Psychology Today November/December 2020 pp14-15 |Personality Traits and Behavior| “Personality In the Wild” “Scientists are connecting personality traits to everything from work choice to sneeze frequency” by Alexander Devers, Ph.D.
In this report Alexander Denver analyzed data from four diverse sample groups-people recruited from separate studies on medication, breast cancer, marital separation and successful aging-who agreed to carry around a smartphone with a special audio-recording app on it that captures up to 90 seconds of sound at intervals throughout the day every 10 minutes or so. The recordings were “coded for various behaviors and kinds of speech.”
What Devers found
Those that were high on Extraversion-being social and energetic did more talking and were more likely to express a range of feelings like anger, gratitude and affection. They recorded fewer coughs and sneezes-not sure what that indicates.
Those that were high on Agreeableness-how positive and helpful one is toward others expressed more gratitude and used nonfluencies like “uh” and “um” as possibly a way to “smooth over awkward moments in conversation.” They were less likely to swear, express anger and spend time outdoors suggesting less need to “get away from it all?”
Those that were high on Conscientiousness-how much a person prefers order and acts responsibly were more likely to talk about work and have “conversations that convey important information about thoughts, values or ideas.” They also did more eating and drinking possibly because they are conscientious not to miss meals. They spent less time in transit and less time with friends reflecting potentially being more organized and having other priorities-achievement.
Those that were high on Neuroticism-how much a person tends to experience negative emotions were more likely to blame others, get angry and frustrated yet expressed more affection and focused “more on other people in speech, using the word ‘you’ more often.” They ate and drank less and were less likely to gossip but had “fewer extended conversations” potentially because they experience more anxiety in social situations.
Those that were high on Open-Mindedness-complexity of one’s mental life and receptiveness to new ideas used more analytical words, and more conjunctions like ‘and’ and ‘also’. This could be a tendency to focus on data and make connections between different topics. They were less likely to use negation words like ‘no’ or ‘not’ and few verbs potentially because they are more “about ideas” rather than actions.
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