Category: Personality

The psychological traits linked to achieving old age.

Psychologists studying a group of Italians aged 90 to 101 have found they share certain psychological traits.

These include being stubborn, domineering and needing a sense of control.

This might suggest you need a determined attitude to make it through to 100-years-old.

Professor Dilip V. Jeste, who led the study, said:

“The main themes that emerged from our study, and appear to be the unique features associated with better mental health of this rural population, were positivity, work ethic, stubbornness and a strong bond with family, religion and land.”

The 29 Italians the psychologists interviewed live in nine villages in the Cilento region of Southern Italy.

They were all asked a wide range of questions.

Dr Anna Scelzo, the study’s first author, said:

“The group’s love of their land is a common theme and gives them a purpose in life.

Most of them are still working in their homes and on the land.

They think, ‘This is my life and I’m not going to give it up'”.

The study found that although the nonagenarian’s physical health had deteriorated, they were in better mental health than family members four decades younger.

Here are some direct quotes from the study interviewees:

• “I lost my beloved wife only a month ago and I am very sad for this. We were married for 70 years. I was close to her during all of her illness and I have felt very empty after her loss. But thanks to my sons, I am now recovering and feeling much better. I have four children, ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. I have fought all my life and I am always ready for changes. I think changes bring life and give chances to grow.”
• “I am always thinking for the best. There is always a solution in life. This is what my father has taught me: to always face difficulties and hope for the best.”
• “I am always active. I do not know what stress is. Life is what it is and must be faced … always.”
• “If I have to say, I feel younger now than when I was young.”

Dr Scelzo summarised the psychological traits linked to achieving old age:

“We also found that this group tended to be domineering, stubborn and needed a sense of control, which can be a desirable trait as they are true to their convictions and care less about what others think.

This tendency to control the environment suggests notable grit that is balanced by a need to adapt to changing circumstances.”

The study was published in the journal International Psychogeriatrics (Scelzo et al., 2017).

No, it’s not intelligence! How could you think such a thing?

Mothers value outgoing personalities in their children above intelligence, new research finds.

Apparently, Mom prefers a little show-off to a smarty-pants!

Dr Sophie von Stumm, study co-author, said:

“Given that higher levels of intelligence and conscientiousness are both linked to positive life outcomes such as success at school, at work, and in relationships, it’s surprising that only 1 in 10 mothers valued them as the most important characteristics for their child.”

The results come from a survey of 142 mothers of young babies in the UK.

Over half chose extraversion as the top trait they desired in their children.

Dr von Stumm said:

“While extraversion can have many benefits it is also associated with negative behaviours in adulthood, such as higher alcohol consumption and illegal drug use.

Understanding how mothers view personality is vital as their values influence their parenting and, through this, how their child’s personality traits develop.”

Agreeableness was the second most-desired personality trait for their children, followed by openness to experience, intelligence and conscientiousness.

Unsurprisingly, no mother wanted a neurotic baby.

Dr Rachel Latham, the study’s first author, said:

“We focused on the views of mothers, as they typically spend more time with their children than fathers, but it would be useful to examine the personality values of fathers too.

It would also be interesting to examine if mothers’ preference for extraversion changes over time as children grow older and enter formal education.

“In the long run we hope studies such as these can help us to understand how parents’ values shape a child’s personality and how this impacts on how children develop and learn and their future health, happiness, and success.”

The study was published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences (Latham & von Stumm, 2017).

This is the closest PsyBlog gets to toilet humour.

Do you hang your toilet roll with the end of the paper hanging ‘over’ or with the end hanging ‘under’?

According to a survey by Dr Gilda Carle, ‘over’ people are more assertive.

Assertive people are more likely to be in leadership roles and to have a take-charge attitude, says Dr Carle.

Those hanging the roll ‘under’ are more likely to be submissive.

Submissive people tend to be more agreeable, flexible and empathetic, says Dr Carle.

To create the toilet paper personality test, Dr Carle surveyed around 2,000 people of all ages, asking them whether they rolled the paper over or under.

Some people, Dr Carle has found, actually switched the toilet roll in other people’s houses (around one in five).

Naturally it was those ‘over’ people imposing their dominant personality on submissive ‘unders’.

The rich roll over

Rolling under might also be linked to lower earnings, another survey has found.

73% of those earning under $20,000 rolled under, while 60% of those earning over $50,000 roll over.

(Who knew there were so many surveys on toilet roll alignment?)

Note: this survey was not published in a reputable peer-reviewed journal!

There are three things that naturally happen to people’s personality with age.

People get nicer as they get older, in contrast to the stereotype of the grumpy senior.

The finding may be a surprise to those that believe people never change.

They do — even if only a little.

The three main changes to personality that occur, on average, with age are that people get:

• more conscientious,
• more agreeable,
• and less neurotic (moody).

The study examined the brain scans of 500 volunteers.

The researchers found that typical changes in brain structure that occur with age were linked to changes in personality.

Dr Roberta Riccelli, the study’s first author, said:

“Our work supports the notion that personality is, to some degree, associated with brain maturation, a developmental process that is strongly influenced by genetic factors.”

These changes in personality suggest a genetic influence, explained Professor Nicola Toschi, a study co-author:

“Of course, we are continually shaped by our experiences and environment, but the fact that we see clear differences in brain structure which are linked with differences in personality traits suggests that there will almost certainly be an element of genetics involved.

This is also in keeping with the notion that differences in personality traits can be detected early on during development, for example in toddlers or infants.”

Dr Luca Passamonti, a study co-author, said:

“Linking how brain structure is related to basic personality traits is a crucial step to improving our understanding of the link between the brain morphology and particular mood, cognitive, or behavioural disorders.

We also need to have a better understanding of the relation between brain structure and function in healthy people to figure out what is different in people with neuropsychiatric disorders.”

The study was published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (Riccelli et al., 2016).

Shiny brain image from Shutterstock

Your personality can be read from your choice of smartphone.

Users of iPhones are more interested in their phone as a status object, new research finds.

Users of Android, though, the operating system from Google, were generally more honest and also less interested in wealth and status.

The results come from from a survey of 500 smartphone users.

It also revealed that iPhone users are:

• Younger
• More than twice as likely to be women
• More likely to see their phone as a status object
• More extraverted
• Less concerned about owning devices favoured by most people

Set against this, users of android phones were more likely to be:

• Male
• Older
• More honest
• More agreeable
• Less likely to break rules for personal gain
• Less interested in wealth and status

Dr David Ellis, one of the study’s author, said:

“In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that an individual’s choice of smartphone operating system can provide useful clues when it comes to predicting their personality and other individual characteristics.”

Ms Heather Shaw, the study’s first author, said:

“It is becoming more and more apparent that smartphones are becoming a mini digital version of the user, and many of us don’t like it when other people attempt to use our phones because it can reveal so much about us.”

The study was published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking (Shaw et al., 2016).

Smartphone image from Shutterstock

How to fight the negative thinking at the heart of neuroticism.

Falling in love helps to stabilise the personalities of people who are neurotic, a study finds.

Love helps people who think pessimistically to approach life with more confidence and see events in a more positive light.

Neuroticism is explained by Dr Christine Finn, the study’s first author:

“Neurotic people are rather anxious, insecure, and easily annoyed.

They have a tendency towards depression, often show low self-esteem and tend to be generally dissatisfied with their lives.

However, we were able to show that they become more stable in a love relationship, and that their personality stabilizes.”

The researchers followed 245 couples aged between 18 and 30 over a period of 9 months.

They were asked how they would react to a series of fictitious scenarios and what they meant for their own relationships.

Being in a relationship helped neurotic people to see the world less negatively, the results showed.

Slowly but surely, as relationships blossomed, the neurotic people developed a more positive outlook.

The less neurotic partner also benefited from the changes, the researchers found.

Dr Finn said:

“The positive experiences and emotions gained by having a partner change the personality — not directly but indirectly — as at the same time the thought structures and the perception of presumably negative situations change.

[…]

“It is difficult to reform a whole personality but our study confirms: Negative thinking can be unlearned!

Professor Franz J. Neyer, a study co-author, said:

“Of course everyone reacts differently and a long, happy relationship has a stronger effect than a short one.

But generally we can say: young adults entering a relationship can only win!”

→ Read on: How to change your personality

The study was published in the Journal of Personality (Finn et al., 2014).

Sexual assault linked to these personality traits.

High levels of pathological narcissism have been linked to men carrying out sexual assaults in a new study.

A survey of 234 male university students found that 20% had committed some kind of sexual assault.

4% had committed rape.

Pathological narcissism, along with sexual promiscuity and aggression in men have all been linked to sexual assaults [see: narcissistic rage].

Pathological narcissism can cause difficulties in relating to others.

Dr Emily Mouilso, study co-author, said:

“As we predicted, the aspects of narcissism that we thought would be related were (related) — the lack of empathy, the entitlement aspects of narcissism.”

Date rape drugs and alcohol were more likely to be used by those with narcissistic traits, the researchers found.

Professor Karen Calhoun, study co-author, said:

“I think people don’t realize how prevalent drinking is…

It’s not so much how much they drink in total for women that makes them vulnerable; it’s how much they drink at a time, the binge drinking, the getting drunk and just not being alert and aware of their surroundings or the risks involved.

That really puts women at risk.”

Both promiscuity and aggression were linked to sexual assault, Dr Mouilso explained:

“…people who have higher levels of sexual interest and more frequent sexual partners, they’re more OK with impersonal sex.

That’s one stream of risk factors.

The second path is the hostile masculinity path.

That has more to do with how you look at women, so having a hostile and angry orientation toward women in general and thinking that relationships are adversarial … it’s more about, what can I get out of this person that I want?

I don’t really care all that much about what they want.”

Perpetrators are not normally strangers, despite the societal belief about ‘stranger danger’, Dr Mouilso said:

“It’s less likely to be a stranger who jumps out of the bush.

It’s more likely to be someone you know like the guy sitting next to you in your intro psych class.”

The study was published in the journal Violence Against Women (Mouilso & Calhoun, 2016).

The immune system was thought to have little effect on the brain — until now.

The immune system is directly responsible for social behaviour and even our personalities, new research finds.

The conclusion comes as a shock to scientists and raises questions about the cause of mental health problems like schizophrenia and autism.

A malfunctioning immune system could be at the heart of these disorders.

Professor Jonathan Kipnis explained why the finding is so shocking to scientists:

“The brain and the adaptive immune system were thought to be isolated from each other, and any immune activity in the brain was perceived as sign of a pathology.

And now, not only are we showing that they are closely interacting, but some of our behavior traits might have evolved because of our immune response to pathogens.

It’s crazy, but maybe we are just multicellular battlefields for two ancient forces: pathogens and the immune system.

Part of our personality may actually be dictated by the immune system.”

For the research in mice and other animals, the scientists blocked a critical immune molecule called interferon-gamma.

The mice (and other animals) then became much less social than they had been before.

The study follows on from findings published last year that there is connection between the brain and the immune system previously thought not to exist.

The link between the immune system and social behaviour makes sense, though, as being social is important but also raises the risk of disease.

Dr Anthony J. Filiano, the study’s lead author, explained:

“It’s extremely critical for an organism to be social for the survival of the species.

It’s important for foraging, sexual reproduction, gathering, hunting.

So the hypothesis is that when organisms come together, you have a higher propensity to spread infection.

So you need to be social, but [in doing so] you have a higher chance of spreading pathogens.

The idea is that interferon gamma, in evolution, has been used as a more efficient way to both boost social behavior while boosting an anti-pathogen response.”

Professor Kipnis said:

“Immune molecules are actually defining how the brain is functioning.

So, what is the overall impact of the immune system on our brain development and function?

I think the philosophical aspects of this work are very interesting, but it also has potentially very important clinical implications.”

The study was published in the journal Nature (Filiano et al., 2016).

Personality image from Shutterstock

Some perfectionists are also toxic to others.

Wanting to do everything perfectly and appear perfect to others can be bad for the health, research has found.

Perfectionists can suffer health problems because they are under continuous stress.

Professor Gordon Flett, an expert on perfectionism, explains:

“Perfectionism is the need to be – or to appear – perfect.

Perfectionists are persistent, detailed and organized high achievers.

Perfectionists vary in their behaviors: some strive to conceal their imperfections; others attempt to project an image of perfection.

But all perfectionists have in common extremely high standards for themselves or for others.”

Here are ten signs that you are a perfectionist, as devised by Professor Flett:

“Ten Top Signs Your a Perfectionist**

1. You can’t stop thinking about a mistake you made.

2. You are intensely competitive and can’t stand doing worse than others.

3. You either want to do something “just right” or not at all.

4. You demand perfection from other people.

5. You won’t ask for help if asking can be perceived as a flaw or weakness.

6. You will persist at a task long after other people have quit.

7. You are a fault-finder who must correct other people when they are wrong.

8. You are highly aware of other people’s demands and expectations.

9. You are very self-conscious about making mistakes in front of other people.

10. **You noticed the error in the title of this list.”

Sadly, perfectionism has been linked to many emotional and behavioural problems, such as eating disorders, relationships problems and even suicide.

Professor Flett said:

“Perfectionism is not officially recognized as a psychiatric disorder.

However extreme forms of perfectionism should be considered an illness similar to narcissism, obsessive compulsiveness, dependent-personality disorder and other personality disorders because of its links to distress and dysfunction.”

Psychologists have found that there are, broadly, three types of perfectionists:

1. Self-oriented perfectionists strive for perfection for themselves and set their own high standards.
2. Socially prescribed perfectionists strive for perfection because it is important to other people.
3. ‘Other-focused’ perfectionists, though, expect others to be perfect and are extremely critical if they do not meet these high standards.

The worst type of perfectionists are those who expect others to match their own impossibly high standards.

→ Read on: How To Spot a Toxic Perfectionist

The perfectionism scale is published by MHS (Hewitt & Flett, 2004).

Perfectionism image from Shutterstock