Throughout the history of psychology, several authors have developed different theories about personality types. Recently, a group of researchers from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA. U. S. ), Conducted a thorough analysis of data whose results challenge the paradigms established in psychology. directed by Martin Gerlach.
Social psychologists wonder if there are personality types, their characteristics are another matter. Personality characteristics “can be consistently measured across all ages and cultures,” says Amaral, co-author of the study, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering.
- Researchers examined data from more than 1.
- 5 million respondents and found that there are at least four different personality types: mean.
- Reserved.
- Self-centered.
- And role model.
These four personality types are based on five fundamental personality characteristics: neuroticism, extroversion, sincerity, kindness and consciousness. The new study was published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.
William Revelle, professor of psychology at the Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study, explains that “people have been trying to categorize personality types since the time of Hippocrates, but previous scientific literature has found that it makes no sense. “The data from this new survey show that “there are higher concentrations of certain personality types. “
At first, however, Revelle was skeptical of the premise presented by the study. The concept of personality types remains highly controversial in psychology, especially since there are several classifications that have received empirical support. often could not be replicated.
“Personality types existed only in self-help literature and did not have much space in scientific journals,” Amaral says. “Now we think that will change because of this study. “
The new research mixed an alternative computational approach with data from four questionnaires with more than 1. 5 million respondents worldwide, obtained from the Neo John Johnson International Personality Element Set (IPIP-NEO) Representation, with and 300 elements, respectively, the BBC’s myPersonality project and Big Personality Test datasets.
The questionnaires, developed by the research community for decades, contain between 44 and 300 questions. People voluntarily respond to online questionnaires, attracted by the opportunity to receive feedback on their own personality.
From this large data set, the research team identified the five most accepted characteristics: neuroticism, extraversion, sincerity, kindness, and conscientiousness. After developing new algorithms, four personality groups or types emerged:
Researchers explain that as people mature, the pattern of their personality changes; for example, older adults tend to be less neurotic, though more conscious and enjoyable than those under the age of 20.
“When you look at large groups of people, it’s obvious that there are trends and that these trends can change over time,” Amaral says.