Why quick thinkers are charismatic for others

Sydney: If you find some people more charismatic because they are quick to respond when asked a question, it is because charisma may rely on quick thinking.

The findings showed that people who were able to respond more quickly to general knowledge questions and visual tasks were perceived as more charismatic by their friends -- independently of IQ and other personality traits.

"Social intelligence is more than just knowing the right thing to do," said psychological scientist William von Hippel from University of Queensland in Australia.

Social intelligence also requires an ability to execute, and the quickness of our mind is an important component of that ability.

So knowing the right answer to a tough question appears to be less important than being able to consider a large number of social responses in a brief window of time.