Researchers found that most participants who were able to generate satisfying or seemingly accurate definitions of fake concepts also scored higher on a vocabulary test. Most of them also also aced abstract reasoning and non-verbal fluid intelligence tests, which measured their ability to analyse and solve problems. “We find that those more skilled in producing satisfying and seemingly accurate bullshit score higher on measures of cognitive ability and are perceived by others as more intelligent,” the study concluded. “Overall, the ability to produce satisfying bullshit may serve to assist individuals in navigating social systems, both as an energetically efficient strategy for impressing others and as an honest signal of one’s intelligence.” Researchers however warned that these findings were preliminary, and could only be used as initial evidence. “Future work should seek to explicitly probe the causal relation between intelligence and bullshit ability if any such relation exists,” the authors stated.