4/8/2021 10 Fascinating Facts About Personality
THEORIES PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY
10 Fascinating Facts About Personality
By Kendra Cherry Reviewed by David Susman, PhD Updated on September 20, 2020
Personality makes us who we are. It in uences nearly every aspect of our
lives including what we choose to do for a living, how we interact with our
families, and our choices of friends and romantic partners.
But what factors in uence our personality? Can we change our
personalities, or do our overall traits remain constant throughout life?
Since personality is such a fascinating topic, it has become one of the most
heavily researched subjects within psychology. Thanks to all this research,
psychologists have learned a great deal about the things that
in uence personality as well as how personality in uences our behaviors.
1.
Birth Order Influences Personality
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Cultura/JFCreatives / Cultura Exclusive / Getty Images
You've probably heard of this concept before. Firstborn children are often
described as "bossy" or "responsible," while last-born children are
sometimes described as "irresponsible" and "impulsive." But how true are
these common stereotypes?
For decades, pop psychology books touted the e ects of birth order on
personality, but hard evidence on the phenomenon remained elusive until
quite recently. A few empirical studies have found that such things as birth
order and family size may indeed have an impact on personality.
One study even found that birth order can in uence your choices of
friends and romantic partners. First-borns tend to associate with other
rst-borns, middle-borns with other middle-borns, and last-borns
with last-borns.
Another study published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences) suggested that many of the stereotypes associated
with birth order, such as rst-borns being bossy or last-borns being
irresponsible, don't necessarily hold water. [1]
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The study looked at more than 5,000 Americans, almost 4,500 British
participants, and more than 10,000 German participants. While the
researchers did nd that rst-born children tended to score better on
intelligence tests, they also looked at how birth order in uences self-
reported information on the ve broad dimensions of personality:
extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness.
The study found little evidence supporting any connection between birth
order and character. While this research does not mean that birth order has
no impact on personality, it does suggest that further investigation is
needed.
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2.
Personality Is Relatively Stable
Lucia Lambriex / Taxi / Getty Images
Do you think that personality can change over time or is your basic
temperament set in stone? In long-term studies of personality, some of the
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most core parts of personality remain stable throughout life.
Three aspects that do tend to change as we age are anxiety levels,
friendliness, and eagerness for novel experiences. According to researcher
Paul T. Costa Jr., personality remains relatively stable as we grow older.
"What changes as you go through life are your roles and the issues that
matter most to you. People may think their personality has changed as they
age, but it is their habits that change, their vigor and health, their
responsibilities and circumstances—not their basic personality," he
suggested in a New York Times article. [2]
More recently, researchers have noted that some traits do increase and
decrease somewhat over the course of the lifespan.
For example, extraversion and neuroticism tend to decline while
conscientiousness and agreeableness tend to increase. Openness tends to
peak during adolescence and young adulthood and declines during later
adulthood. [3]
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3.
Traits Linked to Certain Illnesses
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JPM / Image Source / Getty Images
In the past, a number of di erent personality traits have been suspected of
contributing to particular illnesses. For example, hostility and aggression
were often linked to heart disease. The di culty was that while some
studies would reveal a link, other studies demonstrated no such connection.
Researchers have used a statistical technique known as meta-analysis to
reevaluate previous research on the connection between personality and
disease.
What they discovered were some previously unnoticed connections
between neurotic personality traits and ve illnesses; headaches,
asthma, arthritis, peptic ulcers, and heart disease. [4]
Another study suggested that shyness might be linked to a shorter
lifespan. [5]
Related: Your Personality Type Can Impact Physical and Mental Health
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4.
Animals Have Personalities
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Cultura RM/Grace Chon / Cultura / Getty Images
Does it ever seem like your beloved pet has a personality that makes him
utterly unique? Animal researchers have found animals from nearly every
species of animal (from spiders to birds to elephants) have their own
personalities with preferences, behaviors, and quirks that persist
throughout life. [6]
While some critics suggest that this represents anthropomorphism, or
ascribing human traits to animals, animal personality researchers have
been able to identify consistent behavioral patterns that can be empirically
measured and tested.
5.
Five Core Personality Traits
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JGI/Jamie Grill / Blend Images / Getty Images
In the past, researchers have debated exactly how many personality traits
exist. Early researchers such as Gordon Allport suggested that there were as
many as 4,000 distinct personality traits, while others such as Raymond
Cattell proposed that there were 16.
Today, many personality researchers support the ve-factor theory of
personality, which describes ve broad personality dimensions that
compose human personality:
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Neuroticism
Openness
6.
Personal Preferences
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Hill Street Studios / Blend Images / Getty Images
It may come as no shock to learn that your personality can have a profound
e ect on your personal preferences, but you just might be surprised by how
far reaching these e ects may be. From your choice of friends to your taste
in music, your unique personality can in uence nearly every choice you
make in your daily life.
For example, while you might pride yourself on carefully considering the
issues before choosing a candidate to support, research suggests that
personality may play a strong role in political preferences.
One study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto found
that individuals who identi ed themselves as conservatives were
higher in a personality trait called orderliness, while those who self-
identi ed as liberal were higher in empathy. [7]
Researchers suggest that these underlying personality needs to either
preserve order or express empathy can have a strong in uence on political
preferences.
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7.
Facebook Profiles and Personality
Justin Lewis / Stone / Getty Images
When you think about people's online identities, you might imagine that
most people try to present an idealized version of their real selves. After all,
in most online situations you get to pick and choose the information you
want to reveal. You get to select the most attractive photos of yourself to
post and you can edit and revise your comments before you make them.
Surprisingly, one study discovered that Facebook pro les are actually quite
good at conveying your real personality. In the study, researchers looked at
the online pro les of 236 U.S. college-aged individuals. [8] The participants
also lled out questionnaires designed to measure personality traits
including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and
openness.
Observers then rated the personalities of the participants based on the
online pro les, and these observations were compared to the results of the
personality questionnaires.
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The researchers found that observers were able to get an accurate read
on a person's personality based on their Facebook pro le.
"I think that being able to express personality accurately contributes to the
popularity of online social networks in two ways," explained psychologist
and lead author Sam Gosling. "First, it allows pro le owners to let others
know who they are and, in doing so, satis es a basic need to be known by
others. Second, it means that pro le viewers feel they can trust the
information they glean from online social network pro les, building their
con dence in the system as a whole." [9]
8.
Personality Disorders
Kevin Dodge / Blend Images / Getty Images
An estimated that 9.1% of adults in the United States experience symptoms
of at least one personality disorder. [10] Researchers have identi ed a
number of factors that may contribute to the onset of di erent personality
disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and borderline personality
disorder. These factors include:
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Genetics
Relationships with peers
High sensitivity
Verbal abuse
Childhood trauma [11]
9.
Cardinal Traits Are Rare
Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Psychologist Gordon Allport described cardinal traits like those that
dominated an individual's life to the point where that person is known and
often identi ed speci cally by that trait. These traits are considered rare,
however.
In many cases, people become so known for these traits that their very
names become synonymous with that type of personality.
Consider the origins of these often-used terms: Freudian, Machiavellian,
narcissistic, Don Juan, and Christ-like. For most people, personality is
instead composed of a mixture of central and secondary traits. Central traits
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are those that make up the core foundation of personality, while secondary
traits are those related to preferences, attitudes, and situational behaviors.
10.
Your Pets and Your Personality
Kathrin Ziegler / Cultura Exclusive / Getty Images
Would you consider yourself more of a "dog person" or a "cat person"?
According to one study, your answer to this question might actually reveal
important information about your personality.
In a study of 4,500 people, researchers asked participants whether they
considered themselves to be more dog people or cat people. [12] These
individuals also completed a personality survey that measured a number of
broad traits including conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, and
agreeableness.
The researchers discovered that people who identi ed themselves as
dog people tended to be more extraverted and eager to please others,
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while those who described themselves as cat people tended to be more
introverted and curious.
According to researcher Sam Gosling, a psychologist at the University of
Texas-Austin, the results might have important implications in the eld of
pet therapy. By using personality screenings, therapists might be able to
match people in need with animals that are best suited to their personality.
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