What is the best way to relieve stress for people like me?

by Katie 14/05/2013

We all have different coping styles depending on our needs and personalities.  Active coping strategies are aimed at solving the problem causing the stress.  For example, to reduce feeling overwhelmed by too many commitments, you might choose to cancel some activities.  On the other hand passive coping strategies are aimed at reducing the emotions associated with stress or avoiding the stress.  Relaxation and distraction are examples of passive techniques.

We tend to use different techniques depending on the level and type of stress, as well as our personality.  For example, for mild stress, we tend to use passive coping strategies.  Introverts are often over-stimulated whilst extraverts are often under-stimulated.  So, introverts might like to relax by getting away from their stress, whilst extraverts might like to do something more active.

We all have times when stress gets too much.  Here are some examples of coping strategies that might suit people with different types of personalities:

  1. Relaxation techniques
    If you tend to get agitated easily, breathing, meditation and muscle relaxation are all techniques aimed to reduce tension.  Find a quiet space, free from distractions from others.  Focusing on breathing in and out slowly or relaxing individual parts of the body can help you feel more peaceful and less panicky.  This technique can be useful for clearing your head in order to focus more clearly on what you need to do.  Or, practiced regularly, meditation can be a buffer against daily stresses.
  2. Distraction
    Doing a distracting activity, either with friends or alone, can also help to give you the break needed to clear your head and get back to work, for example.  However, it’s not a long term solution and research has shown that avoiding stress isn’t the best way to relieve it.
  3. Writing a journal
    For people who like to get to the root of a problem, writing a journal can help analyse the problem.  Introverts might appreciate being able to organise their own thoughts.
  4. Building Self-Esteem
    Those who are less emotionally stable are often more prone to stress than others.  If you’re one of these people, relaxation techniques paired with positive thinking may be more useful long-term.  Build up your self-esteem by voicing positive thoughts about yourself out loud.  It may sound silly, but next time you’re under pressure, try saying “I can do this!” rather than “I can’t cope.”
  5. Working towards a healthier and more balanced lifestyle
    Exercise can be great at relieving stress, especially for the more proactive amongst us.  People who exercise regularly are less prone to stress.  Eating healthier and building in regular breaks from the stresses in your life can also make a big difference to your experience of stress.

 

What type of job suits your personality best?

by Nicola Tremeer and Rob Bailey 19/04/2013

We all have different preferences in life, which certainly keeps it interesting and it’s no different when it comes to the type of occupation that we choose. So which personalities will flourish in which jobs?

people in uniforms for different occupations

If you’ve already taken one of our job types test, then below you’ll find out how to interpret your results. If you haven’t – log in to PersonaBubble and go to the More Tests section.

One useful way of looking at the different job types was devised by Professor John Holland. Based on different interests and personality traits, he grouped jobs into 6 areas.  You can compare your results on the job type test with the following descriptions:

Realistic (R)

What – The ‘doers’. Do you like to get ‘hands on’ with your work?

Personality traits – People who enjoy working using their hands and using machinery and tools would be well suited to a ‘realistic’ job. Common traits include having high self-control, low anxiety and being more tough-minded. Other traits that can be common are being confident and practical, calm, self-disciplined and unemotional.

Example Industries – Agriculture, Trades, Construction, Dentistry and Athletics.

Example Jobs – Farmer, plumber, carpenter, mechanic, dentist, gardener, athlete or being in the military.

 

Investigative (I)

What – The ‘thinkers’. Do you enjoy working out solutions to problems?

Personality traits – If you enjoy using logic and solving abstract problems then you are likely to enjoy a job that is considered ‘investigative’. Common personality traits include being more reserved and having a preference for independent working, being logical and unemotional, composed and self-disciplined. Also found in this group are innovative and calm people who find themselves absorbed in ideas. Investigative types tend to like to work with theories; researching ideas and solving complex issues in new ways.

Example Industries –  Science, Medicine, Technology and Universities.

Example Jobs –Scientist, psychologist, computer analyst, mathematician, archaeologist, biologist, pharmacist and doctor.

 

Artistic (A)

What – The ‘creators’. Do you enjoy creating your work from your imagination?

Personality traits – Common personality traits include being creative, using imagination at work, being adventurous, innovative and nonconformist. Creators tend to be more individualistic and socially confident than the norm but have a stronger appreciation for beauty, more likely to enjoy using self expression and prefer to work in a more flexible environment.

Example Industries – Theatre, Design, Fashion and Music.

Example Jobs – Artist, musician, dancer, actor, writer, illustrator, fashion designer or a web designer.

 

Social (S)

What – The ‘helpers’. Do you have a desire to help or teach others?

Personality traits – People who enjoy this type of work are concerned with the welfare of others and enjoy helping to solve problems using discussions and often by working as part of a group. Helpers tend to be warm, outgoing people who are open to change, and emotionally sensitive.

Example Industries – Schools, Social Services, Human Resources and Healthcare.

Example Jobs –Teacher, nurse, social worker, counsellor, human resources professional, childcare provider and minister.

 

Enterprising (E)

What – The ‘persuaders’. Do you see yourself as a leader or influencer?

Personality traits – Persuaders are often energetic, self-confident and ambitious. They enjoy influencing others and taking on leadership roles. The typical persuader will have high extraversion, high self-control, high independence and low anxiety. This means they tend to be dominant and socially confident, outgoing people. They can be seen as warm, confident, realistic and conscientious.

Example Industries –  Retail, Government, Politics and Law.

Example Jobs – Sales representative, business man/woman, politician, marketing manager, attorney, realtor and buyer.

 

Conventional (C)

What – The ‘organisers’. Do you enjoy organising schedules and following rules and processes?

Personality traits – People who enjoy conventional work tends to be logical and unsentimental, focusing on practical and concrete goals. Organisers, generally, are happy working in an environment with an established chain of command, they enjoy maintaining and manipulating data and organising schedules. Not surprisingly, they tend to be organised and self-disciplined and prefer conventional methods over new.

Example Industries – Finance, Accounting, Office work and Administration.

Example Jobs – Administrative assistant, office manager, accountant, copy editor, credit investigator, payroll clerk and secretary.

 

How to interpret your results?

a young woman considers job options

As you have been reading through the different themes, you have probably found yourself thinking that more than one category describes your preferred working environment. This would be completely normal! Most people will have not have an extreme preference for one type of work and absolutely no interest in the others at all, and you can see that certain personality traits and job interests overlap. From your results of the Job Themes tests on PersonaBubble you should have a clearer idea of your top area of work that you find interesting. Using this information, you can see what areas of work may be worth considering based on your interests.

There are jobs that will fall under more than one category. For example, a baker would fall under the Artistic category, as they are using their imagination to create new recipes. However this is also a hands-on occupation, meaning that this could come under the Realistic category. This is worth bearing in mind when considering a change in career or new job.

You are likely to be happier and more satisfied if you are in a job suited to your strengths.

How to find greater happiness at work

by Katie 18/04/2013

Research shows that the majority of UK employees are either indifferent about work or feel negatively about it. Given how much time we spend at work and the effect it has on our overall happiness levels, this is quite worrying. However, the good news is that there are several ways to positively impact your happiness at work.

personality test

Find the Right Role

The fit between your personality and your role, the team you are working with and the organization you are working for is closely related to happiness.

For example, introverts probably won’t love customer service or sales roles as it requires them to interact with customers constantly, which they can find draining. It doesn’t mean that introverts can’t be great salespeople or customer support agents, it just means that they might find less happiness at work than an extrovert would in the same role.

 

Develop Friendships with Your Colleagues

Recent research from Action for Happiness, a leading UK think tank says that “people with strong and broad social relationships are happier, healthier and live longer.” So, building relationships with your colleagues at work is important.  Make time to get to know them.  You can also strengthen those relationships further by understanding the similarities and differences between your personalities.

 

Find Meaning at Work

Finding meaning and purpose at work is another key component for happiness. Some people want to feel that their work makes a difference to others while others just want to help their company grow the bottom line.  Again, the difference comes down to perspective and personality.

 

Come on, Get Happy!

While selecting the right company and role is important, anyone can still tailor their existing job to find meaning at work. While you may not be able to change the core tasks of your role, you can change how you approach and perform your role and do more activities that you enjoy.

By fully understanding your personality, you can find greater happiness through your career. Take the first step by reviewing your free personality profile on PersonaBubble to discover how your personality relates to your work.  You can also compare yourself with your colleagues to help you build relationships with those around you.

Is there such a thing as a happy personality?

by Katie 21/03/2013

Recently, one of my friends described me on PersonaBubble as “a happy person”.  This made me wonder:  is there such thing as a happy type of person, or am I just happy because things have been turning out well for me lately?

free personality test

Is personality linked to happiness?

According to psychological research, there are certain personality traits linked to happiness.  For instance, people who are more extraverted and more emotionally stable tend to be happier .  This might be because of differences in our thinking styles and in how we experience events.  For example, if a friend forgets about a dinner date you’ve planned and doesn’t show up, a more reactive person might take offence and take it more personally than a more stable person.  This interpretation is likely to affect their mood.  There is also a difference between how people manage their moods.  For example, extraverts tend to be happier because they make more effort to change their mood when they are sad.  So an extravert and an introvert might feel just as unhappy, but the extravert is more likely to do something about it.

How much does personality matter?

Some researchers estimate that personality accounts for up to 50% of happiness day-to-day.  Others estimate the role of personality to be much lower- only 25% .  Given both these estimates, it is clear that there must be other factors that are more important, such as our experiences, actions, lifestyle and strategies we use to manage our moods.  Personality does affect happiness, but it is by no means the most important factor.

So, how can we be happy?

Assuming that most people want to be happy in some way, there are things we can do.  The field of positive psychology emphasizes the fact that we are in control of our own happiness.  Yes, some of us may have a tendency to see things more positively than others.  But ultimately, we have the ability to change this and change our mood.  For example, experts say that being grateful for the good things in life, spreading kindness to others and exercising are some of the keys to a happier lifestyle.  A BBC documentary discovered 10 steps to happiness, including “plant something and nurture it”, “have a good laugh at least once a day” and “have an hour long conversation with a loved one each week”.  These little things can make a big difference.

free personality test

Of course, understanding and accepting your personality may help.  For instance, if you have a more reactive personality, realising that your perspective may be skewed can help lift you out of a downward spiral of negative thinking. Overall, there are people who are happier than others, but this isn’t just down to personality.

Being happy is good for us for all sorts of reasons.  People who are happier get ill less often, feel healthier and are less stressed .  And positive psychology gives us a positive message: we are in control of our happiness.

Why not take our test, “How happy are you?” to measure your happiness levels?  And don’t forget to take our free personality test- understanding yourself is one of the steps towards creating a happier lifestyle!

 

Horsemeat, vegetarianism and personality

by John Hackston and Nicola Tremeer 01/03/2013

It seems as if every time we look at a news bulletin at the moment, there is another twist on the horsemeat scandal. First, horse was in supermarket ready meals, then in school dinners, and now pork, chicken and other substances seem to be getting in on the act. It is hardly surprising that we hear that people are turning to vegetarianism. Here at PersonaBubble, this made us reflect on what we know about the personality and characteristics of people who described themselves as vegetarians before horsemeat hit the headlines.

Smiley burger

Continue reading →

Do opposites attract?

by Lisa Rydstad with Lorna Flynn and Rob Bailey 07/02/2013

Do birds of a feather flock together or do opposites attract? With Valentines Day coming up, discussions in the PersonaBubble office have been dominated by talk of love and relationships, and this perpetual question has been at the centre of our debates.  The team has been intrigued by this, as our experiences of similarities and differences in couples are very different, hence supporting different sayings. So, after endless disagreement we decided to look for the answer in our data.

What did we do?

In our study, we investigated how personality, similarity of the two people in a couple and relationship satisfaction all relate to one another. Over 900 UK and Irish, and over 9,000 US people in relationships filled in our personality questionnaire and rated how satisfied they were with their relationships.

What did we find?

The results were really interesting: we found a small but significant relationship between relationship satisfaction and personality similarities between partners. After having a closer look at the data though, other, stronger tendencies became clear. In order of importance, these are the things from our study that are most likely to make you happy in a relationship:

  1. You are an emotionally stable person  (you feel you can cope well with life’s difficult moments)
  2. Your partner is emotionally stable, extraverted and self-controlled
  3. Your personality is similar to your partner’s.

 

In more detail:

1)      Your Personality and Your Satisfaction

Our study found that people who are generally calm, confident and less anxious are likely to be more content with their relationship.  Accordingly, we found that people who are anxious are more likely to experience dissatisfaction with their relationship. In particular, people who tend to be easily upset, react strongly to stress and are unable to cope with challenges in life are likely to experience relationship dissatisfaction.

Although emotional stability seems to be the trait with the biggest role to play in our relationship satisfaction, our study found evidence for other traits that are likely to increase our satisfaction. We found that people who are extraverts have greater relationship satisfaction. This suggests that if you are a person who is warm in nature and more socially outgoing you are more likely to be happy with your relationship than those who are not. Similar results were also found for people with more self control; indicating that if you are someone who is  more organised, persevering and self-disciplined you are likely to experience greater relationship satisfaction than those who are disorganised, pay less attention to rules and regulations and who are quite spontaneous in their lives.

2)      Your Partner’s Personality and Your Satisfaction

So we have talked about your personality and your satisfaction, but what about your partner’s personality? We found that if your partner is quite anxious or emotionally unstable, you are likely to be less satisfied with your relationship. On the other hand, we also found that if your partner is more extraverted and self controlled you are likely to be more content with the relationship.

Have you ever wondered if your partner is the main source of satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the relationship? What is interesting is that we actually found that a person’s own personality appeared to have a greater link to their own satisfaction than their partner’s personality.

3)      Couple Similarity and Satisfaction

Interestingly, our study found the age-old saying “opposites attract” to be somewhat untrue. We found that individuals who are more similar in personality to their partner experience greater relationship satisfaction. This was found across all types of couples, regardless of how long the couple had been together. We also found out that if one of the couple is satisfied with the relationship, it’s likely that the other will be too. These results suggest that being similar to your partner can lead to greater relationship satisfaction for you both.

In summary

If you’re not happy in a relationship, you might benefit from thinking about whether or not you are feeling happy in general, rather than blaming your partner. But if you’re not currently in a relationship, try to find someone like you, and ideally someone communicative, reliable and stable (if that sounds boring, you can try people with other personality traits, but don’t expect it to be a bed of roses).

Did your partner, or perhaps a potential one, come to mind when reading this? Sign up and invite them to PersonaBubble to start comparing your personality.

5 ways understanding your personality can improve your working life

by Katarina Karringer 21/01/2013

Are you and your job a match made in heaven? Or do you sometimes find yourself daydreaming about how it could be? Knowledge of your personality can give you some useful hints about how you prefer to face work related situations. Ask yourself the questions below to find out how you can reach a higher level of satisfaction towards your work.

free personality test to improve your career

1. Job satisfaction
When a job meets a person’s desires and abilities, it affects their performance, job satisfaction, enjoyment, and level of stress. This could relate to the physical environment as well as the organisational structure, how we like to be led, or whether we prefer to work in teams or not. Think of your ideal office…

• What would it look like?
• Would you prefer:
o an open-space or private environment?
o strict or flexible planning?
o team-based or individual decision making?

For example, extraverts are more drawn to group-oriented actions whereas introverts often are happy to work by themselves. What do you like? Take our free personality test to find out!

free personality test2. Conflict management
Conflict situations can be a great opportunity to learn about your own and others’ reactions, and to think of how it can relate to personality. A leading theory of conflict styles suggests five different ways of dealing with conflict: Competing; Collaborating; Compromising; Avoiding and Accommodating. Think of a recent conflict in your life. Which of the following was the most important to you…

• To win?
• To find a win-win solution?
• To reach common ground?
• To avoid dealing with the situation?
• To let the other person get their needs met?

For example, people who are dominant do often try to influence others to get their own needs met whereas people who like to go along with the flow tend to value a more collaborating style.

free personality test

3. Public speaking
Does the thought of giving presentations, speaking to clients, negotiating, and going to interviews makes your blood run cold? Well, you’re not alone. A recent survey by the PersonaBubble team showed that 83 % of the sample are frightened by public speaking. However, these events are tricky to avoid if you’re looking for a successful career. So grab the bull by its horns and use the skills that come naturally with your personality. When giving a presentation, would you prefer to…

• Plan ahead and bring notes?
• Go with a flexible approach?
• Have an ongoing discussion as you go along?
• Save all questions to the end?

Did you answer yes to bullet points 1 and 4? Then you are likely to score high on Self-Control. Or did bullet points 2 and 3 appeal more to you? That is often the case with someone who prefers an unrestrained approach. What other strengths can you use next time you speak in public? Find out!

free personality test

4. Coping with stress
A small portion of stress is often good and makes us perform better. But how can you handle the stress before it gets out of control? The trick is to identify our stress triggers as soon as they appear. Or even better, before they appear. What do you find stressful?

• Taking charge and independent decisions?
• Expectations of continual team interaction?
• Uncertain and ambiguous guidelines?
• Too much planning and lack of variety?

Our questionnaire has a section looking at how stable or reactive you are when coping with stressful situations, take the test to find out how you cope.

free personality test

5. Group dynamics
Being part of a group could be very enjoyable, but sometimes also stressful and frustrating. So how could you get rid of awkward situations, sad faces and inefficient processes? Let your personalities guide you towards a more comfortable way of working together. If you were to decide, what would be your preferred levels of…

• Interaction?
• Structure?
• Discussion?
• Independence?
• Collaboration?

Why not invite your work mates to take the PersonaBubble test too. You can then compare your personalities and share what you discovered. This will give you a better chance to adapt to each others’ needs.

 

Keep your new year’s resolutions by understanding your personality

by Katie 04/01/2013

It’s that time of year when we all take stock of our lives and set some resolutions for the New Year. But according to research by the University of Hertfordshire most people will have abandoned theirs within a week of making them. With this in mind we’ve put together some top tips based on your personality traits to help you make and keep your resolutions.

 

Personality test

Extravert or Introvert

Extravert: As someone who feeds off the energy of others you’ll be more likely to succeed if you tell others about your goals and enlist their help to keep you on track.

Introvert: You prefer to keep things on a one-to-one basis so you’d respond better by working alone or with one other person that you trust.

Tough Minded or Sensitive

Tough Minded: Identify and incorporate the logic for accomplishing your goal. You’re likely to prefer more down-to-earth approach so try and analyze the cause and effect of your resolutions.

Sensitive: Look at the “big picture” of your goal and think about how achieving it will make you feel as you’re more likely to react to emotional stimulus than hard facts.

Collaborative or Influential

Collaborative: Be aware that you might be thrown off track if your plans end up with you in conflict with others who don’t support your new initiatives. As you have an accommodating nature you may be more likely to be swayed by others’ wants, needs or opposition.

Influential: You might want to evaluate and adapt prescriptive plans  set by others as you’re more likely to prefer to take charge of your own goals. If you feel you’ve had a hand in setting these goals, you may be more committed to them.

Structured or Flexible

Structured: You’ll prefer a more disciplined approach and so setting specific times for exercise or specific rules to follow will help you to succeed.

Flexible: Setting goals may just not be your thing. You may have greater success if you focus on the enjoyment or positive experiences you will have with new ways of doing things, rather than thinking that the goals themselves will motivate you.

Stable or Reactive

Stable: You’re more likely to remain calm under pressure so you may want to try and set yourself more challenging resolutions as you’ll rise to these just as well as easier ones.

Reactive: You might find dealing with challenges more stressful than most, so make sure you plan for anything that might get in the way of you achieving your goal, so that when problems do arise you aren’t  thrown off course.

Find out more about your personality by signing up to PersonaBubble, the free online personality test developed by psychologists.

7 ways to get on with your family better this Christmas

by Gaby Walker 14/12/2012

Christmas is approaching, and for many families there is the tradition that Christmas Day shall be spent together. Presents will be opened, dinner served, and alcohol consumed! We anticipate that there may be a lot of drama, emotional outbursts, or even the odd argument. You cannot force your bickering relatives to suddenly  get along with each other, but, it can help to understand and appreciate personality differences within your family, so here are just a few tips on how you could make this Christmas a little jollier!

Free personality test

1. Choose gatherings wisely –spending Christmas stuck on the M25 rushing to Uncle Jeff’s house in time for your second round of turkey, in an attempt to avoid hurt feelings, does not make for the perfect Christmas! Tellingly, a recent survey by the Mail-online that for 60 per cent of people the most stressful thing about Christmas is not rallying around buying presents or running into debt, but deciding which side of the family to spend the day with. So plan ahead and make sure everybody knows well in advance to minimize stress!

2. Celebrate the differences in your family— there aren’t many occasions within the year where people of all ages, backgrounds and personalities gather under one roof – and the best bit of all is that you are related to all of them! Remember to focus on the positive aspects of such differences. Today is not the day to attempt to convince your family that their political or religious views are wrong, and that they should change them to match your views.

3. Get Involved – remember that for whoever hosts Christmas, this is the culmination of hours of slaving and months of stress especially for perfectionists who want the day to go just right! So why not bring out your conscientious side and offer to do your bit, whether it’s laying the table or peeling the sprouts, your offer of help will be a welcome relief!

4. Use humour to dissipate arguments – it is inevitable that when families are brought together personality conflicts are bound to arise. What starts off as a healthy debate can easily escalate into a heated argument, so try and diffuse the situation with a funny story or a silly joke!

5. Avoid overindulging- alcohol and family generated burning resentment do not make for a good combination and will inevitably lead to some kind of argument, so try not to overdo it!

 

free personality test6. Open presents with low expectations! –every year it is inevitable: Aunty Dot’s infamous socks! You know they’re coming so why not practice your surprised and happy face, instead of the usual face of disappointment! Gift giving is an ancient tradition and a way of showing thoughtfulness, love and affection, so remember …it is not a competition over who spent the most!

7. Understand your personality differences – being aware of family member’s personality can help you interact with them better, and there is less chance of a war breaking out this Christmas! For example, if Aunty Dot is slightly more introverted than others she will probably find it quite tiring being around the family for an extended period of time, and would benefit from some peace and quiet after a lively game of charades. As for Mum, if the gravy is lumpy, try your best not to point it out! Her tendency to be more anxious than others often leaves her easily upset by criticism. Being aware of these personality differences can help us determine situations in which we will get on, and help us avoid situations in which we will experience stress.

 

Want to find out more about your personality?

 

One quick an easy way to understand your personality is to take the free personality test on PersonaBubble. Invite your family to find out your compatibility, it may help improve your relationships during the festive period. Let us know what you discover in the comment section below.

 

To spend or save? How different personality types respond to the recession.

by Lisa Rydstad 07/12/2012

The year of 2012 is coming to an end and Christmas is around the corner. After a couple of economically challenging years, economical analysts will be paying close attention to trends in Christmas shopping. But, the question it all comes down to is: to spend or to save? We conducted a study on how different personality traits respond to the recession and our results suggest that personality may determine whether you’ll be spending or saving this Christmas.

personality test

 

Here’s what we discovered:

Anxiety: Our study reveals that people who score high on Anxiety spend less money than people who are unworried; this has applied to everything from shopping and entertainment to food and utilities since the beginning of the recession.  People who have an anxious personality have worried more about their financial stability since the beginning of the recession than people with a calm personality. In fact, calm people report feeling just as confident in their job situation as they did before the crisis.

Sensitivity: A very similar pattern has been found for people who are sensitive. Our research shows that people with a sensitive personality felt more threatened by the recession than people with a more tough-minded personality.  Again, people’s attitudes guide their spending behaviours; the more sensitive their personality, the less likely the person is to spend money on shopping.

Our study shows interesting results on how personality traits affect individual behavior such as spending money, which, in the end, affects larger economical tendencies. Gaining insight in personality is therefore not only valuable for understanding yourself, but also for understanding how psychology plays a crucial part in the recession. Plus it might even give an indication as to whether you’ll be getting a large or small Christmas present from your friends and family!

Discover more about your personality and compare it to your friends and family by signing up to PersonaBubble and taking the free personality test today.