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Nobody likes to be labeled, unless of course it's a personality test.
With thousands of quizzes available online, most of us can not help trying to discover the secret of who we are. Nourisher, healer, brain, wizard?
All the tests are not very scientific.
But now, American researchers have studied the results of more than 1.5 million people and claim to have identified four distinct personality types: "average", "reserved", "role model" and "egocentric".
But how did they get there and what do they mean?
Back to the Greeks
Defining personality is something that has fascinated humans for thousands of years.
The problem is to adapt people to boxes, whereas most of us are more complex than that.
Psychologists like to look at the "traits" of character that feed us by becoming certain "types" of people.
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The team at Northwestern University says there are five main characteristics commonly accepted by psychologists around the world, known as the "ocean".
- Opening – your natural curiosity, that you are open to new experiences and that you learn new things.
- Consciousness – You are thoughtful or reliable
- Extroversion – You are open, assertive and sociable.
- kindness – Your concern for others, how friendly and considerate you are.
- neuroticism – the likelihood of emotional instability, mood swings, feelings of depression, loneliness, anger or sadness.
The researchers then examined data from more than 1.5 million people who participated in personality tests and began scoring the scores of the five characteristics above.
In this video, they explain what they found.
The team says the results would have been impossible before the Internet because it is now much easier to analyze big data.
The four "types" of personality they identified present different combinations of the five main characteristics. The results are published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
Model
"They are nice people, they are nice," says Professor Luis Amaral. "They are not neurotic and they have an open mind."
They have a high score on the other four traits.
Egocentric
According to Professor Amaral, this is almost the image of the model.
"They are people who do not work hard, they are rather unpleasant, they are not open minded, they are extroverts.
Reserve
"They have low neuroticism and poor openness," says Professor Amaral.
However, they are likely to be conscientious and enjoyable.
Average
The only description we probably fear, but according to the study, one that corresponds to the "typical" person. They have a slightly above average score with respect to neuroticism and extraversion, but less openness.
"There is very little to say about the average," says Professor Amaral.
The researchers also say that personality types can change with age.
Since all respondents could speak English and had access to a computer, most are likely of Western origin.
Researchers would like to expand their research to see if different languages and cultures have the same types of personality.
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