You might think that people who are perceived to be really smart (say like, ohhh I don’t know, college professors) should be more prepared to succeed at high-pressure tasks. But new research suggests that this may not always be the case and in fact, really smart may be more prone to failing at high-pressure tasks than others:

A new study finds that individuals with high working-memory capacity, which normally allows them to excel, crack under pressure and do worse on simple exams than when allowed to work with no constraints. Those with less capacity score low, too, but they tend not to be affected by pressure.

“The pressure causes verbal worries, like ‘Oh no, I can’t screw up,’” said Sian Beilock, assistant professor of psychology at Miami University of Ohio. “These thoughts reside in the working memory.” And that takes up space that would otherwise be pondering the task at hand.

“When they begin to worry, then they’re in trouble,” Beilock told LiveScience. “People with lower working-memory capacities are not using that capacity to begin with, so they’re not affected by pressure.”

In other words, smart people are more likely to feel pressure (either internal or external) and that pressure will frequently result in them failing at a particularly high pressure task. So that brings up the more general question -- are smart people really happier people? Or do smart people develop elevated expectations of themselves, leading to them feeling more stress and ultimately, a greater likelihood at failure (in a relative and absolute sense)?

Just some food for thought . . .