Why high-IQ people may spend longer analysing emotional pain, psychology says

Negative emotions do not spare people simply because they are intelligent. Rejection can hurt, criticism can sting and heartbreak can leave anyone replaying old conversations at midnight. Having a high IQ does not make someone immune to anger, sadness, embarrassment or disappointment. But there may be a difference in what happens after the initial emotion appears.Research suggests that cognitive ability, particularly verbal intelligence, can be linked to the way people process difficult experiences. One study published in Personality and Individual Differences found that verbal intelligence was a unique positive predictor of worry and rumination, while non-verbal intelligence showed a different relationship with post-event processing. The study involved 126 undergraduate participants, so its findings should not be treated as proof that every highly intelligent person overthinks. The more interesting question, then, may not be whether intelligent people feel more.