essay on personality type

Personality and Personality Types Essay

It is through personality that we are in the position to define an individual. Personality types on the other hand are the mode in which we study an individual through their psychology and classify them according to the groups in which they fit. Through personality, we are able to identify and know individuals, how they think and their way of acting. Personality types should not at any cost be confused with personality traits given that it is a wider term than the latter.

While personality types are qualitative in nature, personality trait focuses much on the quantitative aspects. We can at times categorize individuals as introverts or extroverts while traits will handle them as either introversion or extroversion and argues they are dynamic in nature (Edelstein, 2006).

There are several personality types of and these are generally arrived at according to the assessments by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) which is a psychometric test questionnaire employed in measuring people’s perception and how they view their surroundings (Edelstein, 2006). The assessment mode borrows heavily from the typological theories in their assessments; it is designed to fully understand the theory.

Personality type theory therefore as defined by Jung identifies two major cognitive operations that is rationality which revolves around thinking and feelings vs. irrationality which are perceiving in nature handling senses and intuitions (Kroeger, Thuesen & Rutledge, 2002). These functions were later developed to help identify personalities as either introverts or extroverts.

Since personality, types have been disintegrated further into many other types among which we have; the duty fulfiller, such person is very serious and often quiet with much interest in security and peace. Such a person can surely be depended upon due to their high sense of responsibility and hardworking. We also have the mechanic type of person, such a person often quiet and reserved, their interest is mostly swayed on trying to know how things work in a given way and why such is the case.

We also have the idealist personality, this person is reflective and has the urge to serve humanity to the fullest, within the value systems developed, and they always make efforts to stay within them. The other person is the scientist; a scientist is an individual much independent in thinking and always original in their ideas, which are creative and analytical. They are theory transformers into effective plans of action (Kroeger, Thuesen & Rutledge, 2002).

In the human functions and organizations, it is prudent to understand each individual in their personalities so that effectiveness can be realized in motivation at work places, effective management and communication functions as well as fostered relationships between the subjects and those they intend to serve (Northouse, 2007). The level at which we understand personality will always help in unlocking a variety of human functions like leadership and even motivation.

It is also quite easy to understand the underlying personality tests, the knowledge gained from such is important in developing self awareness of and human feeling to help others. The management of individuals is very important since it will define who the leader becomes and who is lead in any form of organized groupings.

Personality theories, types and tests are quite applicable in the management of institutions, recruitment of workforce and selection (Kroeger, Thuesen & Rutledge, 2002). It also helps to define training needs of any organization. Studies of personality and personality types are therefore vital and must be given a chance for prosperity in our societies.

Managing strategic performance

Virtual teams in organizations consist of a pool of professionals constituted and working remotely in several locations. The locations may be at the comfort of their homes, co-working offices or the branch offices of large organizations. Irrespective of where an individual works or is stationed, they are normally in the same team and they operate towards the same objectives and aims of the organization.

Through modern technology, the members of the virtual teams always collaborate and work as a group/team from wherever they are located, they operate on the same plat form through the application of most modern technology such as web conferencing and instant messaging, Skype and online management software are employed (Gibson & Cohen, 2003). Virtual teams across the world have the following general characteristics, which enhance their functions.

Executive support; this is a situation where the management is given the role of supporting relationships to help build trust. Secondly, virtual teams experience effective HR functions, which entail frequent training of staff. The teams are highly structured; this is because virtual teams are mostly successful when the right people are selected. The best workforce for a virtual team performance is a person who is self-reliant and independent in their work and self motivated.

The other characteristic is that virtual team organizations have very strong team leaders to steer their roles and functions. Strong leaders are necessary because there are no face-to-face meetings and interaction hence it is hard to build the required trust (Gignac, 2005). Through virtual teams, companies have been in the position of deriving many benefits, which range from cheap salaries and less overhead costs (Gibson & Cohen, 2003).

Overhead costs are reduced since the company does not need to pay for office space and packing for some of its employees. The company is also in the position of attracting the best employees since there is no bureaucracy in getting the employees; they as well have a diverse pool to choose. Other benefits include improved communication, facilitated coordination, increased working time hence an improvement in productivity.

Diversity and cultural enrichment is a benefit, alongside this, research is facilitated (Gignac, 2005). Virtual teams also have set backs despite having many pros. Some of the demerits include; the method requires new skills from their employees hence more costs in form of trainings and retraining frequently. Organizations trying to adopt this form of operations in their organization face a challenge of difficulty to integrate this culture.

It is as well extremely difficult to track the efforts made by its employees hence a difficulty in measuring output; this may fuel wastage and inefficiency in terms of labor force performance (Zofi, 2012). Lastly, benefits that are accrued from face to face operations are lacking since individuals are working from several location. To effectively facilitate the performance of virtual teams by management, the organization should invest heavily in modern technology among other strategies.

Moreover, such technology will facilitate the use of instant messaging to enhance a sense of presence; use of Skype must be embraced while increasing the interval of verbal check-ins. Every employee should be posted online and use of virtual telephone system should be embraced. In addition, the leadership and management should develop a program that will bring the employees to meet at a central physical location occasionally (Zofi, 2012).

Edelstein, L 2006, Writer’s guide to character traits: includes profiles of human behaviors and personality types (2nd ed.), Writer’s Digest Books: Cincinnati, Ohio.

Gibson, CB & Cohen, SG 2003, Virtual teams that work creating conditions for virtual team effectiveness , Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.

Gignac, F 2005, Building successful virtual teams , Artech House: Boston.

Kroeger, O, Thuesen, JM & Rutledge, H 2002, Type talk at work: how 16 personality types determine your success on the job (Rev. and updated. ed.), Dell Pub: New York.

Northouse, PG 2007, Leadership: theory and practice (4th ed.), SAGE Publications: Thousand Oaks.

Zofi, YS 2012, A manager’s guide to virtual teams , American Management Association: New York.

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Personality types revisited–a literature-informed and data-driven approach to an integration of prototypical and dimensional constructs of personality description

André kerber.

1 Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Marcus Roth

2 Department of Psychology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg Germany

Philipp Yorck Herzberg

3 Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment Unit, Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Associated Data

The data used in this article were made available by the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, Data for years 1984-2015) at the German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin, Germany. To ensure the confidentiality of respondents’ information, the SOEP adheres to strict security standards in the provision of SOEP data. The data are reserved exclusively for research use, that is, they are provided only to the scientific community. To require full access to the data used in this study, it is required to sign a data distribution contract. All contact informations and the procedure to request the data can be obtained at: https://www.diw.de/en/diw_02.c.222829.en/access_and_ordering.html .

A new algorithmic approach to personality prototyping based on Big Five traits was applied to a large representative and longitudinal German dataset (N = 22,820) including behavior, personality and health correlates. We applied three different clustering techniques, latent profile analysis, the k-means method and spectral clustering algorithms. The resulting cluster centers, i.e. the personality prototypes, were evaluated using a large number of internal and external validity criteria including health, locus of control, self-esteem, impulsivity, risk-taking and wellbeing. The best-fitting prototypical personality profiles were labeled according to their Euclidean distances to averaged personality type profiles identified in a review of previous studies on personality types. This procedure yielded a five-cluster solution: resilient, overcontroller, undercontroller, reserved and vulnerable-resilient. Reliability and construct validity could be confirmed. We discuss wether personality types could comprise a bridge between personality and clinical psychology as well as between developmental psychology and resilience research.

Introduction

Although documented theories about personality types reach back more than 2000 years (i.e. Hippocrates’ humoral pathology), and stereotypes for describing human personality are also widely used in everyday psychology, the descriptive and variable-oriented assessment of personality, i.e. the description of personality on five or six trait domains, has nowadays consolidated its position in modern personality psychology.

In recent years, however, the person-oriented approach, i.e. the description of an individual personality by its similarity to frequently occurring prototypical expressions, has amended the variable-oriented approach with the addition of valuable insights into the description of personality and the prediction of behavior. Focusing on the trait configurations, the person-oriented approach aims to identify personality types that share the same typical personality profile [ 1 ].

Nevertheless, the direct comparison of the utility of person-oriented vs. variable-oriented approaches to personality description yielded mixed results. For example Costa, Herbst, McCrae, Samuels and Ozer [ 2 ] found a higher amount of explained variance in predicting global functioning, geriatric depression or personality disorders for the variable-centered approach using Big Five personality dimensions. But these results also reflect a methodological caveat of this approach, as the categorical simplification of dimensionally assessed variables logically explains less variance. Despite this, the person-centered approach was found to heighten the predictability of a person’s behavior [ 3 , 4 ] or the development of adolescents in terms of internalizing and externalizing symptoms or academic success [ 5 , 6 ], problem behavior, delinquency and depression [ 7 ] or anxiety symptoms [ 8 ], as well as stress responses [ 9 ] and social attitudes [ 10 ]. It has also led to new insights into the function of personality in the context of other constructs such as adjustment [ 2 ], coping behavior [ 11 ], behavioral activation and inhibition [ 12 ], subjective and objective health [ 13 ] or political orientation [ 14 ], and has greater predictive power in explaining longitudinally measured individual differences in more temperamental outcomes such as aggressiveness [ 15 ].

However, there is an ongoing debate about the appropriate number and characteristics of personality prototypes and whether they perhaps constitute an methodological artifact [ 16 ].

With the present paper, we would like to make a substantial contribution to this debate. In the following, we first provide a short review of the personality type literature to identify personality types that were frequently replicated and calculate averaged prototypical profiles based on these previous findings. We then apply multiple clustering algorithms on a large German dataset and use those prototypical profiles generated in the first step to match the results of our cluster analysis to previously found personality types by their Euclidean distance in the 5-dimensional space defined by the Big Five traits. This procedure allows us to reliably link the personality prototypes found in our study to previous empirical evidence, an important analysis step lacking in most previous studies on this topic.

The empirical ground of personality types

The early studies applying modern psychological statistics to investigate personality types worked with the Q-sort procedure [ 1 , 15 , 17 ], and differed in the number of Q-factors. With the Q-Sort method, statements about a target person must be brought in an order depending on how characteristic they are for this person. Based on this Q-Sort data, prototypes can be generated using Q-Factor Analysis, also called inverse factor analysis. As inverse factor analysis is basically interchanging variables and persons in the data matrix, the resulting factors of a Q-factor analysis are prototypical personality profiles and not hypothetical or latent variable dimensions. On this basis, personality types (groups of people with similar personalities) can be formed in a second step by assigning each person to the prototype with whose profile his or her profile correlates most closely. All of these early studies determined at least three prototypes, which were labeled resilient, overcontroler and undercontroler grounded in Block`s theory of ego-control and ego-resiliency [ 18 ]. According to Jack and Jeanne Block’s decade long research, individuals high in ego-control (i.e. the overcontroler type) tend to appear constrained and inhibited in their actions and emotional expressivity. They may have difficulty making decisions and thus be non-impulsive or unnecessarily deny themselves pleasure or gratification. Children classified with this type in the studies by Block tend towards internalizing behavior. Individuals low in ego-control (i.e. the undercontroler type), on the other hand, are characterized by higher expressivity, a limited ability to delay gratification, being relatively unattached to social standards or customs, and having a higher propensity to risky behavior. Children classified with this type in the studies by Block tend towards externalizing behavior.

Individuals high in Ego-resiliency (i.e. the resilient type) are postulated to be able to resourcefully adapt to changing situations and circumstances, to tend to show a diverse repertoire of behavioral reactions and to be able to have a good and objective representation of the “goodness of fit” of their behavior to the situations/people they encounter. This good adjustment may result in high levels of self-confidence and a higher possibility to experience positive affect.

Another widely used approach to find prototypes within a dataset is cluster analysis. In the field of personality type research, one of the first studies based on this method was conducted by Caspi and Silva [ 19 ], who applied the SPSS Quick Cluster algorithm to behavioral ratings of 3-year-olds, yielding five prototypes: undercontrolled, inhibited, confident, reserved, and well-adjusted.

While the inhibited type was quite similar to Block`s overcontrolled type [ 18 ] and the well-adjusted type was very similar to the resilient type, two further prototypes were added: confident and reserved. The confident type was described as easy and responsive in social interaction, eager to do exercises and as having no or few problems to be separated from the parents. The reserved type showed shyness and discomfort in test situations but without decreased reaction speed compared to the inhibited type. In a follow-up measurement as part of the Dunedin Study in 2003 [ 20 ], the children who were classified into one of the five types at age 3 were administered the MPQ at age 26, including the assessment of their individual Big Five profile. Well-adjusteds and confidents had almost the same profiles (below-average neuroticism and above average on all other scales except for extraversion, which was higher for the confident type); undercontrollers had low levels of openness, conscientiousness and openness to experience; reserveds and inhibiteds had below-average extraversion and openness to experience, whereas inhibiteds additionally had high levels of conscientiousness and above-average neuroticism.

Following these studies, a series of studies based on cluster analysis, using the Ward’s followed by K-means algorithm, according to Blashfield & Aldenderfer [ 21 ], on Big Five data were published. The majority of the studies examining samples with N < 1000 [ 5 , 7 , 22 – 26 ] found that three-cluster solutions, namely resilients, overcontrollers and undercontrollers, fitted the data the best. Based on internal and external fit indices, Barbaranelli [ 27 ] found that a three-cluster and a four-cluster solution were equally suitable, while Gramzow [ 28 ] found a four-cluster solution with the addition of the reserved type already published by Caspi et al. [ 19 , 20 ]. Roth and Collani [ 10 ] found that a five-cluster solution fitted the data the best. Using the method of latent profile analysis, Merz and Roesch [ 29 ] found a 3-cluster, Favini et al. [ 6 ] found a 4-cluster solution and Kinnunen et al. [ 13 ] found a 5-cluster solution to be most appropriate.

Studies examining larger samples of N > 1000 reveal a different picture. Several favor a five-cluster solution [ 30 – 34 ] while others favor three clusters [ 8 , 35 ]. Specht et al. [ 36 ] examined large German and Australian samples and found a three-cluster solution to be suitable for the German sample and a four-cluster solution to be suitable for the Australian sample. Four cluster solutions were also found to be most suitable to Australian [ 37 ] and Chinese [ 38 ] samples. In a recent publication, the authors cluster-analysed very large datasets on Big Five personality comprising more than 1,5 million online participants using Gaussian mixture models [ 39 ]. Albeit their results “provide compelling evidence, both quantitatively and qualitatively, for at least four distinct personality types”, two of the four personality types in their study had trait profiles not found previously and all four types were given labels unrelated to previous findings and theory. Another recent publication [ 40 ] cluster-analysing data of over 270,000 participants on HEXACO personality “provided evidence that a five-profile solution was optimal”. Despite limitations concerning the comparability of HEXACO trait profiles with FFM personality type profiles, the authors again decided to label their personality types unrelated to previous findings instead using agency-communion and attachment theories.

We did not include studies in this literature review, which had fewer than 199 participants or those which restricted the number of types a priori and did not use any method to compare different clustering solutions. We have made these decisions because a too low sample size increases the probability of the clustering results being artefacts. Further, a priori limitation of the clustering results to a certain number of personality types is not well reasonable on the base of previous empirical evidence and again may produce artefacts, if the a priori assumed number of clusters does not fit the data well.

To gain a better overview, we extracted all available z-scores from all samples of the above-described studies. Fig 1 shows the averaged z-scores extracted from the results of FFM clustering solutions for all personality prototypes that occurred in more than one study. The error bars represent the standard deviation of the distribution of the z-scores of the respective trait within the same personality type throughout the different studies. Taken together the resilient type was replicated in all 19 of the mentioned studies, the overcontroler type in 16, the undercontroler personality type in 17 studies, the reserved personality type was replicated in 6 different studies, the confident personality type in 4 and the non-desirable type was replicated twice.

Average Big Five z-scores of personality types based on clustering of FFM datasets with N ≥ 199 that were replicated at least once. Error bars indicate the standard deviation of the repective trait within the respective personality type found in the literature [ 5 , 6 , 10 , 22 – 25 , 27 – 31 , 33 – 36 , 38 , 39 , 41 ].

Three implications can be drawn from this figure. First, although the results of 19 studies on 26 samples with a total N of 1,560,418 were aggregated, the Big Five profiles for all types can still be clearly distinguished. In other words, personality types seem to be a phenomenon that survives the aggregation of data from different sources. Second, there are more than three replicable personality types, as there are other replicated personality types that seem to have a distinct Big Five profile, at least regarding the reserved and confident personality types. Third and lastly, the non-desirable type seems to constitute the opposite of the resilient type. Looking at two-cluster solutions on Big Five data personality types in the above-mentioned literature yields the resilient opposed to the non-desirable type. This and the fact that it was only replicated twice in the above mentioned studies points to the notion that it seems not to be a distinct type but rather a combined cluster of the over- and undercontroller personality types. Further, both studies with this type in the results did not find either the undercontroller or the overcontroller cluster or both. Taken together, five distinct personality types were consistently replicated in the literature, namely resilient, overcontroller, undercontroller, reserved and confident. However, inferring from the partly large error margin for some traits within some prototypes, not all personality traits seem to contribute evenly to the occurrence of the different prototypes. While for the overcontroler type, above average neuroticism, below average extraversion and openness seem to be distinctive, only below average conscientiousness and agreeableness seemed to be most characteristic for the undercontroler type. The reserved prototype was mostly characterized by below average openness and neuroticism with above average conscientiousness. Above average extraversion, openness and agreeableness seemed to be most distinctive for the confident type. Only for the resilient type, distinct expressions of all Big Five traits seemed to be equally significant, more precisely below average neuroticism and above average extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness.

Research gap and novelty of this study

The cluster methods used in most of the mentioned papers were the Ward’s followed by K-means method or latent profile analysis. With the exception of Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ], Herzberg [ 33 ], Barbaranelli [ 27 ] and Steca et. al. [ 25 ], none of the studies used internal or external validity indices other than those which their respective algorithm (in most cases the SPSS software package) had already included. Gerlach et al. [ 39 ] used Gaussian mixture models in combination with density measures and likelihood measures.

The bias towards a smaller amount of clusters resulting from the utilization of just one replication index, e.g. Cohen's Kappa calculated by split-half cross-validation, which was ascertained by Breckenridge [ 42 ] and Overall & Magee [ 43 ], is probably the reason why a three-cluster solution is preferred in most studies. Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ] pointed to the study by Milligan and Cooper [ 44 ], which proved the superiority of the Rand index over Cohen's Kappa and also suggested a variety of validity metrics for internal consistency to examine the construct validity of the cluster solutions.

Only a part of the cited studies had a large representative sample of N > 2000 and none of the studies used more than one clustering algorithm. Moreover, with the exception of Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ] and Herzberg [ 33 ], none of the studies used a large variety of metrics for assessing internal and external consistency other than those provided by the respective clustering program they used. This limitation further adds up to the above mentioned bias towards smaller amounts of clusters although the field of cluster analysis and algorithms has developed a vast amount of internal and external validity algorithms and criteria to tackle this issue. Further, most of the studies had few or no other assessments or constructs than the Big Five to assess construct validity of the resulting personality types. Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ] and Herzberg [ 33 ] as well, though using a diverse variety of validity criteria only used one clustering algorithm on a medium-sized dataset with N < 2000.

Most of these limitations also apply to the study by Specht et. al. [ 36 ], which investigated two measurement occasions of the Big Five traits in the SOEP data sample. They used only one clustering algorithm (latent profile analysis), no other algorithmic validity criteria than the Bayesian information criterion and did not utilize any of the external constructs also assessed in the SOEP sample, such as mental health, locus of control or risk propensity for construct validation.

The largest sample and most advanced clustering algorithm was used in the recent study by Gerlach et al. [ 39 ]. But they also used only one clustering algorithm, and had no other variables except Big Five trait data to assess construct validity of the resulting personality types.

The aim of the present study was therefore to combine different methodological approaches while rectifying the shortcomings in several of the studies mentioned above in order to answer the following exploratory research questions: Are there replicable personality types, and if so, how many types are appropriate and in which constellations are they more (or less) useful than simple Big Five dimensions in the prediction of related constructs?

Three conceptually different clustering algorithms were used on a large representative dataset. The different solutions of the different clustering algorithms were compared using methodologically different internal and external validity criteria, in addition to those already used by the respective clustering algorithm.

To further examine the construct validity of the resulting personality types, their predictive validity in relation to physical and mental health, wellbeing, locus of control, self-esteem, impulsivity, risk-taking and patience were assessed.

Mental health and wellbeing seem to be associated mostly with neuroticism on the variable-oriented level [ 45 ], but on a person-oriented level, there seem to be large differences between the resilient and the overcontrolled personality type concerning perceived health and well-being beyond mean differences in neuroticism [ 33 ]. This seems also to be the case for locus of control and self-esteem, which is associated with neuroticism [ 46 ] and significantly differs between resilient and overcontrolled personality type [ 33 ]. On the other hand, impulsivity and risk taking seem to be associated with all five personality traits [ 47 ] and e.g. risky driving or sexual behavior seem to occur more often in the undercontrolled personality type [ 33 , 48 ].

We chose these measures because of their empirically known differential associations to Big Five traits as well as to the above described personality types. So this both offers the opportunity to have an integrative comparison of the variable- and person-centered descriptions of personality and to assess construct validity of the personality types resulting from our analyses.

Materials and methods

The acquisition of the data this study bases on was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Basel Declaration and recommendations of the “Principles of Ethical Research and Procedures for Dealing with Scientific Misconduct at DIW Berlin”. The protocol was approved by the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW).

The data used in this study were provided by the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) of the German institute for economic research [ 49 ]. Sample characteristics are shown in Table 1 . The overall sample size of the SOEP data used in this study, comprising all individuals who answered at least one of the Big-Five personality items in 2005 and 2009, was 25,821. Excluding all members with more than one missing answers on the Big Five assessment or intradimensional answer variance more than four times higher than the sample average resulted in a total Big Five sample of N = 22,820, which was used for the cluster analyses. 14,048 of these individuals completed, in addition to the Big Five, items relevant to further constructs examined in this study that were assessed in other years. The 2013 SOEP data Big Five assessment was used as a test sample to examine stability and consistency of the final cluster solution.

Exclusion of participants in the derivation and test samples based on missing answers or intradimensional answer variance more than four times higher than the sample average on the Big Five assessment. Longitudinal construct validity sample consistent of participants with available data on assessments of patience, risk taking, impulsivity, affective and cognitive wellbeing, locus of control, self-esteem and health. SOEP = German Socio-Economic Panel, M = mean, SD = standard deviation, Rg = Range, F = female.

The Big Five were assessed in 2005 2009 and 2013 using the short version of the Big Five inventory (BFI-S). It consists of 15 items, with internal consistencies (Cronbach’s alpha) of the scales ranging from .5 for openness to .73 for openness [ 50 ]. Further explorations showed strong robustness across different assessment methods [ 51 ].

To measure the predictive validity, several other measures assessed in the SOEP were included in the analyses. In detail, these were:

Patience was assessed in 2008 with one item: “Are you generally an impatient person, or someone who always shows great patience?”

Risk taking

Risk-taking propensity was assessed in 2009 by six items asking about the willingness to take risks while driving, in financial matters, in leisure and sports, in one’s occupation (career), in trusting unknown people and the willingness to take health risks, using a scale from 0 (risk aversion) to 10 (fully prepared to take risks). Cronbach’s alpha was .82 for this scale in the current sample.

Impulsivity/Spontaneity

Impulsivity/spontaneity was assessed in 2008 with one item: Do you generally think things over for a long time before acting–in other words, are you not impulsive at all? Or do you generally act without thinking things over for long time–in other words, are you very impulsive?

Affective and cognitive wellbeing

Affect was assessed in 2008 by four items asking about the amount of anxiety, anger, happiness or sadness experienced in the last four weeks on a scale from 1 (very rare) to 5 (very often). Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .66. The cognitive satisfaction with life was assessed by 10 items asking about satisfaction with work, health, sleep, income, leisure time, household income, household duties, family life, education and housing, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .67. The distinction between cognitive and affective wellbeing stems from sociological research based on constructs by Schimmack et al. [ 50 ].

Locus of control

The individual attitude concerning the locus of control, the degree to which people believe in having control over the outcome of events in their lives opposed to being exposed to external forces beyond their control, was assessed in 2010 with 10 items, comprising four positively worded items such as “My life’s course depends on me” and six negatively worded items such as “Others make the crucial decisions in my life”. Items were rated on a 7-point scale ranging from “does not apply” to “does apply”. Cronbach’s alpha in the present sample for locus of control was .57.

Self-esteem

Global self-esteem–a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her worth–was measured in 2010 with one item: “To what degree does the following statement apply to you personally?: I have a positive attitude toward myself”.

To assess subjective health, the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) was integrated into the SOEP questionnaire and assessed in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010. In the present study, we used the data from 2008 and 2010. The SF-12 is a short form of the SF-36, a self-report questionnaire to assess the non-disease-specific health status [ 52 ]. Within the SF-12, items can be grouped onto two subscales, namely the physical component summary scale, with items asking about physical health correlates such as how exhausting it is to climb stairs, and the mental component summary scale, with items asking about mental health correlates such as feeling sad and blue. The literature on health measures often distinguishes between subjective and objective health measures (e.g., BMI, blood pressure). From this perspective, the SF-12 would count as a subjective health measure. In the present sample, Cronbach’s alpha for the SF-12 items was .77.

Derivation of the prototypes

The first step was to administer three different clustering methods on the Big Five data of the SOEP sample: First, the conventional linear clustering method used by Asendorpf [ 15 , 35 , 53 ] and also Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ] combines the hierarchical clustering method of Ward [ 54 ] with the k-means algorithm [ 55 ]. This algorithm generates a first guess of personality types based on hierarchical clustering, and then uses this first guess as starting points for the k-means-method, which iteratively adjusts the personality profiles, i.e. the cluster means to minimize the error of allocation, i.e. participants with Big Five profiles that are allocated to two or more personality types. The second algorithm we used was latent profile analysis with Mclust in R [ 56 ], an algorithm based on probabilistic finite mixture modeling, which assumes that there are latent classes/profiles/mixture components underlying the manifest observed variables. This algorithm generates personality profiles and iteratively calculates the probability of every participant in the data to be allocated to one of the personality types and tries to minimize an error term using maximum likelihood method. The third algorithm was spectral clustering, an algorithm which initially computes eigenvectors of graph Laplacians of the similarity graph constructed on the input data to discover the number of connected components in the graph, and then uses the k-means algorithm on the eigenvectors transposed in a k-dimensional space to compute the desired k clusters [ 57 ]. As it is an approach similar to the kernel k-means algorithm [ 58 ], spectral clustering can discover non-linearly separable cluster formations. Thus, this algorithm is able, in contrast to the standard k-means procedure, to discover personality types having unequal or non-linear distributions within the Big-Five traits, e.g. having a small SD on neuroticism while having a larger SD on conscientiousness or a personality type having high extraversion and either high or low agreeableness.

Within the last 50 years, a large variety of clustering algorithms have been established, and several attempts have been made to group them. In their book about cluster analysis, Bacher et al. [ 59 ] group cluster algorithms into incomplete clustering algorithms, e.g. Q-Sort or multidimensional scaling, deterministic clustering, e.g. k-means or nearest-neighbor algorithms, and probabilistic clustering, e.g. latent class and latent profile analysis. According to Jain [ 60 ], cluster algorithms can be grouped by their objective function, probabilistic generative models and heuristics. In his overview of the current landscape of clustering, he begins with the group of density-based algorithms with linear similarity functions, e.g. DBSCAN, or probabilistic models of density functions, e.g. in the expectation-maximation (EM) algorithm. The EM algorithm itself also belongs to the large group of clustering algorithms with an information theoretic formulation. Another large group according to Jain is graph theoretic clustering, which includes several variants of spectral clustering. Despite the fact that it is now 50 years old, Jain states that k-means is still a good general-purpose algorithm that can provide reasonable clustering results.

The clustering algorithms chosen for the current study are therefore representatives of the deterministic vs. probabilistic grouping according to Bacher et. al. [ 59 ], as well as representatives of the density-based, information theoretic and graph theoretic grouping according to Jain [ 60 ].

Determining the number of clusters

There are two principle ways to determine cluster validity: external or relative criteria and internal validity indices.

External validity criteria

External validity criteria measure the extent to which cluster labels match externally supplied class labels. If these external class labels originate from another clustering algorithm used on the same data sample, the resulting value of the external cluster validity index is relative. Another method, which is used in the majority of the cited papers in section 1, is to randomly split the data in two halves, apply a clustering algorithm on both halves, calculate the cluster means and allocate members of one half to the calculated clusters of the opposite half by choosing the cluster mean with the shortest Euclidean distance to the data member in charge. If the cluster algorithm allocation of one half is then compared with the shortest Euclidean distance allocation of the same half by means of an external cluster validity index, this results in a value for the reliability of the clustering method on the data sample.

As allocating data points/members by Euclidean distances always yields spherical and evenly shaped clusters, it will favor clustering methods that also yield spherical and evenly shaped clusters, as it is the case with standard k-means. The cluster solutions obtained with spectral clustering as well as latent profile analysis (LPA) are not (necessarily) spherical or evenly shaped; thus, allocating members of a dataset by their Euclidean distances to cluster means found by LPA or spectral clustering does not reliably represent the structure of the found cluster solution. This is apparent in Cohen’s kappa values <1 if one uses the Euclidean external cluster assignment method comparing a spectral cluster solution with itself. Though by definition, Cohen’s kappa should be 1 if the two ratings/assignments compared are identical, which is the case when comparing a cluster solution (assigning every data point to a cluster) with itself. This problem can be bypassed by allocating the members of the test dataset to the respective clusters by training a support vector machine classifier for each cluster. Support vector machines (SVM) are algorithms to construct non-linear “hyperplanes” to classify data given their class membership [ 61 ]. They can be used very well to categorize members of a dataset by an SVM-classifier trained on a different dataset. Following the rationale not to disadvantage LPA and spectral clustering in the calculation of the external validity, we used an SVM classifier to calculate the external validity criteria for all clustering algorithms in this study.

To account for the above mentioned bias to smaller numbers of clusters we applied three external validity criteria: Cohen’s kappa, the Rand index [ 62 ] and the Hubert-Arabie adjusted Rand index [ 63 ].

Internal validity criteria

Again, to account for the bias to smaller numbers of clusters, we also applied multiple internal validity criteria selected in line with the the following reasoning: According to Lam and Yan [ 64 ], the internal validity criteria fall into three classes: Class one includes cost-function-based indices, e.g. AIC or BIC [ 65 ], whereas class two comprises cluster-density-based indices, e.g. the S_Dbw index [ 66 ]. Class three is grounded on geometric assumptions concerning the ratio of the distances within clusters compared to the distances between the clusters. This class has the most members, which differ in their underlying mathematics. One way of assessing geometric cluster properties is to calculate the within- and/or between-group scatter, which both rely on summing up distances of the data points to their barycenters (cluster means). As already explained in the section on external criteria, calculating distances to cluster means will always favor spherical and evenly shaped cluster solutions without noise, i.e. personality types with equal and linear distributions on the Big Five trait dimensions, which one will rarely encounter with natural data.

Another way not solely relying on distances to barycenters or cluster means is to calculate directly with the ratio of distances of the data points within-cluster and between-cluster. According to Desgraupes [ 67 ], this applies to the following indices: the C-index, the Baker & Hubert Gamma index, the G(+) index, Dunn and Generalized Dunn indices, the McClain-Rao index, the Point-Biserial index and the Silhouette index. As the Gamma and G(+) indices rely on the same mathematical construct, one can declare them as redundant. According to Bezdek [ 68 ], the Dunn index is very sensitive to noise, even if there are only very few outliers in the data. Instead, the authors propose several ways to compute a Generalized Dunn index, some of which also rely on the calculation of barycenters. The best-performing GDI algorithm outlined by Bezdek and Pal [ 68 ] which does not make use of cluster barycenters is a ratio of the mean distance of every point between clusters to the maximum distance between points within the cluster, henceforth called GDI31. According to Vendramin et al. [ 69 ], the Gamma, C-, and Silhouette indices are the best-performing (over 80% correct hit rate), while the worst-performing are the Point-Biserial and the McClain-Rao indices (73% and 51% correct hit rate, respectively).

Fig 2 shows a schematic overview of the procedure we used to determine the personality types Big Five profiles, i.e. the cluster centers. To determine the best fitting cluster solution, we adopted the two-step procedure proposed by Blashfield and Aldenfelder [ 21 ] and subsequently used by Asendorpf [ 15 , 35 , 53 ] Boehm [ 41 ], Schnabel [ 24 ], Gramzow [ 28 ], and Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ], with a few adjustments concerning the clustering algorithms and the validity criteria.

LPA = latent profile analysis, SVM = Support Vector Machine.

First, we drew 20 random samples of the full sample comprising all individuals who answered the Big-Five personality items in 2005 and 2009 with N = 22,820 and split every sample randomly into two halves. Second, all three clustering algorithms described above were performed on each half, saving the 3-, 4-,…,9- and 10-cluster solution. Third, participants of each half were reclassified based on the clustering of the other half of the same sample, again for every clustering algorithm and for all cluster solutions from three to 10 clusters. In contrast to Asendorpf [ 35 ], this was implemented not by calculating Euclidean distances, but by training a support vector machine classifier for every cluster of a cluster solution of one half-sample and reclassifying the members of the other half of the same sample by the SVM classifier. The advantages of this method are explained in the section on external criteria. This resulted in 20 samples x 2 halves per sample x 8 cluster solutions x 3 clustering algorithms, equaling 960 clustering solutions to be compared.

The fourth step was to compute the external criteria comparing each Ward followed by k-means, spectral, or probabilistic clustering solution of each half-sample to the clustering by the SVM classifier trained on the opposite half of the same sample, respectively. The external calculated in this step were Cohen's kappa, Rand’s index [ 62 ] and the Hubert & Arabie adjusted Rand index [ 63 ]. The fifth step consisted of averaging: We first averaged the external criteria values per sample (one value for each half), and then averaged the 20x4 external criteria values for each of the 3-,4-…, 10-cluster solutions for each algorithm.

The sixth step was to temporarily average the external criteria values for the 3-,4-,… 10-cluster solution over the three clustering algorithms and discard the cluster solutions that had a total average kappa below 0.6.

As proposed by Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ], we then calculated several internal cluster validity indices for all remaining cluster solutions. The internal validity indices which we used were, in particular, the C-index [ 70 ], the Baker-Hubert Gamma index [ 71 ], the G + index [ 72 ], the Generalized Dunn index 31 [ 68 ], the Point-Biserial index [ 44 ], the Silhouette index [ 73 ], AIC and BIC [ 65 ] and the S_Dbw index [ 66 ]. Using all of these criteria, it is possible to determine the best clustering solution in a mathematical/algorithmic manner.

The resulting clusters where then assigned names by calculating Euclidean distances to the clusters/personality types found in the literature, taking the nearest type within the 5-dimensional space defined by the respective Big Five values.

To examine the stability and consistency of the final cluster solution, in a last step, we then used the 2013 SOEP data sample to calculate a cluster solution using the algorithm and parameters which generated the solution with the best validity criteria for the 2005 and 2009 SOEP data sample. The 2013 personality prototypes were allocated to the personality types of the solution from the previous steps by their profile similarity measure D. Stability then was assessed by calculation of Rand-index, adjusted Rand-index and Cohen’s Kappa for the complete solution and for every single personality type. To generate the cluster allocations between the different cluster solutions, again we used SVM classifier as described above.

To assess the predictive and the construct validity of the resulting personality types, the inversed Euclidean distance for every participant to every personality prototype (averaged Big Five profile in one cluster) in the 5-dimensional Big-Five space was calculated and correlated with further personality, behavior and health measures mentioned above. To ensure that longitudinal reliability was assessed in this step, Big Five data assessed in 2005 were used to predict measures which where assessed three, four or five years later. The selection of participants with available data in 2005 and 2008 or later reduced the sample size in this step to N = 14,048.

Internal and external cluster fit indices

Table 2 shows the mean Cohen’s kappa values, averaged over all clustering algorithms and all 20 bootstrapped data permutations.

Each cell is an average value over 20 independent cluster computations on random data permutations; the mean value in the last row is the average over all cluster algorithms. LPA = latent profile analysis, k-Means = k-Means Clustering algorithm, Spectral = Spectral clustering algorithm.

Whereas the LPA and spectral cluster solutions seem to have better kappa values for fewer clusters, the kappa values of the k-means clustering solutions have a peak at five clusters, which is even higher than the kappa values of the three-cluster solutions of the other two algorithms.

Considering that these values are averaged over 20 independent computations, there is very low possibility that this result is an artefact. As the solutions with more than five clusters had an average kappa below .60, they were discarded in the following calculations.

Table 3 shows the calculated external and internal validity indices for the three- to five-cluster solutions, ordered by the clustering algorithm. Comparing the validity criterion values within the clustering algorithms reveals a clear preference for the five-cluster solution in the spectral as well as the Ward followed by k-means algorithm.

Best value across all solutions for each validity criterion is highlighted in yellow, best value within the respective algorithm in blue. GDI31 = Generalized Dunn Index 31, AIC = Akaike’s information criterion, BIC = Bayesian information criterion, LPA = latent profile analysis, k-Means = k-Means Clustering algorithm, Spectral = Spectral clustering algorithm.

Looking solely at the cluster validity results of the latent profile models, they seem to favor the three-cluster model. Yet, in a global comparison, only the S_Dbw index continues to favor the three-cluster LPA model, whereas the results of all other 12 validity indices support five-cluster solutions. The best clustering solution in terms of the most cluster validity index votes is the five-cluster Ward followed by k-means solution, and second best is the five-cluster spectral solution. It is particularly noteworthy that the five-cluster K-means solution has higher values on all external validity criteria than all other solutions. As these values are averaged over 20 independent cluster computations on random data permutations, and still have better values than solutions with fewer clusters despite the fact that these indices have a bias towards solutions with fewer clusters [ 42 ], there seems to be a substantial, replicable five-component structure in the Big Five Data of the German SOEP sample.

Description of the prototypes

The mean z-scores on the Big Five factors of the five-cluster k-means as well as the spectral solution are depicted in Fig 2 . Also depicted is the five-cluster LPA solution, which is, despite having poor internal and external validity values compared to the other two solutions, more complicated to interpret. To find the appropriate label for the cluster partitions, the respective mean z-scores on the Big Five factors were compared with the mean z-scores found in the literature, both visually and by the Euclidean distance.

The spectral and the Ward followed by k-means solution overlap by 81.3%; the LPA solution only overlaps with the other two solutions by 21% and 23%, respectively. As the Ward followed by k-means solution has the best values both for external and internal validity criteria, we will focus on this solution in the following.

The first cluster has low neuroticism and high values on all other scales and includes on average 14.4% of the participants (53.2% female; mean age 53.3, SD = 17.3). Although the similarity to the often replicated resilient personality type is already very clear merely by looking at the z-scores, a very strong congruence is also revealed by computing the Euclidean distance (0.61). The second cluster is mainly characterized by high neuroticism, low extraversion and low openness and includes on average 17.3% of the participants (54.4% female; mean age 57.6, SD = 18.2). It clearly resembles the overcontroller type, to which it also has the shortest Euclidean distance (0.58). The fourth cluster shows below-average values on the factors neuroticism, extraversion and openness, as opposed to above-average values on openness and conscientiousness. It includes on average 22.5% of the participants (45% female; mean age 56.8, SD = 17.6). Its mean z-scores closely resemble the reserved personality type, to which it has the smallest Euclidean distance (0.36). The third cluster is mainly characterized by low conscientiousness and low openness, although in the spectral clustering solution, it also has above-average extraversion and openness values. Computing the Euclidean distance (0.86) yields the closest proximity to the undercontroller personality type. This cluster includes on average 24.6% of the participants (41.3% female; mean age 50.8, SD = 18.3). The fifth cluster exhibits high z-scores on every Big Five trait, including a high value for neuroticism. Computing the Euclidean distances to the previously found types summed up in Fig 1 reveals the closest resemblance with the confident type (Euclidean distance = 0.81). Considering the average scores of the Big Five traits, it resembles the confident type from Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ] and Collani and Roth [ 10 ] as well as the resilient type, with the exception of the high neuroticism score. Having above average values on the more adaptive traits while having also above average neuroticism values reminded a reviewer from a previous version of this paper of the vulnerable but invincible children of the Kauai-study [ 74 ]. Despite having been exposed to several risk factors in their childhood, they were well adapted in their adulthood except for low coping efficiency in specific stressful situations. Taken together with the lower percentage of participants in the resilient cluster in this study, compared to previous studies, we decided to name the 5 th cluster vulnerable-resilient. Consequently, only above or below average neuroticism values divided between resilient and vulnerable resilient. On average, 21.2% of the participants were allocated to this cluster (68.3% female; mean age 54.9, SD = 17.4).

Summarizing the descriptive statistics, undercontrollers were the “youngest” cluster whereas overcontrollers were the “oldest”. The mean age differed significantly between clusters ( F [4, 22820] = 116.485, p <0.001), although the effect size was small ( f = 0.14). The distribution of men and women between clusters differed significantly (c 2 [ 4 ] = 880.556, p <0.001). With regard to sex differences, it was particularly notable that the vulnerable-resilient cluster comprised only 31.7% men. This might be explained by general sex differences on the Big Five scales. According to Schmitt et al. [ 75 ], compared to men, European women show a general bias to higher neuroticism (d = 0.5), higher conscientiousness (d = 0.3) and higher extraversion and openness (d = 0.2). As the vulnerable-resilient personality type is mainly characterized by high neuroticism and above-average z-scores on the other scales, it is therefore more likely to include women. In turn, this implies that men are more likely to have a personality profile characterized mainly by low conscientiousness and low openness, which is also supported by our findings, as only 41.3% of the undercontrollers were female.

Concerning the prototypicality of the five-cluster solution compared to the mean values extracted from previous studies, it is apparent that the resilient, the reserved and the overcontroller type are merely exact replications. In contrast to previous findings, the undercontrollers differed from the previous findings cited above in terms of average neuroticism, whereas the vulnerable-resilient type differed from the previously found type (labeled confident) in terms of high neuroticism.

Stability and consistency

Inspecting the five cluster solution using the k-means algorithm on the Big Five data of the 2013 SOEP sample seemed to depict a replication of the above described personality types. This first impression was confirmed by the calculation of the profile similarity measure D between the 2005/2009 and 2013 SOEP sample cluster solutions, which yielded highest similarity for the undercontroler (D = 0.27) and reserved (D = 0.36) personality types, followed by the vulnerable-resilient (D = 0.37), overcontroler (D = 0.44) and resilient (D = 0.50) personality types. Substantial agreement was confirmed by the values of the Rand index (.84) and Cohen’ Kappa (.70) whereas the Hubert Arabie adjusted Rand Index (.58) indicated moderate agreement for the comparison between the kmeans cluster solution for the 2013 SOEP sample and the cluster allocation with an SVM classifier trained on the 2005 and 2009 kmeans cluster solution.

Predictive validity

In view of the aforementioned criticisms that (a) predicting dimensional variables will mathematically favor dimensional personality description models, and (b) using dichotomous predictors will necessarily provide less explanation of variance than a model using five continuous predictors, we used the profile similarity measure D [ 76 ] instead of dichotomous dummy variables accounting for the prototype membership. Correlations between the inversed Euclidean similarity measure D to the personality types and patience, risk-taking, spontaneity/impulsivity, locus of control, affective wellbeing, self-esteem and health are depicted in Table 4 .

N = 14048. Except the ones in brackets, only correlations with a significance level ≤ 0.001 are depicted. The highest and lowest correlation in each row are marked in bold. SF-12 = 12-Item Short Form Health Survey.

Patience had the highest association with the reserved personality type (r = .19, p < .001). The propensity to risky behavior, e.g. while driving (r = .17, p < .001), in financial matters (r = .17, p < .001) or in health decisions (r = .13, p < .001) was most highly correlated with the undercontroller personality type. This means that the more similar the Big-Five profile to the above-depicted undercontroller personality prototype, the higher the propensity for risky behavior. The average correlation across all three risk propensity scales with the undercontroller personality type is r = .21, with p < .001. This is in line with the postulations by Block and Block and subsequent replications by Caspi et al. [ 19 , 48 ], Robins et al. [ 1 ] and Herzberg [ 33 ] about the undercontroller personality type. Spontaneity/impulsivity showed the highest correlation with the overcontroller personality type (r = -.18, p<0.001). This is also in accordance with Block and Block, who described this type as being non-impulsive and appearing constrained and inhibited in actions and emotional expressivity.

Concerning locus of control, proximity to the resilient personality profile had the highest correlation with internal locus of control (r = .25, p < .001), and in contrast, the more similar the individual Big-Five profile was to the overcontroller personality type, the higher the propensity for external allocation of control (r = .22, p < .001). This is not only in line with Block and Block’s postulations that the resilient personality type has a good repertoire of coping behavior and therefore perceives most situations as “manageable” as well as with the findings by [ 33 ], but is also in accordance with findings regarding the construct and development of resilience [ 77 , 78 ].

Also in line with the predictions of Block and Block and replicating the findings of Herzberg [ 33 ], self-esteem was correlated the highest with the resilient personality profile similarity (r = .33, p < .001), second highest with the reserved personality profile proximity (r = .15, p < .001), and negatively correlated with the overcontroller personality type (r = -.27, p < .001).

This pattern also applies to affective and cognitive wellbeing as well as physical and mental health measured by the SF-12. Affective wellbeing was correlated the highest with similarity to the resilient personality type (r = .27, p < .001), and second highest with the reserved personality type (r = .23, p < .001). The overcontroller personality type, in contrast, showed a negative correlation with affective (r = -.16, p < .001) and cognitive (r = -21, p < .001) wellbeing. Concerning health, a remarkable finding is that lack of physical health impairment correlated the highest with the resilient personality profile similarity (p = -.23, p < .001) but lack of mental health impairment correlated the highest with the reserved personality type (r = -.15, p < .001). The highest correlation with mental health impairments (r = .11, p < .001), as well as physical health impairments (r = .16, p < .001) was with the overcontroller personality profile similarity. It is striking that although the undercontroller personality profile similarity was associated with risky health behavior, it had a negative association with health impairment measures, in contrast to the overcontroller personality type, which in turn had no association with risky health behavior. This result is in line with the link of internalizing and externalizing behavior with the overcontroller and undercontroller types [ 79 ], respectively. Moreover, it is also in accordance with the association of internalizing problems with somatic symptoms and/or symptoms of depressiveness and anxiety [ 80 ].

A further noteworthy finding is that these associations cannot be solely explained by the high neuroticism of the overcontroller personality type, as the vulnerable-resilient type showed a similar level of neuroticism but no correlation with self-esteem, the opposite correlation with impulsivity, and far lower correlations with health measures or locus of control. The vulnerable-resilient type showed also a remarkable distinction to the other types concerning the correlations to wellbeing. While for all other types, the direction and significance of the correlations to affective and cognitive measures of wellbeing were alike, the vulnerable-resilient type only had a significant negative correlation to affective wellbeing while having no significant correlation to measures of cognitive wellbeing.

To provide an overview of the particular associations of the Big Five values with all of the above-mentioned behavior and personality measures, Table 5 shows the bivariate correlations.

N = 14,048. Except the one in brackets, only correlations with a significance level ≤ 0.001 are depicted. SF-12 = 12-Item Short Form Health Survey.

Investigating the direction of the correlation and the relativity of each value to each other row-wise reveals, to some extent, a clear resemblance with the z-scores of the personality types shown in Fig 3 . Correlation profiles of risk taking, especially the facet risk-taking in health issues and locus of control, clearly resemble the undercontroller personality profile (negative correlations with openness and conscientiousness, positive but lower correlations with extraversion and openness). Patience had negative correlations with neuroticism and extraversion, and positive correlations with openness and conscientiousness, which in turn resembles the z-score profile of the reserved personality profile. Spontaneity/impulsivity had moderate to high positive correlations with extraversion and openness, and low negative correlations with openness and neuroticism, which resembles the inverse of the overcontroller personality profile. Self-esteem as well as affective and cognitive wellbeing correlations with the Big Five clearly resemble the resilient personality profile: negative correlations with neuroticism, and positive correlations with extraversion, openness, openness and conscientiousness. Inspecting the SF-12 health correlation, in terms of both physical and mental health, reveals a resemblance to the inversed resilient personality profile (high correlation with neuroticism, low correlation with extraversion, openness, openness and conscientiousness, as well as a resemblance with the overcontroller profile (positive correlation with neuroticism, negative correlation with extraversion).

On the variable level, neuroticism had the highest associations with almost all of the predicted variables, with the exception of impulsivity, which was mainly correlated with extraversion and openness. It is also evident that all variables in question here are correlated with three or more Big Five traits. This can be seen as support for hypothesis that the concept of personality prototypes has greater utility than the variable-centered approach in understanding or predicting more complex psychological constructs that are linked to two or more Big Five traits.

The goal of this study was to combine different methodological approaches while overcoming the shortcomings of previous studies in order to answer the questions whether there are replicable personality types, how many of them there are, and how they relate to Big Five traits and other psychological and health-related constructs. The results revealed a robust five personality type model, which was able to significantly predict all of the psychological constructs in question longitudinally. Predictions from previous findings connecting the predicted variables to the particular Big Five dimensions underlying the personality type model were confirmed. Apparently, the person-centered approach to personality description has the most practical utility when predicting behavior or personality correlates that are connected to more than one or two of the Big Five traits such as self-esteem, locus of control and wellbeing.

This study fulfils all three criteria specified by von Eye & Bogat [ 81 ] regarding person-oriented research and considers the recommendations regarding sample size and composition by Herzberg and Roth [ 30 ]. The representative and large sample was analyzed under the assumption that it was drawn from more than one population (distinct personality types). Moreover, several external and internal cluster validity criteria were taken into account in order to validate the groupings generated by three different cluster algorithms, which were chosen to represent broad ranges of clustering techniques [ 60 , 82 ]. The Ward followed by K-means procedure covers hierarchical as well as divisive partitioning (crisp) clustering, the latent profile algorithm covers density-based clustering with probabilistic models and information theoretic validation (AIC, BIC), and spectral clustering represents graph theoretic as well as kernel-based non-linear clustering techniques. The results showed a clear superiority of the five-cluster solution. Interpreting this grouping based on theory revealed a strong concordance with personality types found in previous studies, which we could ascertain both in absolute mean values and in the Euclidean distances to mean cluster z-scores extracted from 19 previous studies. As no previous study on personality types used that many external and internal cluster validity indices and different clustering algorithms on a large data set of this size, the present study provides substantial support for the personality type theory postulating the existence of resilient, undercontroller, overcontroller, vulnerable-resilient and reserved personality types, which we will refer to with RUO-VR subsequently. Further, our findings concerning lower validity of the LPA cluster solutions compared to the k-means and spectral cluster solutions suggest that clustering techniques based on latent models are less suited for the BFI-S data of the SOEP sample than iterative and deterministic methods based on the k-means procedure or non-linear kernel or graph-based methods. Consequently, the substance of the clustering results by Specht et. al. [ 36 ], which applied latent profile analysis on the SOEP sample, may therefore be limited.

But the question, if the better validity values of the k-means and spectral clustering techniques compared to the LPA indicate a general superiority of these algorithms, a superiority in the field of personality trait clustering or only a superiority in clustering this specific personality trait assessment (BFI-S) in this specific sample (SOEP), remains subject to further studies on personality trait clustering.

When determining the longitudinal predictive validity, the objections raised by Asendorpf [ 53 ] concerning the direct comparison of person-oriented vs. variable-oriented personality descriptions were incorporated by using continuous personality type profile similarity based on Cronbach and Gleser [ 75 ] instead of dichotomous dummy variables as well as by predicting long-term instead of cross-sectionally assessed variables. Using continuous profile similarity variables also resolves the problem that potentially important information about members of the same class is lost in categorical personality descriptions [ 15 , 53 , 83 ]. Predictions regarding the association of the personality types with the assessed personality and behavior correlates, including risk propensity, impulsivity, self-esteem, locus of control, patience, cognitive and affective wellbeing as well as health measures, were confirmed.

Overcontrollers showed associations with lower spontaneity/impulsivity, with lower mental and physical health, and lower cognitive as well as affective wellbeing. Undercontrollers were mainly associated with higher risk propensity and higher impulsive behavior. These results can be explained through the connection of internalizing and externalizing behavior with the overcontroller and undercontroller types [ 5 – 7 , 78 ] and further with the connection of internalizing problems with somatic symptoms and/or symptoms of depressiveness and anxiety [ 79 ]. The dimensions or categories of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology have a long tradition in child psychopathology [ 84 , 85 ] and have been subsequently replicated in adult psychopathology [ 86 , 87 ] and are now basis of contemporary approaches to general psychopathology [ 88 ]. A central proceeding in this development is the integration of (maladaptive) personality traits into the taxonomy of general psychopathology. In the current approach, maladaptive personality traits are allocated to psychopathology spectra, such as the maladaptive trait domain negative affectivity to the spectrum of internalizing disorders. However, the findings of this study suggests that not specific personality traits are intertwined with the development or the occurrence of psychopathology but specific constellations of personality traits, in other words, personality profiles. This hypothesis is also supported by the findings of Meeus et al. [ 8 ], which investigated longitudinal transitions from one personality type to another with respect to symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. Transitions from resilient to overcontroller personality profiles significantly predicted higher anxiety symptoms while the opposite was found for transitions from overcontroller to resilient personality profiles.

The resilient personality type had the strongest associations with external locus of control, higher patience, good health and positive wellbeing. This not only confirms the characteristics of the resilient type already described by Block & Block [ 18 ] and subsequently replicated, but also conveys the main characteristics of the construct of resilience itself. While the development of resiliency depends on the quality of attachment experiences in childhood and youth [ 89 ], resiliency in adulthood seems to be closely linked to internal locus of control, self-efficacy and self-esteem. In other words, the link between secure attachment experiences in childhood and resiliency in adulthood seems to be the development of a resilient personality trait profile. Seen the other way around, the link between traumatic attachment experiences or destructive environmental factors and low resiliency in adulthood may be, besides genetic risk factors, the development of personality disorders [ 90 ] or internalizing or externalizing psychopathology [ 91 ]. Following this thought, the p-factor [ 92 ], i.e. a general factor of psychopathology, may be an index of insufficient resilience. Although from the viewpoint of personality pathology, having a trait profile close to the resilient personality type may be an index of stable or good personality structure [ 93 ], i.e. personality functioning [ 94 ], which, though being consistently associated with general psychopathology and psychosocial functioning, should not be confused with it [ 95 ].

The reserved personality type had the strongest associations with higher patience as well as better mental health. The vulnerable-resilient personality type showed low positive correlations with spontaneity/impulsivity and low negative correlations with patience as well as health and affective wellbeing.

Analyzing the correlations of the dimensional Big Five values with the predicted variables revealed patterns similar to the mean z-scores of the personality types resilient, overcontrollers, undercontrollers and reserved. Most variables had a low to moderate correlation with just one personality profile similarity, while having at least two or three low to moderate correlations with the Big Five measures. This can be seen as support for the argument of Chapman [ 82 ] and Asendorpf [ 15 , 53 ] that personality types have more practical meaning in the prediction of more complex correlates of human behavior and personality such as mental and physical health, wellbeing, risk-taking, locus of control, self-esteem and impulsivity. Our findings further underline that the person-oritented approach may better be suited than variable-oriented personality descriptions to detect complex trait interactions [ 40 ]. E.g. the vulnerable-resilient and the overcontroller type did not differ in their high average neuroticism values, while differing in their correlations to mental and somatic health self-report measures. It seems that high neuroticism is far stronger associated to lower mental and physical health as well as wellbeing if it occurs together with low extraversion and low openness as seen in the overcontroller type. This differential association between the Big-Five traits also affects the correlation between neuroticism and self-esteem or locus of control. Not differing in their average neuroticism value, the overcontroller personality profile had moderate associations with low self-esteem and external locus of control while the vulnerable-resilient personality profile did only show very low or no association. Further remarkable is that the vulnerable-resilient profile similarity had no significant correlation with measures of cognitive wellbeing while being negatively correlated with affective wellbeing. This suggests that individuals with a Big-Five personality profile similar to the vulnerable-resilient prototype seem not to perceive impairments in their wellbeing, at least on a cognitive layer, although having high z-values in neuroticism. Another explanation for this discrepancy as well as for the lack of association of the vulnerable-resilient personality profile to low self-esteem and external locus of control though having high values in neuroticism could be found in the research on the construct of resilience. Personalities with high neuroticism values but stable self-esteem, internal locus of control and above average agreeableness and extraversion values may be the result of the interplay of multiple protective factors (e.g. close bond with primary caregiver, supportive teachers) with risk factors (e.g. parental mental illness, poverty). The development of a resilient personality profile with below average neuroticism values, on the other hand, may be facilitated if protective factors outweigh the risk factors by a higher ratio.

An interesting future research question therefore concerns to what extent personality types found in this study may be replicated using maladaptive trait assessments according to DSM-5, section III [ 96 ] or the ICD-11 personality disorder section [ 97 ] (for a comprehensive overview on that topic see e.g. [ 98 ]). As previous studies showed that both DSM-5 [ 99 ] and ICD-11 [ 100 ] maladaptive personality trait domains may be, to a large extent, conceptualized as maladaptive variants of Big Five traits, it is highly likely that also maladaptive personality trait domains align around personality prototypes and that the person-oriented approach may amend the research field of personality pathology [ 101 ].

Taken together, the findings of this study connect the variable centered approach of personality description, more precisely the Big Five traits, through the concept of personality types to constructs of developmental psychology (resiliency, internalizing and externalizing behavior and/or problems) as well as clinical psychology (mental health) and general health assessed by the SF-12. We could show that the distribution of Big Five personality profiles, at least in the large representative German sample of this study, aggregates around five prototypes, which in turn have distinct associations to other psychological constructs, most prominently resilience, internalizing and externalizing behavior, subjective health, patience and wellbeing.

Limitations

Several limitations of the present study need to be considered: One problem concerns the assessment of patience, self-esteem and impulsivity. From a methodological perspective, these are not suitable for the assessment of construct validity as they were assessed with only one item. A further weakness is the short Big Five inventory with just 15 items. Though showing acceptable reliability, 15 items are more prone to measurement errors than measures with more items and only allow a very broad assessment of the 5 trait domains, without information on individual facet expressions. A more big picture question is if the Big Five model is the best way to assess personality in the first place. A further limitation concerns the interpretation of the subjective health measures, as high neuroticism is known to bias subjective health ratings. But the fact that the vulnerable-resilient and the overcontroler type had similar average neuroticism values but different associations with the subjective health measures speaks against a solely neuroticism-based bias driven interpretation of the associations of the self-reported health measures with the found personality clusters. Another limitation is the correlation between the personality type similarities: As they are based on Euclidean distances and the cluster algorithms try to maximize the distances between the cluster centers, proximity to one personality type (that is the cluster mean) logically implies distance from the others. In the case of the vulnerable-resilient and the resilient type, the correlation of the profile similarities is positive, as they mainly differ on only one dimension (neuroticism). These high correlations between the profile similarities prevents or diminishes, due to the emerging high collinearity, the applicability of general linear models, i.e. regression to calculate the exact amount of variance explained by the profile similarities.

The latter issue could be bypassed by assessing types and dimensions with different questionnaires, i.e. as in Asendorpf [ 15 ] with the California Child Q-set to determine the personality type and the NEO-FFI for the Big Five dimensions. Another possibility is to design a new questionnaire based on the various psychological constructs that are distinctly associated with each personality type, which is probably a subject for future person-centered research.

Acknowledgments

The data used in this article were made available by the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, Data for years 1984–2015) at the German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin, Germany. However, the findings and views reported in this article are those of the authors. To ensure the confidentiality of respondents’ information, the SOEP adheres to strict security standards in the provision of SOEP data. The data are reserved exclusively for research use, that is, they are provided only to the scientific community. All users, both within the EEA (and Switzerland) and outside these countries, are required to sign a data distribution contract.

Funding Statement

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Data Availability

• PLoS One. 2021; 16(1): e0244849.

Decision Letter 0

24 Mar 2020

PONE-D-20-00337

Personality Types Revisited – a Comprehensive Algorithmic Approach to an Integration of Prototypical and Dimensional Constructs of Personality Description

Dear Kerber,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: No

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Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: This is a sophisticated and methodologically exhaustive study.

I must confess that much of this material is beyond my scope of knowledge and my capacity to comprehend.

After reading the abstract I am still not very clear about what this study is all about. It all seems like at novel approach - or maybe a pioneering approach is a more appropriate term. Therefore, I suggest that nothing should be too obvious in the communication of this study.

1] For example, the abstract only refers to “a large representative German dataset” without providing the N? What is the abbreviation Ward/k standing for?

In general, I encourage the authors to rephrase the abstract and parts of the introduction as a service for the reader.

2] General comment: During the introduction on the first 3-4 pages, I feel somewhat lost as reader. I suppose the authors could sharpen up this part. It may also be helpful to link the rationale to some more familiar/contemporary theory and research within the field.

The 10 first pages seem to work as a review of the literature.

The aim is not presented until page 9 line 207.

3] It could be helpful with a more clear distinguishing between types and traits?

4] Page 6, line 127: “In a recent nature human behavior publication” – are the authors referring to a journal here or a particular issue or paper? It is not evident.

5] Page 7: ”total N of 1560418” – please use comma separators.

6] The authors cite the HiTOP and related scientific papers (e.g., Forbush et al, Kotov et al., Krueger et al.). However, the authors did not relate their findings or discussions to the more authoritative diagnostic frameworks such as the approved ICD-11 dimensional classifications of PDs as well as the DSM-5 alternative model – with particular emphasis on their trait systems.

7] On page 4 the authors write: “it can be said that the human goal is to be as undercontrolled as possible and as overcontrolled as necessary. When one is more undercontrolled than is adaptively effective or more overcontrolled than is adaptively required, one is not resilient”

In relation to “resilience”, it is remarkable that the authors have not related their findings or discussion to Fonagy and Sharp as well as Caspi’s P-factor (see references below). I particularly refer to the P-factor as an index of insufficient resilience, which may be something that could be more clearly incorporated into the manuscript?

Caspi, A., Houts, R. M., Belsky, D. W., & Goldman-mellor, S. J. (2015). The p factor: One general psychopathology factor in the structure of psychiatric disorders? Clinical Psychological Science, 2(2), 119–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702613497473.The

Sharp, C., Wright, A. G. C., Fowler, J. C., Frueh, B. C., Allen, J. G., Oldham, J., & Clark, L. A. (2015). The structure of personality pathology: Both general (‘g’) and specific (‘s’) factors? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124(2), 387–398. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000033

Fonagy, P., Luyten, P., Allison, E., & Campbell, C. (2017). What we have changed our minds about: Part 1. Borderline personality disorder as a limitation of resilience. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation, 4(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-017-0061-9

Reviewer #2: congratulations to the authors, this is an excellent work which, however, has two fundamental limitations: 1. it includes a long part, not consistent with the title and the abstract, which can be eliminated; 2 the description of the statistical methodology is poorly understood by colleagues who are not experts in data analysis. The text is weighted and complex to read.

I will point out my thoughts step by step. following them the writing becoming more agile and accessible will bring out the fantastic work behind it.

from row 48 to row 51

The difference between the two approaches should be clearly explained

from row 69 to row 70

The Q procedure should be clearly explained

from row 88 to row 91

I would delete this sentence

from row 127 to row 130

I would explain this study in more detail

rom row 131 to row 133

the reasons for this choice should be explained

from row 143 to row 206

I would eliminate this part

(it seems to me, to all intents and purposes, something that may belong to an interesting review of the literature. this part proposed in this stringed way is obviously inadequate, inconsistent with the title and unnecessarily burdens the text)

Clearly this implies the elimination also of figure 1 and of the results and discussion that refer to the comparison between figure 1 and figure 2

from row 227 to row 229

I would extend this concept

from row 233 to row 244

I would insert a table representing the elements described

from row 291 to row 321

from row 325 to row 353

The meaning of these methods should be clarified in relation to the type of data examined. this will allow a perfect understanding of the results even for non-expert colleagues in data analysiss

from row 354 to row 357

I would delete this sentence, there are recent studies that question this claim

(see Matthijs J Warrens On the Equivalence of Cohen’s Kappa and the Hubert-Arabie Adjusted Rand Index

February 2008 Journal of Classification 25 (2): 177-183)

from row 358 to row 383

These are basic concepts for which the paragraph can be reduced in size

from row 384 to row 435

Insert a figure that graphically describes the procedure

rom row 677 to row 680

delete this sentence

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Reviewer #2: Yes: Raffaele Sperandeo

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Author response to Decision Letter 0

23 Sep 2020

Please see the attached document "Response to the reviewers".

Submitted filename: Response to the Reviewers.docx

Decision Letter 1

PONE-D-20-00337R1

Personality Types Revisited – a Literature-Informed and Data-Driven Approach to an Integration of Prototypical and Dimensional Constructs of Personality Description

Dear Dr. Kerber,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. There are only very minor points raised by reviewer 1 that need to be addressed.

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1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

Reviewer #1: No

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

6. Review Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: I feel the authors overall adressed the issues I raised.

I only have the following minor comments:

1) The tables have no definitions in the legend for the different terms and abbreivations - I am not entirely aware of the author guidelines for this journal, but I think it is much needed.

2) The authors rigthly included a reference to the now approved ICD-11 PD classification (line 825). However, the authors should provide the correct reference:

WHO. (2019). ICD-11 Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines for Mental and Behavioural Disorders. World Health Organisation. gcp.network/en/private/icd-11-guidelines/disorders

3) Moreover, they only refer to studies on big five convergence with DSM-5 Section III traits - but not with the ICD-11 traits. See for example the following papers:

Somma, A., Gialdi, G., & Fossati, A. (2020). Reliability and construct validity of the Personality Inventory for ICD-11 (PiCD) in Italian adult participants. Psychological Assessment, 32(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000766

Oltmanns, J. R., & Widiger, T. A. (2018). A self-report measure for the ICD-11 dimensional trait model proposal: The Personality Inventory for ICD-11. Psychological Assessment, 30(2), 154–169. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000459

Oltmanns, J. R., & Widiger, T. A. (2019). The Five-Factor Personality Inventory for ICD-11: A facet-level assessment of the ICD-11 trait model. Psychological Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000763

Reviewer #2: I read this study and reviewed it with great pleasure. I congratulate you on this innovative work which appears to be a milestone in the study of personality

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article ( what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

Reviewer #2: No

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Author response to Decision Letter 1

13 Dec 2020

Reviewer 1:

Response: Thanks to this suggestion we have reviewed all our tables for abbreviations that are not explained and included them in the respective notes.

Response: We have rephrased ll. 838-841 to also include a reference to the ICD-11 PD model.

Decision Letter 2

18 Dec 2020

PONE-D-20-00337R2

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Acceptance letter

22 Dec 2020

Personality Types Revisited – a  Literature-Informed and Data-Driven Approach to an Integration of Prototypical and Dimensional Constructs of Personality Description

Dear Dr. Kerber:

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

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Professor Stephan Doering

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How Personality Impacts Our Daily Lives

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Verywell / Emily Roberts

Personality Characteristics

How personality develops, impact of personality, personality disorders.

Personality describes the unique patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish a person from others. A product of both biology and environment, it remains fairly consistent throughout life.

Examples of personality can be found in how we describe other people's traits. For instance, "She is generous, caring, and a bit of a perfectionist," or "They are loyal and protective of their friends."

The word "personality" stems from the Latin word persona , which refers to a theatrical mask worn by performers to play roles or disguise their identities.

Although there are many definitions of personality, most focus on the pattern of behaviors and characteristics that can help predict and explain a person's behavior.

Explanations for personality can focus on a variety of influences, ranging from genetic effects to the role of the environment and experience in shaping an individual's personality.

What exactly makes up a personality? Traits and patterns of thought and emotion play important roles, and so do these fundamental characteristics of personality:

• Consistency : There is generally a recognizable order and regularity to behaviors. Essentially, people act in the same way or in similar ways in a variety of situations.
• Both psychological and physiological : Personality is a psychological construct, but research suggests that it is also influenced by biological processes and needs.
• Affects behaviors and actions : Personality not only influences how we move and respond in our environment, but it also causes us to act in certain ways.
• Multiple expressions : Personality is displayed in more than just behavior. It can also be seen in our thoughts, feelings, close relationships, and other social interactions.

There are a number of theories about personality , and different schools of thought in psychology influence many of these theories. Some theories describe how personalities are expressed, and others focus more on how personality develops.

Type theories suggest that there are a limited number of personality types that are related to biological influences.

One theory suggests there are four types of personality. They are:

• Type A : Perfectionist, impatient, competitive, work-obsessed, achievement-oriented, aggressive, stressed
• Type B : Low stress, even- tempered , flexible, creative, adaptable to change, patient, tendency to procrastinate
• Type C : Highly conscientious, perfectionist, struggles to reveal emotions (positive and negative)
• Type D : Worrying, sad, irritable, pessimistic, negative self-talk, avoidance of social situations, lack of self-confidence, fear of rejection, appears gloomy, hopeless

There are other popular theories of personality types such as the Myers-Briggs theory. The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator identifies a personality based on where someone is on four continuums: introversion-extraversion, sensing-intuition, thinking-feeling, and judging-perceiving.

After taking a Myers-Briggs personality test, you are assigned one of 16 personality types. Examples of these personality types are:

• ISTJ : Introverted, sensing, thinking, and judging. People with this personality type are logical and organized; they also tend to be judgmental.
• INFP : Introverted, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving. They tend to be idealists and sensitive to their feelings.
• ESTJ : Extroverted, sensing, thinking, and judging. They tend to be assertive and concerned with following the rules.
• ENFJ : Extroverted, intuitive, feeling, and judging. They are known as "givers" for being warm and loyal; they may also be overprotective.

Personality Tests

In addition to the MBTI, some of the most well-known personality inventories are:

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
• HEXACO Personality Inventory
• Caddell's 16PF Personality Questionnaire
• Enneagram Typology

Personality Traits

Trait theories tend to view personality as the result of internal characteristics that are genetically based and include:

• Agreeable : Cares about others, feels empathy, enjoys helping others
• Conscientiousness : High levels of thoughtfulness, good impulse control, goal-directed behaviors
• Eager-to-please : Accommodating, passive, and  conforming
• Extraversion : Excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness
• Introversion : Quiet, reserved
• Neuroticism : Experiences stress and dramatic shifts in mood, feels anxious, worries about different things, gets upset easily, struggles to bounce back after stressful events
• Openness : Very creative , open to trying new things, focuses on tackling new challenges

Try Our Free Personality Test

Our fast and free personality test can help give you an idea of your dominant personality traits and how they may influence your behaviors.

Psychodynamic Theories

Psychodynamic theories of personality are heavily influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud and emphasize the influence of the unconscious  mind on personality. Psychodynamic theories include Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual stage theory and Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development .

Behavioral Theories

Behavioral theories suggest that personality is a result of interaction between the individual and the environment. Behavioral theorists study observable and measurable behaviors, often ignoring the role of internal thoughts and feelings. Behavioral theorists include B.F. Skinner and John B. Watson .

Humanist theories emphasize the importance of free will and individual experience in developing ​a personality. Humanist theorists include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow .

Research on personality can yield fascinating insights into how personality develops and changes over the course of a lifetime. This research can also have important practical applications in the real world.

For example, people can use a personality assessment (also called a personality test or personality quiz) to learn more about themselves and their unique strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Some assessments might look at how people rank on specific traits, such as whether they are high in extroversion , conscientiousness, or openness.

Other assessments might measure how specific aspects of personality change over time. Some assessments give people insight into how their personality affects many areas of their lives, including career, relationships, personal growth, and more.

Understanding your personality type can help you determine what career you might enjoy, how well you might perform in certain job roles, or how effective a form of psychotherapy could be for you.

Personality type can also have an impact on your health, including how often you visit the doctor and how you cope with stress. Researchers have found that certain personality characteristics may be linked to illness and health behaviors.

While personality determines what you think and how you behave, personality disorders are marked by thoughts and behavior that are disruptive and distressing in everyday life. Someone with a personality disorder may have trouble recognizing their condition because their symptoms are ingrained in their personality.

Personality disorders include paranoid personality disorder , schizoid personality disorder , antisocial personality disorder , borderline personality disorder (BPD), and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).

While the symptoms of personality disorders vary based on the condition, some common signs include:

• Aggressive behavior
• Delusional thinking
• Distrust of others
• Flat emotions (no emotional range)
• Lack of interest in relationships
• Violating others' boundaries

Some people with BPD experience suicidal thoughts or behavior as well.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact the  National Suicide Prevention Lifeline  at  988  for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911. 

For more mental health resources, see our  National Helpline Database .

If you are concerned that elements of your personality are contributing to stress, anxiety, confusion, or depression, it's important to talk to a doctor or mental health professional. They can help you understand any underlying conditions you may have.

It is often challenging to live with a personality disorder, but there are treatment options such as therapy and medication that can help.

Understanding the psychology of personality is much more than simply an academic exercise. The findings from personality research can have important applications in the world of medicine, health, business, economics, technology, among others. By building a better understanding of how personality works, we can look for new ways to improve both personal and public health.

The Myers & Briggs Foundation.  MBTI basics .

Bornstein RF. Personality assessment in the diagnostic manuals: On mindfulness, multiple methods, and test score discontinuities .  J Pers Assess . 2015;97(5):446-455. doi:10.1080/00223891.2015.1027346

Srivastava K, Das RC. Personality and health: Road to well-being .  Ind Psychiatry J . 2015;24(1):1–4. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.160905

Mayo Clinic. Personality disorders .

Carducci BJ. The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications . Wiley Blackwell. 

John OP, Robins RW, Pervin LA. Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research . Guilford Press.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

How to Masterfully Describe Your Personality in an Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide 2023

Introduction

Step 1: self-reflection and introspection, step 2: identifying core values and beliefs, step 3: gathering evidence and examples.

• Step 4: Show, don't tell

Step 5: Structuring your essay effectively

Step 6: balancing self-awareness and humility, step 7: seeking feedback and editing.

Describing your personality in an essay is not simply an exercise in self-expression; it is a transformative process that allows you to artfully communicate and convey the intricate nuances of your character to the reader. By delving into the depths of your self-awareness, personal growth, and the values that serve as the compass guiding your actions and decisions, you embark on a journey of self-discovery and introspection. In this comprehensive step-by-step guide , we will navigate the intricacies of crafting a compelling personality description in your essay, providing you with the necessary tools to masterfully articulate your unique qualities, experiences, and perspectives.

At its core, the act of describing your personality in an essay is an opportunity to authentically showcase who you are. It is a platform to illuminate the multifaceted nature of your being, unveiling the layers that make you distinct and individual. Through self-reflection and introspection , you delve into the recesses of your soul, gaining a deeper understanding of your own personality traits and characteristics. This process of self-exploration allows you to unearth the strengths that define you and the weaknesses that provide opportunities for growth.

Identifying your core values and beliefs is another essential step in effectively describing your personality. By exploring your fundamental principles and ideals, you gain insight into the motivations behind your actions and the driving force behind your decisions . These values serve as the undercurrent that weaves together the fabric of your personality, giving coherence and purpose to your thoughts and behaviors. Understanding how your personality traits align with your core values enables you to articulate a more comprehensive and authentic depiction of yourself.

To breathe life into your personality description, it is crucial to gather evidence and examples that showcase your traits in action. Recall specific instances where your personality has manifested itself, and examine the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that were present. By drawing on these concrete examples, you provide tangible proof of your personality claims, allowing the reader to envision your character in vivid detail.

However, it is not enough to simply tell the reader about your personality traits; you must show them through vivid and descriptive language. By employing sensory details and evocative storytelling, you paint a vibrant picture that engages the reader’s imagination. It is through this artful depiction that your personality comes to life on the page, leaving a lasting impression.

Crafting an effective structure for your essay is also paramount to conveying your personality in a coherent and engaging manner. A well-structured essay captivates the reader from the outset with an engaging introduction that sets the tone and grabs their attention. Organizing your essay around key personality traits or themes creates a logical progression of ideas, enabling a seamless flow from one aspect of your personality to the next. This careful structuring enhances the readability and impact of your essay, allowing the reader to follow your journey of self-expression with ease.

In describing your personality, it is essential to strike a delicate balance between self-awareness and humility. While it is important to acknowledge your strengths and accomplishments, it is equally crucial to avoid sounding arrogant. Honesty about your weaknesse s and areas for growth demonstrates humility and a willingness to learn from experiences, fostering personal growth and development.

Also, seeking feedback and diligently editing your essay play a vital role in refining your personality description. Sharing your work with trusted individuals allows for constructive criticism, providing valuable insights into how effectively your personality is being portrayed. By carefully incorporating this feedback and paying attention to grammar, punctuation, and clarity, you can ensure that your essay is polished and ready to make a lasting impression . Below are the step by step guide on how to masterfully describe your personality in an essay

Before diving into writing, take the time to deeply understand your own personality traits and characteristics. Reflect on your strengths and weaknesses , considering how they have influenced your actions and interactions with others. Additionally, contemplate significant life experiences that have shaped your personality, providing valuable insights into who you are today.

Your core values and beliefs are the guiding principles that define your character. Explore what truly matters to you and the ideals that drive your decisions . By connecting your personality traits to these fundamental values, you create a more comprehensive understanding of yourself, providing a solid foundation for your essay.

To effectively describe your personality, draw upon specific instances where your traits were on display. Recall experiences that highlight your behavior, thoughts, and emotions. By utilizing concrete examples, you lend credibility to your claims about your personality, allowing the reader to envision your character in action.

Step 4: Show, don’t tell

Avoid falling into the trap of generic and vague descriptions. Instead, use vivid language and sensory details to bring your personality to life. Engage the reader’s imagination by painting a clear picture through storytelling. Let them experience your traits firsthand, making your essay more engaging and memorable.

Crafting a well-structured essay is crucial for conveying your personality in a coherent and engaging manner. Begin with an attention-grabbing introduction that captivates the reader’s interest. Organize your essay around key personality traits or themes, ensuring a logical progression of ideas. Maintain a smooth flow between paragraphs, enhancing the overall readability of your essay.

While it’s essential to highlight your strengths, be careful not to come across as arrogant. Emphasize your accomplishments and positive attributes without boasting. Simultaneously, be honest about your weaknesses and areas for growth , demonstrating humility and a willingness to learn from experiences. This balance showcases maturity and self-awareness.

Sharing your essay with trusted individuals can provide valuable perspectives and constructive criticism. Seek feedback from mentors, teachers, or friends who can offer insights into your essay’s strengths and areas that need improvement. Revise and refine your essay based on this feedback, paying close attention to grammar, punctuation, and clarity.

Incorporating these steps and techniques will allow you to masterfully describe your personality in an essay, capturing the essence of who you are in a compelling and authentic manner. Whether you are writing personality essays, an essay about personalities, or an essay on personality, the introduction of your personality essay should create a strong impression. It serves as a gateway for the reader to delve into your unique characteristics and perspectives. By effectively integrating these steps and maintaining a balanced approach, you can create a personality essay introduction that sets the stage for a captivating exploration of your individuality. So, how would you describe yourself? Use these guidelines and examples to express your personality with confidence and authenticity in your essay.

Mastering the art of describing your personality in an essay allows you to authentically express yourself and connect with readers on a deeper level. By embracing self-reflection and emphasizing personal growth, you create a c ompelling narrative that showcases your unique qualities. So, embark on this journey of self-expression and let your personality shine through your writing. Embrace authenticity, as it is through effective self-expression that personal growth and understanding can flourish.

If you’re looking for professional essay writing and editing services, GradeSmiths is here to help. With a team of experienced writers and editors, GradeSmiths offers reliable and high-quality assistance to students in need of essay support. Whether you need help with essay writing, editing, proofreading, or refining your content, GradeSmiths can provide the expertise you require. Their dedicated team is committed to delivering well-crafted essays that meet academic standards and showcase your unique ideas and voice. With GradeSmiths, you can trust that your essay will receive the attention and care it deserves.

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What Is Personality?

Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff

From eccentric and introverted to boisterous and bold, the human personality is a complex and colorful thing. Personality refers to a person's distinctive patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It derives from a mix of innate dispositions and inclinations along with environmental factors and experiences. Although personality can change over a lifetime, one's core personality traits tend to remain relatively consistent during adulthood.

While there are countless characteristics that combine in an almost infinite number of ways, people have been trying to find a way to classify personalities ever since Hippocrates and the ancient Greeks proposed four basic temperaments. Today, psychologists often describe personality in terms of five basic traits. The so-called Big Five are openness to experience , conscientiousness , extraversion , agreeableness , and neuroticism . A newer model, called HEXACO , incorporates honesty-humility as a sixth key trait.

The idea of a personality "type" is fairly widespread. Many people associate a " Type A " personality with a more organized, rigid, competitive, and anxious person, for example. Yet there’s little empirical support for the idea. The personality types supplied by the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) have also been challenged by scientists.

Psychologists who study personality believe such typologies are generally too simplistic to account for the ways people differ. Instead, they tend to rely on frameworks like the Big Five model of trait dimensions. In the Big Five model, each individual falls somewhere on a continuum for each trait—compared to the rest of the population, a person may rate relatively high or low on a trait such as extraversion or agreeableness , or on more specific facets of each (such as assertiveness or compassion). The combination of these varying trait levels describes one's personality.

To assess these individual differences, a variety of personality tests have been created. These tests commonly prompt people to indicate the extent to which various descriptions of thinking or behavior reflect their own tendencies. Based on a person’s responses, the test yields a “personality type” description (in the case of a test like the MBTI) or indicates how one compares to other respondents on a number of traits (in the case of the Big Five Inventory or similar measures).

To learn more, see Personality Traits and Personality Tests.

Personality psychology—with its different ways of organizing, measuring, and understanding individual differences—can help people better grasp and articulate what they are like and how they compare to others. But the details of personality are relevant to more than just a person's self-image .

The tendencies in thinking and behaving that concepts like the Big Five represent are related to a variety of other characteristics and outcomes on which people compare to one another. These include differences in personal success, health and well-being, and how people get along with others. Even the risk of dying appears to be associated to some degree with differences in personality traits.

Personality also crosses into the realm of mental health: Professionals use a list of personality disorders involving long-term dysfunctional tendencies to diagnose and treat patients. Among the categories used by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are the commonly discussed narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder—but a major diagnostic guide, the DSM , includes 10 personality disorders in total.

To learn more, see Personality and Life Outcomes and Personality Disorders.

Why individuals develop the personalities they do and how much someone’s personality typically changes over time are some of the biggest questions in personality psychology. Science provides some answers, but there is still plenty of room for debate and exploration.

Genetics partly helps to account for differences in personality traits, but other influences certainly play a role. A range of theories of personality have been proposed to explain what personality is and why individuals become who they are, with some focusing more heavily than others on potential non-genetic factors, such as a person’s taking on new social roles (like spouse or parent).

Despite its day-to-day stability, personality can change in the long term, potentially to a substantial degree over the course of a person’s life. Research suggests that people tend to show signs of increasing maturity (including, for instance, increased social sensitivity) in their personality test scores as they grow older. It may even be possible to deliberately change aspects of one’s own personality by making a repeated effort to behave differently.

To learn more, see Theories of Personality and Can Personality Change?

While Eldest Daughter Syndrome can't be officially diagnosed, psychologists have seen patterns in behavior, personality traits, and career trajectories of eldest daughters.

Did one or more of your teachers help shape the person you became?

Ego clashes aren't uncommon for power couples. Here's how to avoid them.

Understanding personality in a more accurate way.

Hikikomori may have similar personality traits, but predisposition does not equal destiny. Environment matters, too. Personalities can evolve and be supported for growth.

Generational differences at work are largely unsupported by data and often harmful. Shifting focus from supposed generational gaps can improve workplace dynamics.

Most of us probably believe that sizing others up involves special abilities or analytical powers, but the answer may be much simpler than that—and accessible to anyone.

The influence of politics, personal history, and personality.

Erectile disorder is common and consequential for individuals and for relationships. A recent review explores the psychological predictors, and consequences, of ED.

The way we use the word emotionality as a personality trait that characterizes women is not good psychology and it does women a disservice.

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Home Essay Samples Life

Essay Samples on Personality

About yourself (personal examples).

Example 1: Exploring Identity Through Life's Lessons As I journey through the labyrinth of life, I am reminded of the countless experiences that have shaped the person I am today. From the innocent days of childhood to the trials and triumphs of adulthood, my story...

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• Personality

Unveiling the Dimensions of My Personality

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Compare and Contrast Analysis of Introverts and Extroverts

Introverts and extroverts are two distinct personality types that play a significant role in shaping how individuals interact with the world around them. Understanding the differences and similarities between these two types can provide valuable insights into human behavior and relationships. This compare and contrast...

The Biggest Discovery About Myself: Finding My INFJ Character

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We Are All Different, Nevertheless We Have Much in Common

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Why Running Is the Ideal Sport For My INFJ Character 

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How My INTJ Character Type Made Me Feel Less Alone 

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Describe Yourself: My Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Reflection

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Media-Based Misconseptions about Introverts

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Correlation of HEXACO Honesty-Humility With Disordered Gambling

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Definitions And Components Of Personality

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The Acting Style Of Michael Fassbender

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The Rise of Jose Mourinho

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Can Personality Really Be Understood?

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• Human Nature

Inspiring Personality Of Roger Williams

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African Literature & African Writers

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Amir Khan – A British Professional Boxer, Promoter And Philanthropist

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Analysis Of Beyoncé's Music Album Lemonade

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Analysis Of Jerry Springer's Personality Using Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

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Evolution Of Natalie Portman

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Dan Jones' Review Of The Plantagenets

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Justin Holiday – Biography And Nba Draft Status

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Kyle Krieger – One Of The Best Hair Styling Experts In America

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Key Tips and Examples to Start Personality Essays

Table of Contents

Personality is what sets people apart from others. It’s what makes them unique. Some personality traits are easy to see, and some are more hidden and harder to read.

A personality essay aims to help readers to understand a person better by getting to know their personality. And as with other types of essays, the introduction is a vital element. You can get more readers interested in your work with a good introduction.

We’ve gathered some excellent  personality essay introduction examples  to help you get started.

What Is a Personality Essay?

Before starting a personality essay, it’s essential to understand what personality is first.

Generally, personality is defined by various thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make someone unique. It is believed that personality comes from within individuals; it rarely changes and is consistent throughout life.

We can find examples of personality in how we describe other people’s traits. For example, “She is generous, caring, and somewhat perfectionist.” Or “They are loyal and protective toward their friends.”

A personality essay can tackle the subject of personality in general or introduce the author’s personality. It can also discuss how different people can express themselves and predict how they might act within a particular situation.

Tips on Writing a Personality Essay Introduction

Writing an essay about your personality can be challenging since it’s like showing your inner self to other people.

You will need to brainstorm and explain what personality traits you have and why you have them. And if you’re writing an essay about personalities in general, you will also need to do thorough research. Here are some tips that will help you along:

Organize Your Ideas

Try to write down your ideas on paper to organize them better. This will keep you from feeling overwhelmed. It’s also helpful to make a draft about what you want to talk about in your essay. Don’t be pressured when making your draft. You can revise it later on if you want to. 

An introduction needs an exciting hook, sufficient background information, and a strong thesis statement .

• Hook : You can start your introduction with an intriguing question or an interesting anecdote to draw readers in.
• Background Information : Research and use supporting details that can bridge your hook and your thesis statement.
• Thesis Statemen t: The thesis statement is where you state your essay’s central point. It should present a strong argument.

Keep It Genuine

Personality essays need to show your raw self. Write about your personality, whether it be positive or negative. Highlight your positive qualities and discuss what you do to improve the negative ones.

Questions to Answer When Writing About Your Personality

It’s helpful to ask yourself questions, so you can reflect on your personality or the consequences of your personality. Answering these kinds of questions will aid you in establishing your thesis. Here are some sample questions that can help you write your personality essay.

1. What personality trait are you most proud of?

Highlight those qualities that make you an asset to anyone you work with. Make sure you play up your great qualities and downplay any bad ones.

2. Why do you have these traits? Do you plan to keep them? 

Try to explain how you got your traits. Do you think you acquired these traits during your childhood? Or was it a result of a life experience or trauma? Phrase your answers in a way that readers can relate to them.

3. How will these traits help you daily and at work?

Explain why you are proud of specific qualities and how they impact your relationships. Put greater emphasis on behaviors that facilitate a better relationship with others. After all, teamwork is all about individuals with different personalities working well together.

Personality Essay Introduction Examples

Example 1: introduction to personality.

Everything about a person is what makes them unique. Every person is different; therefore, everyone has their personality. This is what defines them as individuals in every aspect and stage of development in their lives. Personalities are what makeup who we are. It differentiates us from others around us.

Example 2: My Personality

Everyone has unique traits that make them who they are. And many psychologists have generated theories about why we have these personalities. It’s normal to feel that you are different from the people around you. This is because none of us are the same. Everyone is different. And there isn’t anything wrong with that. I am an introvert who enjoys reading, exercising, and taking time. But I am also a talkative person when I’m with my closest friends. This shows how a myriad of personalities can characterize one person.

Example 3: Personality As a Unique Potential

Milton once famously said, “every person is unique in his own way.” Everyone in this world has potential and reason for living. The big question is whether or not we are aware of this unique potential that we possess. I, for one, am aware of my unique potential. I’m the kind of person who can make everybody feel comfortable. My friends characterize me as someone friendly and fun to be around. I am also a perfectionist who is looking for the best in everything.

Example 4: the Importance of Understanding Personalities

The concept of personality is one of the central topics in psychology and psychoanalysis. Several scientific theories characterize the process of personality development. Understanding this process is a crucial factor in the children’s upbringing and education of people.

There are many ways to start a personality essay . You can write one that’s about yourself. Or you can choose to look at the subject of personality from a broader perspective.

This may depend on the topic assigned to you. Starting a personality essay is hard, but it helps to look at some personality essay introduction examples. Hopefully, you got the inspiration you need from this article. Go and write that essay!

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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The INTJ Personality Type: the Architect’s Mind

This essay is about the INTJ personality type, also known as “The Architect,” identified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It highlights the core characteristics of INTJs, including their strategic thinking, independence, and visionary outlook. INTJs are known for their analytical and logical approach, self-confidence, and meticulous planning. While they excel in problem-solving and project management, they face challenges in emotional expression and empathy. The essay discusses how INTJs’ critical nature and high standards can lead to personal and professional difficulties. It emphasizes the importance of balancing their strengths with emotional intelligence and understanding different perspectives.

How it works

The INTJ persona, often denoted as “The Architect,” epitomizes one of the 16 personality archetypes elucidated by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This personality classification embodies a distinctive amalgamation of attributes shaping their worldview and interpersonal dynamics. Individuals embodying the INTJ persona are recognized for their strategic cogitation, autonomy, and an unswerving commitment to their objectives. Within this discourse, we shall delve into the fundamental characteristics, assets, and prospective hurdles encountered by INTJs.

INTJs are primarily propelled by intuition and rationality, endowing them with acute analytical and logical prowess.

They possess an innate proclivity to discern overarching themes and underlying principles, facilitating their adeptness in identifying patterns and devising innovative solutions to intricate quandaries. This visionary disposition enables them to formulate enduring strategies and pioneering resolutions to multifaceted predicaments. Their intuitive inclination also engenders a reliance on intuition and insights, occasionally engendering a perception of detachment or aloofness from reality. Nonetheless, this detachment often stems from their profound ruminative processes and quest to fathom the depths of existence.

A hallmark trait of INTJs is their autonomy and self-assurance. They exude self-sufficiency and prefer solitary endeavors or collaborations within intimate circles. This self-reliance emanates from a steadfast belief in their capabilities and an inclination towards efficiency. INTJs exhibit a propensity to challenge prevailing norms and question conventional wisdom, a disposition that may be perceived as obstinacy or inflexibility but underscores their pursuit of excellence. Their self-assurance is underpinned by a thorough comprehension of their strengths and limitations, enabling them to confront challenges with conviction.

INTJs are further distinguished by their meticulous planning and organizational prowess. They thrive in environments conducive to delineating clear objectives and formulating structured methodologies to realize them. Their scrupulous attention to detail and strategic acumen render them adept problem-solvers and adept project managers. However, their predilection for planning and orderliness may occasion rigidity, impeding adaptability to unforeseen exigencies or spontaneous circumstances. Despite this propensity, INTJs are perceived as dependable and steadfast, owing to their steadfast commitment to obligations and earnest regard for their commitments.

Notwithstanding their manifold strengths, INTJs encounter certain impediments in their personal and professional spheres. A prevalent challenge for INTJs is their struggle with emotional expression and empathy. They often prioritize logic and rationale over affective considerations, occasionally precipitating misinterpretations or interpersonal discord. INTJs may find it arduous to forge emotional connections with others, while their direct communication style may be construed as brusque or tactless. Overcoming this hurdle necessitates a concerted endeavor to cultivate emotional intelligence and engage in active listening.

Another obstacle confronting INTJs is their proclivity for excessive criticism, directed both inwardly and outwardly. Their exacting standards and perfectionist predilections can instigate feelings of pressure and stress. INTJs must strike a balance between their pursuit of perfection and self-compassion, acknowledging that fallibility and setbacks are intrinsic to the learning curve. Moreover, their critical disposition may alienate others, fostering perceptions of judgmentalism or dismissiveness. Fostering robust relationships entails the cultivation of patience, empathy, and an embrace of divergent viewpoints.

In summation, the INTJ persona embodies a distinctive amalgamation of visionary cogitation, autonomy, and methodical planning. These individuals are impelled by an innate desire to fathom and ameliorate their milieu. While possessing manifold strengths, such as strategic acumen and self-assurance, INTJs grapple with challenges pertaining to emotional expression and relational dynamics. By acknowledging and addressing these obstacles, INTJs can harness their full potential and engender meaningful contributions within their personal and professional spheres. An appreciation of the intricacies inherent to the INTJ persona fosters a deeper comprehension of the myriad ways in which individuals perceive, interact, and influence their environment.

It is imperative to recognize that this exposition serves as a catalyst for contemplation and further exploration. For tailored guidance and adherence to academic protocols, consider availing the expertise of professionals at EduBirdie.

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How to describe your personality in a paragraph – 7 example answers

The way we ourselves rarely mirrors the reality . We tend to see ourselves better, nicer, and perhaps also more attractive than others do see us- -if they actually care. At the end of the day everything is subjective, and each person sees the world–and each living creature they interact with–with a unique pair of eyes . Nevertheless, you will often face the question about your personality , be it on a job application, in an interview, or even on a dating website. Sometimes they ask you to describe yourself in one word only, sometimes they ask what three words would your friends use to describe you , and sometimes they ask you to describe your personality in one paragraph. What do they want to hear from you in this case?

Hiring manager want to hear that you have a fitting personality for the job . Or at least that you think so :). Of course, some things change from one job to another, but certain phrases will always work, such as that you are enthusiastic about work, show initiative, are attentive to the needs of your colleagues and so on. To make your answer sound more realistic , you should add also some neutral or even negative characteristics–perhaps you get angry easily, lose patience quickly, or are overly talkative at times. Just make sure to mention that you are aware of the issue and how it impacts you at work, and that you try to work on it. You can also opt for a more humble answer, or even for a philosophical one…

Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers right now. I tried to come up with some mix, and hope you will “find yourself” in at least one of the answers . Remember that this question isn’t the most difficult interview question you may ever face, and there’s no point in overthinking it. Just be yourself, show confidence and humility at the same time, and make sure that your personality is at least somehow fitting for the job.

7 example answers to “How to describe your personality in a paragraph” question

• I would describe my personality as outgoing, friendly, and talkative. I thrive when surrounded by other people, and find it easy to connect with anyone I meet. Always looking for bridges, not fences . I would also say that I have a good sense of humor, and people generally enjoy my company. Having said all of that, I realize that each coin has two sides, and sometimes I have to be careful to make sure that I do not talk more than work in the job.
• I am rather introverted , but that doesn’t mean that I do not like people. Just enjoy keeping things to myself, focusing on the job, and doing my best every day. Having said that, if someone invites me for a conversation or something I won’t say no. I try to be attentive to the needs of my colleagues , and if I feel someone may need a helping hand, I do not hesitate to offer it. Generally I am a hardworking person, but I tend to have a low day once or twice a month , and on such a day I typically do not get much done.
• I think what describes me the best is the expression “ creative mind “. Because I always enjoy to come up with new ideas, think outside the box, or even challenge the status quo. Now it doesn’t mean that I find it hard to oblige the rules. I do that. But I do not hesitate twice to share my feedback and suggest improvements . I hope you are looking for someone with this personality, and that’s one of the main reasons why I applied for your job offer.
• Energetic, motivated, enthusiastic about work and life. Just someone it is a pleasure to have in the workplace, since such a person always lifts the morale of the entire team . At least that’s the way I see it, and also what my former managers have told about me. Having said that, I understand that enthusiasm is not enough–one needs also skill and precision in this job, but I honestly believe to have both, and am ready to demonstrate it from day one, if you give me a chance in this job.
• A team player . That sort of sums it up. Someone who thrives in a team environment. Always interested in my colleagues, their needs and feelings. Always trying my best to not let the colleagues down . Of course, this also have some drawbacks, especially when I should work on something alone I may struggle with motivation. But it is a learning process, and I hope to improve on my weakness soon, and be someone that can thrive working both independently and in a team.
• My nickname can be “never gives up” , and that sort of characterizes who I am. Maybe I am not the most talented person in the world–when it comes to any tasks, but you can be sure I always give me 100% effort , and if I fail with something I try again. I am one of those guys who enjoy reinventing themselves, trying new hobbies, learning new skills. For example at the moment I am learning to play saxophone, and I enjoy it greatly. If I should point out something negative –because at the end of the day we all have some weaknesses, I’d say that I sometimes find it hard to bear with negativity at work . But that’s just the current state of things, and I hope to change it.
• I would describe myself as a very calm and balanced person . Always try to see the brighter side of things , always looking for the good in people and in events that happen to me. I very rarely complain about everything, and do the job without unnecessary stress. What’s more, people say I am a good companion for the talk about virtually any topic, and that my inner calm help them feel good and relaxed in the workplace . I sincerely believe your team can benefit from having me onboard, and cannot wait to start working here.

Ready to answer this one? I hope so! If you’re still not sure, you can check out 7 sample answers to similar interview questions:

• Tell me three your strengths and three areas for improvement .
• How would your colleagues describe your personality?
• Tell me about a time you used data to make a decision .
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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Personality — INFJ: Description for My Personality Type

Infj: Description for My Personality Type

• Categories: Personality

About this sample

Words: 445 |

Published: Jan 29, 2019

Words: 445 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Works Cited

• American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). American Psychological Association.
• Boeree, C. G. (2006). Personality theories: Carl Gustav Jung. Shippensburg University. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/jung.html
• Briggs Myers, I., & Myers, P. B. (1980). Gifts differing: Understanding personality type. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

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A Reflection About Myself and My Personality

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