Off The Record
11 Insignificant Habits Reveal a Lot About Your Personality, According to Science
We all have a routine. There are certain actions we perform regularly and eventually they become a part of our behavior. Many of these actions, with time, go unnoticed and we consciously don’t make efforts to remember them.
These apparently trivial habits actually provide meaningful insights about your personality, your emotions and your motivations. There have been numerous psychological researches in the field and experts have revealed what certain habits might reveal about you.
Understandably enough, these aren’t all-conclusive. Rather, they provide a starting point from where you can begin to understand yourself and others.
1. Shopping habits disclose your preference for detail
Are you someone who goes through the back of the products to ensure it suits your needs? Or are you someone who simply grabs the first thing you see on the shelf and automatically know it is what you need? The former kind of person is what experts call “explanation fiend” and the latter is known as “explanation foe.”
Back in 2012, a series of experiments were published and they revealed that explanation fiends score higher on measures of cognitive reflection and reverse is true for the explanation foes. It implies that the former pay acute attention to details and they also analyse it to death. On the other hand, explanation foes prefer general information.
2. Your gait gives away your vulnerability to victimization
Researchers conducted a study in 2013 where inmates were shown video clips of people walking and asked to judge which were most vulnerable to victimization. The study concluded that the inmates who scored higher on the measures of psychopathy were more likely to point out walkers who were victimized in the past. When questioned about their judgment, they replied their judgment were based on the way these people walked.
All of us have judged others on how they walk. Scientifically, research has suggested that the only thing you can accurately foretell from how someone walks is how unfortified they are against victimization.
3. Your manner of hanging the toilet paper has to do with the level of assertiveness you hold
This one’s pretty interesting! So, Gilda Carle, relationship expert, surveyed 2,000 men and women. It was regarding the way they hang their toilet paper and it was followed by another survey where they answered questions about how assertive they were in their relationships.
People who tend to roll the toilet paper under turned out to be more submissive while those who turned it over were more assertive in their relationships – Carle reported to The Independent. Furthermore, a couple of people reported changing the direction of the toilet paper no matter where they are, further revealing their dominant personalities.
4. Your emails draw the line between you being a narcissist or an extrovert
Psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic writes in Fast Company. He says extroverts are likely to talk about fun-related stuff like partying and going out. As for people with low emotional intelligence, they tend to use negative and emotional words such as “depressed” and “angry.” Not really surprising, a narcissist will deliberately use words such as “I”, “me” and “mine.” So, next time you receive an email, pay close attention to the words!
5. How you eat reveals your approach to life
The Huffington Post conversed with experts on food-related behaviors. Here’s what your eating habits might disclose about your personality.
– Slow eaters are the kind who like to be in control. They know how to appreciate life.
– Fast eaters tend to be goal-oriented and ambitious. Often, they are impatient but they are also open to new experiences.
– Picky eaters are likely neurotic in different areas of life.
– Adventurous eaters are out there, stepping out of their comfort zones to explore.
– Those who tend to separate food items on their plate are apt to be detail oriented and disciplined.
6. Your language style gives away your romantic feelings
There is this psychologist named James Pennebaker, who has years of experience in the study of the function words such as “the,” “this,” and “I.” In his pursuit, he, along with his colleagues, listened to recordings of speed dates between men and women. He concluded that most probable people to go on a date were the ones who used similar language, specifically the function words. Another report suggests that it is probably due to the reason that we tend to shift our language when we like someone.
Related article: 7 Lifestyle Choices That Reveal Hidden Aspects of Your Personality, According To Science
7. Your dependence on your phone discloses your emotional stability
The phenomenon isn’t a strange one and most of us are responsible for using our phones more than we should. For instance, this study in 2015 measured cell phone addiction and the results concluded that emotional instability is a key predictor of cell-phone addiction. In recent researches it has been established as a scientific finding. Moreover, interestingly enough, introverts are less likely to be addicted to their phones.
8. Whether you are punctual or not helps decide whether you are Type A or Type B
Do you know someone who never gets things done on time? Well, according to one study, people who are habitually late are most likely “Type B” personalities.
Furthermore, Linda Sapadin, a psychologist, told The Atlantic that the following four kind of people are always late – it isn’t unlikely that you can be a combination of all four!
If you are a perfectionist, it will be impossible for you to leave the house until everything is organized. Being a crisis maker, the euphoria you experience from getting things done in the last minute is unescapable! Then there is the defier who simply doesn’t like following the societal norms and authority figures. Lastly, there are dreamers who overestimate the work that can get done in a certain amount of time.
9. Your nervous tics might unveil your perfectionist personality
There is this term known as “body focused repetitive Behaviors” (BRFB), for example, biting nails or picking the skin. If you notice yourself engaging in such behaviors often, you might be a perfectionist!
So back in 2015, researchers concluded in a study that people scoring high on measures of perfectionism involved in such behaviors, especially in stressful, frustrating and boring conditions. Why though? It’s probably because being perfectionists, they find it better to do something than do nothing!
10. The way you take your selfies might reveal your openness to new experiences
All this time you have been posting selfies, people have been judging you! People do make a lot of assumptions about your personality based on the selfies you take.
In one study at a Chinese University, students viewed selfies of others on a Chinese microblogging website. Even though most of their judgments were wrong, the only accurate observation they made was that a positive emotion in a selfie meant the person was open to new experiences.
Furthermore, researchers concluded: friendlier people were more likely to click pictures from below, duck faces belong to neurotic people, and more conscientious you are, less likely you are to show the background in your picture.
11. How you organize your inbox might give away how controlling you are
What is the first thing which came to your mind as soon you read this behavior? Your inbox? Well, how you maintain your inbox has a lot to say about your personality.
If you are a perfectionist, you are likely to save emails as opposed to those who file and delete them as soon as they receive an email – a behavior you will probably find in people having higher need for control in their life. Then there are those overwhelmed people who don’t check their unread messages but they don’t delete them either. However, there is also a possibility that they are simply being smart – understanding that reading those emails isn’t making them any better!
Featured Image Source: Alexander Mazanov @ 123RF.com
