It seems that if you're a good looking professor, you're probably not very intelligent, according to psychology professor Sanjay Srivastava from the University of Oregon.

Srivastava noticed an amusing trend when he compared professor attractiveness ratings by major to combined General Record Examination (GRE) scores for PhD candidates by major (a proxy for IQ).

According to a chart posted on Srivastava's blog, attractive professors seem to have lower IQ.

Srivastava warns to not read too much into the conclusion:

"There may be some problematic stereotypes that this graph plays into — like the idea that you can be attractive or competent but not both," Srivastava writes in an email. "So I feel compelled to conclude with a warning to readers: if you take this too seriously, I'm going to move your profession to the bottom of the chart."



The chart is based on old and limited data, and the hotness ratings come from a 2004 paper that looked at hotness ratings from RateMyProfessor.com (a student survey site meant primarily for quality ratings), while the GRE averages come from a http://www.econphd.net/guide.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" class=" editor_blue_text">2002 report.

Image: Twitter