Do Physical Activity, BMI, and Wellbeing Affect Logical Thinking?

Abstract

We studied 6368 people (4544 women and 1824 men; aged 18–74 years). The research goal was to determine whether the Cognitive Reflection Test score (logical thinking compared with intuitive thinking) depends—and in what way it depends—on the healthy lifestyle components and emotional health-related components as well as age (18–74 years) and gender. We established that analytical vs. intuitive thinking depended on components of a healthy lifestyle, physical activity, sleep, eating habits, smoking and alcohol consumption, specificity of sporting activity, body mass index, and emotional health-related components (stress, depression, impulsivity, subjective health, emotional intelligence), as well as age and gender. We found that logical thinking was not associated with sleep, moderate-to-vigorous PA, impulsivity, subjective health, and components of a healthy lifestyle. However, logical thinking decreases with age, gender (higher in men than in women), BMI (decreases in both genders over the second degree of obesity), depression (the more severe depression in women, the worse their logical thinking), sedentary behavior (people who sat for longer periods had more difficulty solving problems), and in professional sportswomen (logical thinking is worse in professional sportswomen than in sedentary women, amateur sportswomen, or women who use gyms). Finally, we determined inverse correlations between logical thinking, emotional intelligence, and stress.

Physical Activity, Body Image, and Emotional Intelligence Differences in Adults with Overweight and Obesity

“…EI is concerned with understanding the self and others as well as adapting to successfully cope with environmental demands [ 8 ]. EI can also affect logical thinking as it is correlated negatively with logical thinking and stress, while logical thinking weakens with age, as recently reported [ 9 ]. PA and EI are correlated positively in all dimensions.…”

Association between Body Mass Index Structure and Physical Activity, Sleep, Sedentary Behavior, Health, Stress, Emotional Intelligence, and Healthy Eating: A Study of 8,759 People in Lithuania

“…Growing evidence-based research indicates that various forms and amounts of physical activity (PA) are effective in combating many chronic diseases [1,2], improving well-being and mental health [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], and reducing all-cause mortality [10]. The effect of PA on various body functions is rather speci c; i.e., it depends on the nonlinear manner of muscle work intensity, duration, and load "doses" [11][12][13][14][15][16][17]2].…”