People enjoy learning more about themselves and taking tests to find out what their personality type is. Experts have believed personality types to be mythical. Personality exists on a continuum. Recent research has disproved that notion.
An article published in Nature Human Behaviour revealed that there are four types of personality: average, reserved and role-model. These findings could change how personality is viewed in general.
Your personality type can be predicted by different traits.
Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering in Illinois examined data from 1.5 Million participants who completed questionnaires on the “big five” personality characteristics. These traits are widely accepted as major indicators of personality. They noticed that the people were clustered in four areas and these emerged as the distinct personalities.
Based on their five traits, people are classified into one of these types.
These are the four types of personality:
- Average People who are more open-minded and neurotic than others are the most common.
- Reserved This type of person is not neurotic or open-minded, but they are emotionally stable. They are usually introverted, conscientious, and agreeable.
- Role models: These are people who are naturally leaders and have low levels of neuroticism. They also possess high levels of agreeableness. They are open to new ideas and reliable.
- Self-centered: These people are more open, conscientious and agreeable than the average person.
The researchers also discovered that personality doesn’t stay static. People evolve. Teen boys are more self-centered than older people, and tend to be the most dominant role model.
These personality types are indicative of healthy people. It might seem bad to be neurotic but average people experience different levels of neuroticism.
Future research could examine individuals with mental illness in order to determine if they fall under these categories or if there are more.