The difference between emotional intelligence and analytical intelligence, as used for IQ scores, lies in the person’s approach to knowledge and creativity. While artists rely more on their emotions and intuition, intellectuals tend to view things with a rather analytical and rational mindset.
As Joe Behen, PhD, Executive Director of Counseling, Health, and Disability Services at SAIC, summarizes:
“Artists, as a whole, are more empathic than non-artists. They’re more sensitive. They tend to have more fluid, permeable personal boundaries that allow them to connect to people in meaningful, emotional ways.”
Do artists have higher intelligence at the end of the day? Well, artists may not necessarily have high intelligence in the traditional sense. But they do have unique emotional and cognitive skills.
That type of artistic intelligence includes flexible and creative thinking, empathy, as well as practical and technical skills that allow them to excel in their art.