According to a study, there is an association between low intelligence and believing in inspirational quotes. The study has found being not-too-bright is linked to falling for nonsense inspirational quotes.

Lead study researcher Gordon Pennycook wrote in the introduction that in the study they have focused on pseudo-profound filthy stuff containing seemingly impressive assertions that are presented as real and meaningful but are actually stupid.

Pseudo-profound filthy stuff is described as statements that seem quite deep and meaningful but in reality are senseless. While giving an example of the same, he cited a quote ‘Love is the healing of transcendence and all of us’, and mentioned that the quote was a total crab and is usually generated by a website known as ‘New Age Bullsh*t Generator’, a site that randomly produces fake inspirational quotes for fun sake.

The quotes are not there for people to take seriously or give rise to a new religion around. When Pennycook came up with the website for the first time, it was hilarious to him. However, eventually he began thinking about if people actually believed in such types of bogus quotes.

While speaking to Vice, Pennycook said that he came across the website, and wondered if there could be a study on it, and wanted to know whether people thought such statements were profound or not. He added, “I often see quotes [on my Facebook newsfeed] that are maybe not quite as egregious, but you see a lot of motivational ones ... there's quotes and a picture of somebody who obviously didn't say the quote. You come across that quite often”.

After conducting various experiments with the quotes and observing participants, the researchers discovered that people receptive to this type of ‘pseudo-intellectual bullsh*t’ weren’t as intelligent as the ones, who weren't receptive.