Monthly Archives: November 2012

What fraud and mountain biking have in common – the risk taking personality

by Lisa Rydstad 23/11/2012

Recently, a man was jailed seven years for causing one of the biggest frauds in British history. The man lost 1.4 billion of a Swiss bank’s money, risking the entire future of the bank. To others he was known as a knowledgeable, sensible and responsible trader, but behind the façade he was losing control and taking huge financial risks on a daily basis.

Interestingly, research has shown that certain personality traits are associated with risk taking and we have explored this relationship further in our own study. For people like you and me, fraud might not belong to our everyday activities, but we might certainly take other, more legal, risks. In our study we investigated which personality traits that were displayed in people who did extreme sports such as mountain climbing, mountain biking and extreme skiing. This is what we found:

risk personality

Unworried

One of the things we found was that people who are drawn to adventurous sports score low on Anxiety, which means that they tend to be calm and relaxed. These people scored low on tension, indicating that they do not easily get upset about things.

Influence

The adventurers tended to score high on Influence which means that they are likely to be assertive, competitive and that they like challenges. They scored high on Social Boldness which means that they tend to be bold, daring and adventurous. The results also revealed that they scored higher on Openness to Change which indicates that they like to think freely, apply new ideas and enjoy experimenting with different solutions to problems.

Losing control…

Finally, our results showed that people who like taking risks in sports score lower on Self Control than others, meaning that they tend to be carefree, spontaneous and nonconforming. The risk takers scored high on Liveliness, meaning that are enthusiastic and have an overall high energy. They also scored lower on Rule-Consciousness than others.

These results are similar to what research has shown before; risk takers are usually more socially bold and lively than others. Are you also a risk-taker behind the façade? Find out what sort of risk taker you are by signing up to PersonaBubble and taking our latest test.

Into the Den: The personality type of entrepreneurs

by Katie 22/11/2012

We’re coming to the end of the current series of Dragons Den, a show which sees’s budding entrepreneurs pitch for investment in their business ideas.  People who put their careers on hold and their finances in the balance in order to attempt something that could  turn into a masterful success or, as we more commonly see in the Den, a total flop. Is there something that sets these people apart from everyone else? Or is it luck that they stumble across an idea that they believe will turn into a successful business?

personality of entrepreneurs

 

Well, it turns out researchers have found that certain types of people are more likely to consider starting a business than others. These people tend to:

  • be ready to take risks, open to new experiences, likely to do things in new, different ways.
  • have a high need to achieve
  • be independent and sure of themselves,
  • handle high levels of stress,
  • be conscientious, meaning that they want to do things right.

That said, anyone can start their own business.

In fact, it seems like the main reason some types of people are more likely to become entrepreneurs is simply that they’re more likely to think about it seriously. If you never think about starting a business, then there’s not much chance that you will ever will! Once your business is started, personality has much less effect on whether it will be successful.

‘There’s a business in everyone’ states the website of the UK Government’s Business in You campaign and understanding why people are likely to start a business may help you recognise what’s holding you back and see how you can turn these things to your advantage. For instance…

  • if you’re not one to take risks, then careful market research before you begin could help you to identify a project that is highly likely to succeed.
  • Or if you’re not as hung up about achievement as the average entrepreneur, then you may be more willing to start small and let your business grow up around you, rather than throwing everything into a project that can’t be guaranteed to succeed.

On the other hand, if you do fit the entrepreneurial personality profile, then it’s definitely worth considering if you’d be happier working independently.

If you like the idea of working for yourself and are wondering whether it’s time to start your own business take our latest test  and find out if entrepreneurship is the thing for you. A word of warning however from Sir Alan Sugar – ‘Once you decide to work for yourself, you never go back to work for somebody else’.

Can your personality determine your fears?

by Katie 16/11/2012

To celebrate Halloween we released a test to find out what scares our users and to see if there were any links between this and their personality. We have now had a look at the results and have discovered some interesting correlations.

We asked PersonaBubble users to rate their level of fear on the following things:

  • free personality testThe Dark
  • Ghosts
  • Spiders
  • Zombies
  • Public Speaking
  • Heights
  • Small Spaces
  • Blood
  • Flying

 

What we discovered was that People who said there were more scared of any of the items in our test seemed to be less socially confident than those who weren’t scared. People who have lower social confidence tend to dislike having to speak in front of groups and becoming  the centre of attention – which would explain why this trait is particularly found in people who said they were scared of public speaking. People who have lower social confidence also tend to have a well-developed sense of what others are feeling and they are acutely aware of subtle changes in sights sounds or other physical sensations. This sensitivity may cause them to rate their level of fear higher than other people.

We also found that a couple of fears stood out regarding their links with certain personality traits.


People who said they were afraid of Zombies were more warm than people who weren’t afraid of them. People who are warmer seek emotional closeness with others and enjoy people who show their emotions openly. Such people may be uncomfortable in situations in which interpersonal contact is not accessible , as Zombies are humans who have had all emotion and warmth stripped from them, this might explain why people with this trait fear them.

 

free personality test

Of the list of fears we presented our users, the  fear of Heights was probably one of the more rational. This might explain why people who say they are more afraid of heights also tend to be more down-to-earth thinkers. People with this personality trait focus more on obtaining information from their five senses and like concrete factual realities. They tend to struggle with more abstract or conceptual ideas which would explain why they are more likely to find heights scary as there is a real factual reason why this is a threat; the fact they could fall to their death.

Which of the things on the list are you most afraid of and how do they match up with your personality? Take our free personality test and our fears test to find out and let us know what you discover in the comments section below.

Is blood type, an accurate predictor of personality?

by Rob Bailey 07/11/2012

A recent BBC story addresses the Japanese custom linking character to blood type, otherwise known as Ketsueki-gata. Rob Bailey, psychologist and Principal Consultant, Research and Development at OPP discusses the drawbacks of relying on such a system.

free personality test

As with many non-scientific based personality analyses, Ketsueki-gata rings alarm bells with psychologists like myself. While within the psychometrics industry we also claim to be able to make accurate predictions about people’s personalities and characteristics, we use very different methods. A key difference between us and practitioners of pseudoscience is that we continually collect data to check that our methods actually work. Graphologists, Astrologists and blood type enthusiasts don’t tend to collect data – they rely on anecdotes and magical thinking to hoodwink people into accepting the veracity of their ludicrous claims.

 

The popularity of Ketsueki-gata in Japan means that a person’s blood type is believed to determine temperament and personality. ‘What’s your blood type?’ is often a key question in everything from matchmaking to job applications. Many research studies have contradicted these beliefs citing scientific errors, such as including no quantitative data, violating statistical rules, having flawed methodologies and presenting inconsistent results; all contributing to the evidence that no connection exists between a person’s blood type and personality.

Psychometrics makes accurate predictions of behaviour and potential, based on decades of research and application. Persona Bubble is based on the ‘Big Five’ model of personality. It identifies five broad dimensions of personality – a widely accepted model that has influenced the development of many other trait-based assessments.

So before employers or potential partners consider asking for a date’s blood type or a candidate’s blood type during an interview (which, in itself, could result in an uncomfortable situation), perhaps look into a more scientifically proven method of assessing personality type – such as PersonaBubble’s free personality test.

The graph below shows the clear difference between proven methods and the preserve of the charlatan.

free personality test

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key for the graph, which is from Robertston and Smith (2001)
A validity index of 1 would show a perfect fit between the assessment method and what it is predicting; 0 shows no relationship; 0.4 and above is very respectable