree with. Maybe there is 'good smart' but also 'too smart for one's own good' because many youtubers are obviously very intelligent while also being single, childless and completely broke. Are they successful due to their fame and potential future earnings, or are they failures due to being reduced to begging for Patreon donations?

[@corsicanlulu]

humans are herd animals, and it seems the main thing that matters is getting along w/ the herd. if ur an outlier u will suffer no matter how intelligent or talented. not in all cases but some

[@deltaxcd]

there is no such thing as emotional intelligence. Not only it cannot be measured it is not even defined as a term.

[@rhondabaileyyy]

It’s interesting that people with high intelligence don’t develop consciousness when they are young and tend to rely on their intelligence.

[@jennahumphrey1]

Have you studied Jung's cognitive functions? I have a hypothesis that IQ (and the Intellect domain of Openness) correlates with Extraverted Intuition, and Conscientious (specifically the Order domain) correlates with Introverted Sensing. Jung posited that these cognitive functions exist on an axis. Someone with higher Extraverted Intuition would necessarily have lower Introverted Sensing. It would be cool to see if there are any other correlations, as there's currently no empirical data to support Jung's personality theory; nonetheless, there is something uncanny about it (it makes sense). I'm not talking about MBTI by the way; just sticking to Jung here.

[@gurkiratsingh348]

always remember Forrest Gump

[@marybrackman3322]

I've was told, how can you be so intellegent and not have any common sense. And I can't remember how many times I've done term papers, lost them and had to do them over, had to iron out the wrinkles, and using white out to cover coffee stains and put them on a copy machine to hide the white out, them turning them and getting an A. Conscientiousnes. Doing everything like that works against completing on schedule and thus can impede success.

[@babblingalong7689]

Is it not simply because schemes, rules and plans are utterly boring?

[@thndesmondsaid]

Thank you for the video! I obsess over intelligence, and I've come to the conclusion many times that without a high IQ people have a very slim chance of becoming successful. Thank you for showing the context and relative importance of both intelligence and conscientiousness.

[@babblingalong7689]

Depends on what you think is successful. Could you elaborate?

[@xxxx-tb8do]

i too noticed how the dumber someone is the more they plan for their future

[@janicedixon2051]

It shocked me to find out that IQ and conscientiousness are negatively correlated. However, it makes sense, one of the smartest guys I know never applied himself in school but passed exams without studying and scored high on the SATs without even prepping.

[@brianjonker510]

Yes I would have liked for him to state the correlation. He did mention one (some) studies show zero correlation. This leads me to believe what corrrelation that was found is so small to be meaningless

[@particleconfig.8935]

I've learned, and read, that IQ is positively correlated with impulse control... hmm what's true?

[@alternateperson6600]

Low conscientiousness doesn't necessarily predict impulsivity. You can score low on most facets, and yet have superb control over your impulses. Being low in conscientiousness doesn't mean you have to be low on every facet.

[@charliebrown3082]

This helps explain why millions of brilliant people only care about playing video games.

[@platoscavealum902]

▶️ 4:52 ...very interesting explanation: compensatory factor: HIGH IQ > less conscientious

[@popeyethepirate5473]

I must be a genius because I give 0 fucks.

[@pathanzian3568]

I guess tesla is mad with you 😆