An intraocular lens including an optic portion having an outer peripheral edge and two, three or four balanced looped haptic elements for use to achieve refractive correction. Each looped haptic is formed to have greater resistance to bending in a plane generally parallel to an eye's optical axis than in a plane generally perpendicular to the eye's optical axis. The intraocular lens is designed with specific flexibility characteristics so as to exhibit less than approximately 1.0 mm axial displacement of the optic portion along the eye's optical axis under a compression force suitable to effect a 1.0 mm in diameter compression of the intraocular lens.