Saturday Quack – Wearing Glasses Doesn’t Make You a Geek

Popular wisdom – as far as schoolboy wisdom goes – labels those of us who wear glasses as geeks or nerds; (is there a difference? I’m out of touch, obviously). Put another way, there’s a common perception that people who are short-sighted (myopic persons) have distinctive personality characteristics, such as introversion and conscientiousness. Australian scientists from the University of Melbourne have investigated this, and reported in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. About 1 in 4 Australians have myopia.

A twin registry in Melbourne was used to recruit participants in the study. There were 633 individual twins and 278 family members involved over a 4-year period. The participants were analyzed by tests that measured the five main personality factors (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism).

Comparison of the results from family members and twins showed there was no link between myopia and Introversion or Conscientiousness. There was a small but significant association between myopia and Agreeableness. Previous studies have reported that intellectual ability (IQ) is associated with myopia, which may account for another small link found between the condition and Openness.

This study may provide some ammunition for glasses wearers to defend themselves. However, I guess the whole dispute is now pretty redundant, in this age of contacts and Lasik.