personality traits

Childhood Circumstances and Personality Traits Are Associated With Loneliness in Older Age

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Summary: A combination of personality traits and childhood circumstances account for why some older people experience loneliness more than others. Lonely adults over 50 were 1.24 times more likely to have rarely, or never, had comfortable friendships during childhood, and 1.34 times more likely to have had poor relationships with their mothers as children.

Source: PLOS

Life circumstances during childhood—including having fewer friends and siblings, low-quality relationships with parents, bad health and growing up in a poorer household—are all correlated with a higher rate of loneliness in older age, according to a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sophie Guthmuller of Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.

Loneliness has been a growing topic of interest over the last decade, as it has been shown to be linked with ill health and to increase with age. Loneliness is correlated with a higher risk of developing mental conditions, a deterioration in physical health, and is linked to mortality and higher health care utilization.

In the new study, Guthmuller used data from the large cross-national Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which collects information from individuals across Europe aged 50 and older on health, socioeconomic status, and social and family networks. Loneliness was measured with the R-UCLA Loneliness Scale.

Guthmuller found that while ill health is the main factor correlated with loneliness in older age, explaining 43.32% of the variance in loneliness, social support in older age also accounts for 27.05% of the variance, personality traits account for 10.42% and life circumstances during childhood account for 7.50%.

The odds of loneliness age 50 and over were 1.24 times higher for people who rarely or never had comfortable friends in childhood compared to those who more often had friends, 1.34 times higher in those who had a fair or poor relationship with their mother as a child compared to those with an excellent maternal relationship, and 1.21 times higher when one grew up in a household with poor wealth compared to those in a wealthy household.

Loneliness was more common in individuals with a neurotic personality (OR 1.20) and less common in those who scored highly for conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and openness.

This shows a child walking alone, carrying a stuffed lion
The odds of loneliness age 50 and over were 1.24 times higher for people who rarely or never had comfortable friends in childhood compared to those who more often had friends. Image is in the public domain

https://c45565484c5f2a7f3df4c83418521d2e.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Guthmuller points out that the findings of this study confirm the importance of social networks and support in older age, as well as the role of personality traits, and childhood circumstances. She concludes that early interventions are key to targeting later loneliness and that interventions aimed at increasing social support in later life need to be adapted to all personality types.

The author adds, “The study finds, as expected, that health status and social support at older ages are the two main factors correlated with loneliness at age 50+. Interestingly, the study reveals that personality traits and life circumstances during childhood are significantly associated with loneliness later in life, after controlling for a large set of later life conditions.

“In light of the trend of increasing childhood loneliness, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s life, the findings of this study confirms the importance of early life interventions to tackle long term effect on loneliness.”

Loneliness among older adults in Europe: The relative importance of early and later life conditions

The aim of this paper is to study the association between childhood circumstances and loneliness in older adults in Europe. Based on rich information collected by the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) on childhood characteristics and individual characteristics at age 50+, the study is able to control for personality traits, socioeconomic and demographic factors, social support and health in later life, and country-specific characteristics.

The analyses show strong correlations between life circumstances in childhood and feeling lonely in older age; these correlations remain significant after adjusting for covariates.

While ill health is the main factor correlated with loneliness at 50+, as expected, the analysis of the relative importance of the determinants reveals that personality traits account for more than 10% of the explained variance and that life circumstances during childhood account for 7%.

Social support at older ages is the second highest category of factors, accounting for 27%—with, interestingly, support at home and social network characteristics contributing about 10% each, engaging in activities and computer skills accounting for 7% of the explained variance. Demographic and socioeconomic factors account for 6% and country-level characteristics contribute 5%.

This paper points out the relevance of early life interventions to tackling loneliness in older age, and it shows that early interventions and interventions aiming at increasing social support in later life need to be adapted to all personality types.

Thus, the role of childhood circumstances and the mechanisms explaining the association between loneliness in childhood and loneliness in later life deserve more attention in future research.

Most of Us Combine Personality Traits from Different Genders

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New research underscores that almost everyone’s personality blends “more often seen in men” and “more often seen in women” characteristics

Most of Us Combine Personality Traits from Different Genders

How different are men and women really? About 30 years ago, if dating guides are any indication, some people assumed vast differences in personality, with Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus relationship advice. Today, by contrast, certain communities are pushing back against the idea of binary gender, which presents men and women as separate categories. (A quick reminder: gender—described in terms such as “man,” “woman” and “nonbinary person”—has strong cultural and social components, whereas sex—sometimes described with adjectives such as “male,” “female” and “intersex”—refers to a combination of biological features.)

Scientists are also raising questions around gender, sex and personality. For one, researchers debate how big the personality differences between cisgender men and women truly are. The answer depends on how psychologists measure an individual’s characteristics. For example, a study involving more than 300,000 people in the U.S., who self-identified as either male or female looked both at broad personality traits, such as extraversion and agreeableness, and more specific aspects of these traits, such as a warm communication style or tendency to act altruistically. In this sample, researchers found moderate differences between male and female participants in the broad traits but, in most cases, larger differences at the more specific level. For instance, overall, both male and female individuals in the study were similarly extraverted (a broad trait). When the scientists looked at specific aspects of extraversion, however, they found that male participants, on average, sought out exciting situations more often than female ones did. And female participants demonstrated higher activity levels than male ones.

Researchers also argue about whether it makes more sense to study the size of personality differences by looking at one isolated characteristic at a time or by considering all traits simultaneously. The latter approach tends to produce substantially larger differences, much the way that male and female faces don’t differ much if you look just at their eyes or nose but become easier to distinguish if you look at the whole face.ADVERTISEMENT

At ClearerThinking.org, a project that investigates the psychology of happiness and decision-making, we wanted to contribute to this discussion and help the public learn more about sex, gender and personality. We ran a series of 15 studies and conducted analyses on more than 15,000 people with the goal of testing the most comprehensive set of personality traits to date. Our analyses are limited to cisgender men and women because of our sample: 98 percent of our participants identified as either a “man” or “woman” and reported that this gender identity aligned with their sex assigned at birth. We therefore did not have enough data to shed light on the personality traits of nonbinary and transgender people—so although many individuals fall into these other categories, our research focused on cisgender men and women.

From the data, we discovered 18 specific self-reported traits that varied between these men and women. Next, we built an algorithm designed to predict a person’s gender based on their self-reported scores on those traits, which was accurate 78 percent of the time. That accuracy is high but far from perfect, revealing the challenge of predicting an individual’s gender from their combination of traits. Finally, we adapted our study questionnaire—in which people rated how much they agree with statements such as “I laugh aloud” and “I frequently worry”—into an online interactive assessment. You can try the quiz yourself to see how well the algorithm predicts your gender.

To create the questions for our studies, we cast a very wide net, looking at large personality projects, reviewing the academic literature and crowdsourcing ideas. We ended up testing more than 600 personality questions for gender differences before identifying the 18 traits with the greatest variation between the self-identified men and women in our sample. These traits included not only the broad characteristics that are widely used in psychological research (such as extraversion and agreeableness) but also more specific patterns of thought and behavior, such as how frequently an individual takes risks or their degree of focus on aesthetics. We also double-checked our conclusions by running a final study to replicate the major findings. Ultimately, we found no large differences in personality between cisgender men and women on any traits. But we did find small- and moderate-sized differences in the 18 personality traits.

The largest difference we detected was the degree to which cisgender people thought about sex, assessed by asking people to rate how much they agreed with the statement “I often have sexual thoughts when I meet an attractive looking person” and disagreed with the statement “I do not frequently think about sex.” (This “sex-focused” characteristic, while not linked to major personality traits commonly studied in psychology, nonetheless fits the conception of a personality trait as a pattern in thought, emotion or behavior. Furthermore, it relates to a concept called sexual preoccupation.) We found that gender could explain about 18 percent of the variation in the extent to which people are sex-focused. Men had a higher average score on this trait than women. There were still plenty of women who had a higher score than most men, however. In other words, individual men and women were highly varied, even though, at the group level, men tended to differ from women. We also found that, on average, men’s self-reported personality was a bit more thick-skinned, risk-taking and self-valuing. In contrast, on average, women’s self-reported personality was a bit more unselfish, compassionate and peaceful.

On every trait, there was a substantial overlap between men and women. Yet at the tail ends—where people either strongly agreed or disagreed with the questions we asked them—larger differences emerged. For example, very low compassion was rare in both men and women, but the few people who identified as very uncompassionate were much more likely to be men. This result is consistent with the finding that antisocial personality disorder, which often involves a lack of remorse or empathy, is more common among men than women.ADVERTISEMENT

So is there a “man’s personality” and a “woman’s personality”? Fascinatingly, almost everyone in our study was a mix of “more often seen in men” and “more often seen in women” traits. For any given trait, an individual woman was closer to the overall average for women than the overall average for men just 61 percent of the time. And a man was closer to the average for men than the average for women only 57 percent of the time. Only about 1 percent of men and 1 percent of women had almost entirely more-often-seen-in-men or more-often-seen-in-women personality traits. Accordingly, because nearly everyone is a mix of both, we named the personality assessment we had created from this research the Gender Continuum Test.

To test how accurately gender can be predicted from personality, we developed a simple machine-learning algorithm (a computer program that looked for patterns in data regarding which personality traits are associated with being a cis man or cis woman). We trained our algorithm using results from past study participants, then presented the algorithm with the personality traits of new participants to see how well it could predict their gender. Using just the most predictive trait—being sex-focused—the algorithm could predict a person’s gender correctly 69 percent of the time. This result may be impressive to some. But the prediction is far from perfect because some women are much more sex-focused than the average man.

The algorithm’s accuracy rose to 78 percent when we allowed it to incorporate all the personality differences at once. That’s a big improvement—but for the other 22 percent of people, the algorithm was predicting incorrectly. When we released our quiz to the public, accuracy slipped a bit further to 74 percent. That’s still much better than the average human, though: We gave another group of study participants sets of personality traits that, we explained, belonged to particular individuals. Then we asked the participants to predict the gender of those other people using the personality traits. They were correct only 58 percent of the time, hardly better than a coin flip.

We believe our results shed new light on the size of gender differences in personality. There are, however, some important caveats to acknowledge. First, all of our study participants were from the U.S., and given that factors such as culture influence personality and gender, we would be hesitant to extend our conclusions to other communities. Second, our study cannot provide insight into the causes of personality differences—for instance, how much these differences can be explained by environment and culture as opposed to biology. Third, as noted, given our pool of participants, we don’t have enough data to comment on transgender, intersex or nonbinary individuals. We hope future research explores these and other dimensions of the personality, sex and gender debate.

In the meantime, our study is a reminder that, on average, cisgender men and women do have some small to moderate differences in how they report their personality, but almost everyone is a mix of more-often-seen-in-men and more-often- seen-in-women traits. If you try to guess someone’s personality from their gender, you’ll very often be wrong.

Here are 6 signs your personality is so strong it’s intimidating others

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You know the saying, “don’t judge a book by the cover”, but when it comes to sizing people up, first impressions can be hard to overcome.

For people with strong personality types, like those who have been branded “alphas”, it can be difficult for people to get close to them. Not because they are hard to get close to, but because of the way they come off when you first meet them.

Often thought to be overbearing and aggressive, alpha personalities have a lot more going on beneath the surface that we realize.

What’s more, many alphas don’t realize their personalities are actually making others feel uncomfortable or intimidated.

Here are 6 signs that your alpha personality is intimidating others.

1) You Always Say What’s on Your Mind

While people say they want to hear the truth, it can be hard to hear when someone is actually giving it to you. Alphas are known for their “straight to the point” personality, and sometimes their bark is worse than their bite.

strong personality is intimidating quote

2) You Are Wise Beyond Your Years

While alpha personality types are often very outgoing and extroverted, they also do a great deal of introspective reflecting and know themselves well.

This can make others uncomfortable when they realize you know your stuff, and can figure things out faster, better, and in a more efficient way than other personality types.

alpha personality is intimidating quote

3) You See Solutions Where Others See Only Problems

While everyone else is running around like chickens with their heads cut off worrying about the world’s end, you are over there getting things done.

You can see a problem from a 30,000 foot level and know the path to success within minutes.

4) Your Tolerance for Ignorance is Non-existent

Because you say what you think and mean what you say, you expect people to do the same. This means that people who are ignorant don’t stand a chance with you. Even if they are being ignorant without purpose.

You’ll call them on their crap and expect them to change their ways if they want to enjoy the pleasure of your company.

5) You Love New Things

Alpha personality types have a strong desire to try new things. Their confidence enables them to try and fail repeatedly without being knocked down. This is why they love first dates.

This also means that they are more likely to be single, adventure alone, travel the world by themselves, and enjoy taking risks. This can be a lot for people to process and can result in people keeping their distance from alphas.

6) You Cut to the Chase

Strong personalities exert a lot of energy on moving their lives forward, which means that they don’t have time for small talk. They know what is important to them and they don’t waste time doing things that aren’t on that list. So if you find yourself face to face with an alpha personality, don’t take offense to their standoffish ways. That’s just who they are.

People who like to be alone have these 6 special personality traits

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In terms of our personalities and how we approach others, we are often placed in one of two categories:

Introvert or Extrovert.

Is it possible to be a little bit of both? Have you ever wondered what qualities specifically make up each and what they indicate?

In this article we reveal what it means to be one of those fascinating people who loves to spend time alone and challenge the perceptions that they’re lonely, depressed, and full of anxiety.

Do you have a friend who would rather stay in over shared cups of tea and pass up the Music Festival of the year? Do you enjoy your own time so much that you’ll travel alone, go to dinner and have a glass of wine for one, as well as catch the occasional film with nobody by your side? If so, I am right there with you, because I do all of the above, but the problem is…

People who love to spend time alone have to explain themselves, as if it goes against a societal expectation of what’s normal and what’s not.

Here are some great qualities of people who like to spend time alone:

1. They’re Extremely Loyal

They don’t very often have a wide social circle and if they do, you won’t find them out every night of the week with large groups, lining up for the hottest club opening. They instead seek out meaningful and trustworthy friends who they feel comfortable to welcome into their space and share details of their life with. If you have a friend who likes to spend time alone, you can guarantee that this person will be there for you through thick and thin.

2. Surprise! They’re Open to New Ideas

Just because they cherish their quiet time doesn’t mean they won’t do something new and exciting. They just make sure to have their quiet time before taking the plunge into a highly social activity.

3. They Have a Level Head

They spend so much quiet time on their own, taking the time to navigate and contemplate situations, problems, and to really tap into who they are and what they want. They have a strong sense of self and a confidence that radiates from within. When they’re feeling stressed or the weight of the world is closing in? They spend time alone to recharge instead of filling their day with distractions.

4. They Are Comfortable With Their Own Thoughts

I’m sure we’ve all come across that person who can’t stand to be alone with their own thoughts. People who like to spend time alone, particularly in the quiet, display a clear conscience and do not struggle with their inner thoughts. Of course, we can all have down days but they tend to be able to navigate themselves out of any slump.

5. They Understand The Value of Time. Yours and Theirs

You’ll notice a word that keeps coming up in each point. The word is ‘time’. People who spend time alone understand and appreciate it’s value. They put a high priority on making that time available in order for them to function at their highest level and best self; so, when you are giving of your time they understand what you’ve given up for them. They have a deep sense of making sure not to waste your time or to spend time with people who are wasting theirs.

6. They Exercise Strong Boundaries

All of that time alone gives these people the space to think about what motivates them, what works and what doesn’t, and how to properly communicate this. You’ll find that they have strong and healthy boundaries and they exercise their right to communicate these in a really healthy and clear manner.

Have your perceptions changed? Can you see any of these qualities in yourself or a friend?

We all have a different approach to life, celebrating our differences is what’s it’s all about.

Are you like Isaac Newton or Queen Victoria? Analyse your handwriting to find out

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Your handwriting can reveal your personality traits, as it comes through the central nervous system, says a new study.

Handwriting
The slant in your handwriting indicates your social stance.

Your handwriting can tell if you have a personality similar to Isaac Newton or Queen Victoria, say scientists who have decoded character traits of some of Britain’s most famous names by decoding their writing style. Researchers from Royal Mail in the UK along with Tracey Trussell, a leading handwriting analyst studied letters and notes from UK’s defining figures such as Rosalind Franklin, Isaac Newton, Queen Victoria, Florence Nightingale, Millicent Fawcett, Charles Darwin and Elizabeth Fry.

The subjects were chosen as they were all keen letter writers and appeared in the 100 Greatest Britons or 100 Great Black Britons lists. “Handwriting is like ‘brain writing’ because it comes through the central nervous system. It’s a snapshot in time,” said Tracey Trussell, handwriting analyst in the UK.

Slant is an emotional barometer that measures people’s social stance. A marked right slant such as that in the writing style of Queen Victoria and Issac Newton indicates that a person is enthusiastic, responsive and that they do not want to hold back and tend to be highly proactive.

Writing consists of three zones — upper, middle and lower. The upper zone focuses on the parts of the letters that extend up wards like b, d, f, h and k, researchers said. People with a large and dominant upper zone have rich imaginations, creative mindsets and big aspirations. They are also intellectually savvy, ethical and have high standards, like Claudia Jones, Ignatius Sancho and Charles Darwin, researchers said.

A person with long and high t-bars is a take-charge sort of person, like Queen Victoria and feminist leader Millicent Fawcett. They are decision makers and perfectionists, they said. Narrow or non-existent right margin is when the end of a sentence leaves no space on the right hand side of the page. Words appear to fall off the edge of the page or dip down like in the cases of Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. The size of the right hand margin shows the writer’s real feelings towards the future. Those that leave no right margin are outgoing and engaging. They are also impulsive, goal-orientated and driven, researchers said.

A noticeably large (or inflated) letter ‘k’ shows people who are resourceful and defiant like Charles Darwin, Ignatius Sancho and Claudia Jones. They like to get their own way and follow their own path in life, researchers said. “It is amazing to think that something we do every day can reveal so much about us,” said David Gold from Royal Mail — a postal and delivery provider service.

With Personality Traits You Are Who You Like

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In an age-old affirmation of “like attracts like,” a new study by personality psychologists has found that people with dysfunctional traits such as narcissism and antagonism are more tolerant when they run into others who share those troublesome traits, LiveScience reports. However, this doesn’t mean that narcissist or antagonistic people actually like these behaviors; they’re simply more tolerant of them, the researchers added, noting that this is one reason some personality disorders are so hard to treat.

The science of mental health is an ongoing field of study that too often ends up with a prescription for a drug to treat whatever mental health problem you have, as opposed to addressing the root causes of mental health issues. For example, it’s a known fact that depression rates rise during fall and winter — a root cause that can be directly addressed with more sunlight, as opposed to a bottle of pills.

The impact that the sun has on your overall health cannot be overstated. Sunlight has a profound impact on your mental health. Out of 19 environmental factors, the only one correlating to higher levels of distress was the amount of time between sunrise and sunset.

But unless you live in a warm climate that allows you to get out in the sun every day, it simply isn’t possible to get the full benefits of sunlight. This why I recommend photobiology as a therapeutic use of light to improve health.

Other tips for beating the winter blues include exercising, getting enough good-quality sleep, avoiding processed foods, optimizing your gut health and immune system (which can help you socially as well), and increasing the amount of high quality, animal-based omega-3 fats into your diet. Foods especially have an immense impact on your mood and ability to cope, and eating a diet of fresh, whole foods will best support your mental health.

Source:mercola.com

Scientists have found genetic links between personality traits and psychiatric diseases.

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The secrets hiding in our DNA.

Scientists have identified genetic links between a set of psychological factors known as ‘the big five‘ personality traits – extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience – and say they could also influence risk factors for certain psychiatric disorders.

While it has already been established that personality is partly linked to genetics, recent genome-wide association studies like this will allow researchers to take a closer look at which parts of our DNA code affect certain aspects of our character.

“Although personality traits are heritable, it has been difficult to characterise genetic variants associated with personality until recent, large-scale GWAS,” explains lead researcher Chi-Hua Chen from the University of California, San Diego.

Chen and his team analysed genetic data, including around 60,000 genetic samples collected by private firm 23andMe and some 80,000 samples provided by the Genetics of Personality Consortium.

With so much DNA data to work with, they were able to look for correlations between specific genetic features, personality traits, and psychiatric disorders.

We know that parts of our personality, such as intelligence, are down to a combination of the genes we were born with – our inherited DNA – and our life experiences, such as how good our teachers are when we’re growing up.

But scientists aren’t certain about how these two factors balance out, which makes large-scale studies like this very useful.

The researchers found links between certain genes and certain traits. For instance, the genes WSCD2 and PCDH15 are connected to extraversion, while the gene L3MBTL2 and the chromosome 8p23.1 are tied to neuroticism.

They also found that genes related to neuroticism and openness to experience were clustered together in the same regions as genes linked to certain psychiatric disorders.

Other genetic correlations showed connections between extraversion and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); between openness and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; and between neuroticism and depression and anxiety.

In other words, the same parts of DNA coding that help define our personalities could also affect our likelihood of developing mental health problems.

That’s not to say the genes we’re born with fully define our personality and make psychiatric problems inevitable, but they do seem to have an influence – and could be closely linked to each other, based on these findings.

On the other hand, the research found no genetic overlap between mental illnesses and agreeableness (being cooperative and compassionate), or conscientiousness (being responsible and self-disciplined).

It’s still early days for the research, and the study has only shown a correlation, not a causative link between personality traits and certain psychological disorders, but the team says with more investigation, we might be able to find a way to predict and treat these disorders in the future.

“Our study is in an early stage for genetic research in personality, and many more genetic variants associated with personality traits are to be discovered,” says Chen.

“We found genetic correlations between personality traits and psychiatric disorders, but specific variants underlying the correlations are unknown.”

Can a “Triple Package” of Personality Traits Explain Success?

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The “tiger mother” thesis is refuted by science.

If the presence of these three traits predict success, regardless of one’s ethnic or cultural group, then one might more confidently conclude that it is the combination of traits – rather than some other reason – that leads to greater success.  

In 2011, Yale law professor Amy Chua became a household name after publishing her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, a memoir documenting her draconian parenting style. Chua generated lots of publicity for her shock value anecdotes, like the time she threatened to burn all her daughter’s stuffed animals as consequence for playing poorly on the piano. Chua claims that her parenting techniques were not only typical of Chinese immigrants, but explained why Chinese Americans, on average, have educationally outperformed other ethnic groups.

Three years later, Chua collaborated with her husband and fellow Yale law professor, Jed Rubenfeld, to write a book that makes even bolder claims about how cultural differences explain group disparities in success. In The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America, Chua and Rubenfeld argue that a unique combination of three personality traits are the magic formula behind achievement. The three traits are: a belief in the superiority of one’s own group, a tendency towards feelings of insecurity, and the ability to control one’s impulses. According to the book, individuals who belong to cultures that emphasize these three traits tend to do better. As examples of their theory at work, Chua and Rubenfeld point out the greater success of Mormons, Nigerians, Persians, Cubans, Indians, East Asians, Lebanese, and Jews.

Chua and Rubenfeld’s book was met with harsh opposition, particularly from Asian Americans who objected to what they saw as the perpetuation of the “model minority” stereotype — the idea that Asian Americans tend to do well because of a cultural emphasis on work ethic, family values, and conformity. (Chua is Chinese.) Like all stereotypes, the model minority stereotype ignores the vast diversity within the Asian American population as well as the challenges faced by many people within that group.

The book also received praise from critics who lauded its frank discussion of an important question: why do some groups in America, on average, tend to do better than others? If one examines Chua and Rubenfeld’s theory closely, it becomes apparent that it is ultimately psychological rather than cultural: they propose that a specific combination of psychological traits can explain success, and they believe that people from certain groups are more likely to possess them. Joshua Hart and Christopher Chabris, both psychology professors at Union College, decided to empirically test the “triple package” hypothesis, using twostudies with a combined online sample of over 1200 adults of various ethnic backgrounds.

The researchers deliberately chose to study a sample of representative Americans, rather than members of the successful groups mentioned by Chua and Rubenfeld, since this would offer a stronger test of the theory. If the presence of these three traits predict success, regardless of one’s ethnic or cultural group, then one might more confidently conclude that it is the combination of traits – rather than some other reason – that leads to greater success.

The triple package’s first trait, a belief in the superiority of one’s own group, was measured with a scale that asked respondents how much they agree with statements such as, “Most other cultures are backward compared to my culture.” Measuring insecurity, the second trait, proved a bit more complex because Chua and Rubenfeld argue in their book that insecurity can take many forms including low self-esteem, feelings of danger, or fear of losing what one already has. Therefore, the researchers measured insecurity using multiple scales. They combined their participants’ scores on these scales and identified the following three factors of insecurity: personal insecurity, contingent self-worth, and family insecurity. For “control,” the third trait, they used scales of impulsiveness, conscientiousness, and grit.

The researchers also measured their participants’ cognitive abilities through vocabulary and mathematical reasoning tests. Although Chua and Rubenfeld’s theory does not emphasize intelligence, past research has shown that general cognitive abilities are one of the strongest predictors of achievement and success. Finally, to measure life success, Hart and Chabris had their participants report on their annual income, level of education, and honors and awards they have received. All of these measures of success were combined to create a single, combined “success” variable.

The researchers used regression analysis to determine the strength of the relationship between the personality traits and self-reported success. The findings did not support Chua and Rubenfeld’s triple package theory of traits. The participants reporting the most success were not the ones who scored highly on all three traits. Instead, the biggest predictors of success were cognitive ability and parental education. Also, in direct contradiction to Chua and Rubenfeld’s theory, greater personal insecurity was related toless success in life.

There were, however, a couple of isolated findings that did support elements of the triple package hypothesis. Participants who scored higher on contingent self-worth reported greater success. People with high contingent self-worth tend to rely more on outer circumstances, such as the praise of other people, in order to feel good about themselves. It makes sense that people who have a high need for external approval would work harder to achieve outward success. In addition, there was a small but significant correlation between feelings of group superiority and attaining a higher income. In other words, the more hubris that participants expressed about their own ethnic group, the more money they reported making. Despite these individual findings in support of the theory, Hart and Chabris found no consistent evidence that it is the unique combination of the three traits – group superiority, personal insecurity, and impulse control – that leads to greater success.

If Chua and Rubenfeld’s theory can’t explain the success of certain groups, then what might? Hart and Chabris point out that, although it seems appealing to think that we can identify a group of learnable traits that determine success, there is scant evidence for such a formula. The idea of a “triple package” may seem compelling because it seems to fit with our own personal observations and common stereotypes about immigrants. In addition, the theory meshes well with the belief that success depends on one’s hard work and personal qualities, rather than one’s circumstances. But, as best we know, success is best explained by such unsurprising factors as being smart, being conscientious, and having the good fortune of growing up in a financially stable environment.

What spicy food says about you?

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Spiciness is actually not a taste or flavor — it’s your body sensing the presence of certain chemicals, also called chemesthesis. The chemicals in peppers and other spicy foods can be a deterrent to some animals and serve as a protective mechanism for a plant, but some humans have developed an affinity for this feeling and seek it out in their cuisine. As one study puts it, some people exhibit a preference for oral burn.

LisovskayaiStockGetty-Images

Interestingly, studies now show this love for heat is also linked to certain personality traits. If you love the heat of spicy food, you may be a thrill-seeker. People who like spicy foods are attracted to the burning sensation of a compound called capsaicin, which causes a mild feeling of pain when eaten. Chili peppers are commonly associated with spiciness, which is rated on the Scoville scale and measures capsaicin content.

A 2013 study in the Food Quality and Preference Journal describes the many factors that affect a love of spicy foods, ranging from social or cultural influences, how many times you’ve been exposed to capsaicin, physical differences in the sensation of spiciness and a person’s personality traits.

This study also shows that those who seek more frequent chili intake exhibit qualities of “sensation seeking,” or the need for new and complex sensations and “sensitivity to reward behaviors,” which support the researcher’s hypothesis that personality plays a role in whether a person likes spice or not.

There’s good reason to include spices for health as well as for the adventure of eating hot foods. A 2014 study found that healthy compounds in spices, namely flavonoids, work as antioxidants and are associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease.

Capsaicin in particular has been studied extensively in relation to reducing cancer risk, even at relatively low to medium intake levels. Many studies show the most benefit from spices at higher intake levels, so finding ways to include a variety of spices in your diet on a regular basis may offer benefits outside of the kitchen.

If you’re averse to spice but want to enjoy a mild level of capsaicin-containing foods, try sweeter peppers like the Anaheim, ancho, sweet bell or poblano. Increase the heat in your foods by trying Cholula hot sauce, horseradish or wasabi and serrano or jalapeno peppers.

If these medium peppers and sauces are too spicy, start with a very small quantity and work your way up, as studies show that repeat exposure is also associated with enjoying spiciness.

Remember, you can always add spice, but you can’t take it away. The hottest peppers, such as the Carolina Reaper, cayenne pepper, ghost pepper, habanero or Thai chili pepper, should be used only for those who love spice and are accustomed to it; capsaicin content here is much higher than mild or medium peppers. Sensation-seeking folks will likely go for these capsaicin-packed, mouth-burning peppers. Whichever level of spice you enjoy adding to your food, there is a pepper for everyone — so we can all partake in this healthful trend.

 

Scientists Discover That Eyes Are Windows To The Soul .

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The eye is the window to the universe, and some would say they are also windows to the soul..  We have heard this phrase get passed around before: “The eyes are the windows of the soul”.  People usually say this when they can see pain, anger, or some other emotion in somebody else’s eyes.  But recent research gives a whole new meaning to this phrase.  Eyes not only windows to emotions, they are windows to the soul.

How?  The answer has to do with the actual eyeball itself.  Everyone has a different structure of lines, dots and colours within the iris of their eye.  Some people may have similar eye colour to each other, but the lines and dots on the iris are as unique as a fingerprint.

Although they vary from person to person, there are certain patterns contained within the iris which are widespread, and scientists at Orebro University in Sweden wanted to see if these patterns correlated with specific personality traits.

They focused on patterns in crypts (threads which radiate from the pupil) and contraction furrows (lines curving around the outer edge) which are formed when the pupils dilate.  The studied the eyes of 428 subjects to see if the crypts patters and contraction furrows reflected their character traits.

What they found

Their findings showed those with denselypacked crypts are more warmhearted, tender, trusting, and likely to sympathise with others.  In comparison, those with more contraction furrows were more neurotic, impulsive and likely to give way to cravings.

It’s crazy to think how the markings on a person’s eyeball can reveal the most deep-rooted character traits of an individual.

There was an extremely strong correlation between a person’s iris and their personality traits.  But correlation does not imply causation right? Right. But it appears as though both eye detail and a person’s character traits may be caused by the same thing.

The researchers said that eye structure and personality could be linked because the gene sequences responsible for developing the structure of the iris also contribute to the development of the frontal lobe of our brain, which is the motherboard of our personality.

 “‘Our results suggest people with different iris features tend to develop along different personality lines,’ said Matt Larsson, a behavioural scientist who led the study at Orebro University.  ‘These findings support the notion that people with different iris configurations tend to develop along different trajectories in regards to personality.  Differences in the iris can be used as a biomarker that reflects differences between people.’”

 

The scientists also mentioned something very interesting about a gene called PAX6, which controls the formation of the eye in the early stages of embryonic development.  Research has shown that mutation of the gene results in poor social skills, impulsiveness, and poor communication skills.

Eye colour reveals even more

According to researchers at Pittsburgh University, women with lighter colored eyes experience less pain during childbirth compared to women with darker eyes. People with lighter eyes also consume significantly more alcohol, as darker eyed people require less alcohol to become intoxicated.

The reason boils down to genes. A senior lecturer in biomolecular sciences at Liverpool John Moores University said, “What we know now is that eye color is based on 12 to 13 individual variations in people’s genes… These genes do other things in the body.”

Take melanin,the pigment that makes eyes darker.   Melanin may also makes people more susceptible to alcohol. When psychologists at Georgia State University in Atlanta surveyed more than 12,000 men and women, they found those with light eyes consumed significantly more alcohol than those with dark eyes. The reason brown-eyed people may drink less – and also be less likely to be alcoholics – is because they need less alcohol to become intoxicated.

Melanin not only determines eye darkness, it’s also an insulator for the electrical connections between brain cells. The more melanin in the brain, the more efficiently, sensitively and faster the brain can work, the researchers reported in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.  So the chemical responsible for eye darkness is also responsible for brain efficiency.

Eyes are literally the windows to the inner most aspects of our personality and character traits.  If you look into someones eyes, you can easily tell if they are scared, sad, or worn down inside.  But if you look even closer, you will also be able to see what kind of psychology and personality that person has.  Eyes are literally a window into people’s souls.