The 4 Personality Types - Which One Are You video

How many personality types human beings have is one of the most discussed topics in psychology . Understanding what others are like is very helpful in establishing effective relationships with other people. How to identify each one has been the subject of research for years by many experts and it seems that now a team has managed to divide it into several different classes .

Several expert scientists have used the five widely accepted basic personality dimensions : neuroticism , extraversion, openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and responsibility to determine that there are four main groups.

The extensive research project, led by Luis Amaral of Northwest Engineering and comprised of data from more than 1.5 million respondents, has identified them as: " average ," " reserved ," "self- centered, " and " role models. to follow ". The questionnaires, developed by the research community over decades, have between 44 and 300 questions. People voluntarily took the tests 'online' attracted by the opportunity to receive comments about their own personality . Additionally, this data is now being made available to other scientists for independent analysis.

Researchers emphasize that personalities evolve and change over the years

Although psychologists have long been quite skeptical of personality tests and their efficacy, the large number of results recorded in this particular study indicates that experts could work with these new categories .

In the middle

This type was the most repeated in the questionnaires and we could call them "normal". They show moderate traits of responsibility (awareness and consideration of a person) and kindness (understanding, little hostility), extraversion and emotional instability (or neuroticism: mood swings, tendency to feel angry or sad), and with few expectations (curiosity and search for new experiences and low learning ).

Reserved

They are people with high levels of emotional stability coupled with a normal character , neither open nor neurotic. They do not stand out for being outgoing , but they are kind and responsible. They are rather shy , they do not usually look at the eyes and they put great distances with the others. In addition, they are usually quite insecure and store information about their emotions (both positive and negative). Their disposition is usually empathetic and correct and they usually get annoyed if someone raises their voice at them for no reason.

Egocentric

According to scientists, these people are not very pleasant in the face of others . They combine a lower score for kindness , openness to others, and responsibility. They have a high degree of extroversion, but little frankness and conscientiousness . In addition, they focus only on themselves and prefer not to live new experiences.

They believe they know everything and impose their opinion on any subject. They are superior , do not accept advice and always try to control the situation. According to the study, it is a toxic personality type , not only for others but for themselves as well. They only like compliments and hint at the great source of wisdom that they are at all times.

Role models

They have high levels of extraversion, kindness, and responsibility with a low degree of neuroticism. They are very open in every way, scrupulous. Traits that predominate in women and that would be cultivated with age . Also, they are always interested and take into account what others have to say. They are leaders and emotionally stable and hardworking.

The Northwestern researchers showed the classification to a skeptic of personality types , Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Professor of Psychology William Revelle . "I'm going to be very direct," he warned. "My first reaction was to say this was silly ." However, he became so interested that he became a co-author of the study published in 'Nature'. "People have tried to classify personality types since the time of Hippocrates , but previous scientific literature has found that it doesn't make sense. Now, these data show that there are higher densities of certain types . Everything will change thanks to this study." revealed to 'Time'.

Changes over time

Researchers emphasize that as the years go by there is an evolution . The data analyzed reveal something that everyone knows from their own experience: in adolescence it is very common for us to be subjects focused on ourselves (especially men). However, over time, neurotic tendencies decrease and responsibility and kindness increase.

The questionnaires used have between 33 and 400 questions and are reliable due to the large number of people who have participated

Amaral states that "when you study very large population groups, clear trends appear that change depending on the age group ." The scientists defend that their conclusions will be of great help to psychologists and psychiatrists , who thanks to them will have a reference model from which to diagnose mental illnesses.

"What's really cool is that a study with such a large data set wouldn't have been possible before the internet . Previously, maybe researchers would recruit students on campus and maybe get a few hundred people. Now, we have all these online resources available and more data can be shared".