Is Donald Trump ‘Cursed’ With A High IQ?

Donald Trump is someone who reportedly has a high IQ, as Trump himself has tweeted this information in the past. A new article about the perils of being gifted in the intellect department has honed in on Trump for a possible example of the findings in this research.

Research suggests that those who have been born with an intelligence level beyond that of the average human might just be cursed, or at least that is how an article from the Guardian describes the perils of a high IQ. According to the article, it is known that Donald Trump has a high IQ “because he never shuts up about it.”

The article cites two of Trump’s tweets, which were posted about a month apart.

Trump writes, “I’m a very compassionate person (with a very high IQ) with strong common sense.”

The next tweet said, “Sorry losers and haters, but my IQ is one of the highest – and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault.”

There are at least 22 times that Trump has tweeted about his IQ, according to the Guardian. They also cite research suggesting that there is a correlation between those with a high IQ and “psychological overexcitabilities.”

According to BBC News, Trump talks about his IQ “all the time,” and he has said that his IQ is above those of men like Jon Stewart and the British star of the show The Apprentice, Lord Sugar. He has also claimed that his IQ is “much higher” than Barack Obama and George W. Bush, two former U.S. presidents. His most recent claim of having a higher IQ over someone notable was aimed at Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. BBC News also reports that despite Trump talking about his IQ, he has never released just what his IQ actually is, other than “high.”

According to the Guardian, “Research suggests that people with high IQ scores are more likely to have mood disorders and a higher risk factor of ‘psychological overexcitabilities.”

They go on to say, “perhaps that explains the behavior of the man in the White House.”

It is apparent that Trump puts a lot of stock in a high IQ, evident by his use of his own “high IQ” when on the defensive, which is seen in his tweets. His tweet about his IQ being above Tillerson’s was part of his response to reports that Tillerson had called Trump a “moron,” which is when he said he would beat Tillerson in an IQ test. So just what is an IQ test, and how much stock do people really hold in this?

For starters, there is no single IQ test; there are over 200 tests used for calculating someone’s IQ, and all of these test results are accepted by Mensa. Dr. Frank Lawlis, the supervisory psychologist of American Mensa, describes the IQ tests as testing three areas of skills. Those skills are spatial, quantitative, and verbal.

Verbal questions are about words, quantitive questions are mathematical, and spatial are about shape and measurement. When testing about words, an example would be how one word is similar to another. To be accepted into Mensa, you have to be among the top 2 percent, which “equates – very roughly – to an IQ of 130,” reports BBC News.

As far as the psychological problems, according to the research published in the journal Intelligence, the results are collected from a survey that the researchers from Pitzer College, in California, and Seattle Pacific University sent to members of Mensa. The results of this survey indicated that “Mensans were more likely than the rest of the population to have conditions such as mood and anxiety disorders, allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases.”

This finding is far from rare, as studies in the past have suggested that “a great mind can weigh heavily upon someone.” The Guardian writes that “it is hardly a new notion that unusually high rates of adult psychopathology are displayed among some of the most eminent geniuses.” The article then points to Donald Trump. It suggested the results of this research could explain what has led people to wonder about today’s president: “Why is Donald Trump so temperamental?”

While Trump is considered “enamored” by a high IQ, that isn’t always the case among the thinkers of this world. When the New York Times asked about his IQ, Stephen Hawking replied, “People who boast about their IQ are losers.”

According to an article by CNN, someone with a high IQ will have the ability to “manipulate, process and interpret information at a deeper level and a higher speed than the average person,” which is how Mensa’s gifted youth specialist, Lisa Van Gemert, describes a person who is gifted with a high IQ.