Wanted: very smart partner with high IQ

By Julie Mollins

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - Tired of the same old internet dating sites? If you're an ultra-smart singleton and good at taking tests, a new website could be the answer.

The social networking site directed towards highly intelligent people with a knack for deciphering complex visual patterns, which started in Denmark, has now expanded to Canada and the United States.

Potential candidates have to pass an online test to prove they have an IQ of 115 or higher. The score places them in the top 15 percent of the population for intelligence, said Copenhagen-based Trine Jensen, the founder of IntelligentPeople.com.

"I believe that intelligent people communicate better with other intelligent people and, of course, love happens more easily if you communicate well," she said in an interview.

"I started it because I thought it was missing from the dating scene and the social networking scene," the 29-year-old corporate lawyer explained.

The test to join the site is based on one used by Mensa -- an international society founded in England for people with an IQ in the top two percent of the population. It is designed to be "culture fair", so it tests intelligence while minimizing cultural and educational biases, Jensen said.

People can take the test twice, Jensen added, admitting that in some ways it could be viewed as discriminatory.

"But there are other sites that discriminate on the basis of other criteria," she said.