If you’re a somewhat intellectual person, you probably socialize less than your classmates, and you’re worried about whether or not that’s normal, reasonable, and acceptable. As most of us are aware, bright people are more worried than others and are more likely to experience social anxiety since they are more perceptive than the typical person. However, according to a research published in the British Journal of Psychology, this typically goes even further:

extremely bright people actually prefer their own company, and there’s a fairly interesting rationale for this.To begin, we know that evolutionary psychologists have established a correlation between frequent social engagement and lower life satisfaction in persons who are normally more clever. They examined participants aged 18 to 28 and discovered that people who resided in more densely populated locations reported lower levels of enjoyment, as did people who had more frequent socializing with friends.

The study claims that “savannah theory” lies at the basis of modern pleasure — or that the things that make us happy essentially are as true now as they were at the birth of civilization. The assumption is that brighter people are better equipped to adapt to modern life’s obstacles and are more willing to “leave the group” in order to pursue their own, more meaningful lives. Simply put, clever individuals prefer to socialize less because they do not require a sense of tribal membership to find purpose in their life.

In fact, when faced with the choice between “belonging” and carving their own path, individuals are more likely to pick the latter. According to this view, our hunter-gatherer brains were well adapted to life as it was back then, when the population was lower and we lived in groups of roughly 150 people apiece. Survival would have required social contact. An clever individual is distinguished by their capacity to adapt.

Previously, a superior person would have been best able to follow their instincts; today, a superior human is best able to construct their own future rather than simply adhering to the community. This is supported by the fact that self-reported happiness is generally higher in smaller towns than in larger cities, a phenomenon known as the “urban-rural happiness gradient.” This could be due to a variety of variables, the most likely of which is that people thrive in smaller groups and more intimate, genuine ties.

There is a sense of community and belonging in a tiny town. In a smaller city, you can stroll out to the deli in the morning and greet the same individuals, as opposed to feeling lost in the shuffle. Similarly, in a smaller community, the emphasis is on who you are and how you connect with others, rather than what you accomplish or who you appear to be. Intelligent individuals tend to ignore this in favor of their own interests, but the truth remains: smart people (and happy people!) flourish in a small number of deep, genuine relationships.