.Text by Corina Tan
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Putting your best foot forward is something everyone aspires to do, and who doesn’t like to make a good impression? However, we are more than just who we say we are, and some small characteristic traits or everyday habits can actually reveal a lot about our personality.
Here are some that Small Habits That Reveal Your Personality.
Your Handshake
A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that your handshake can alter people’s impressions of you. In the experiment, eight characteristics of a handshake were assessed. Completeness of grip, temperature, dryness, strength, duration, vigor, texture, and eye contact. The results indicate that participants with firmer handshakes described themselves as more emotionally expressive, extroverted, and positive than others. Those with looser grips were shy and neurotic. The evaluators’ impressions coincided with this, and they agreed that the participants with firmer handshakes were more confident and less socially anxious.
The Way You Talk
A study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence suggests that jail inmates with psychopathic tendencies were able to judge vulnerability and pick potential victims simply by viewing the way people walk! That is indeed a frightening and morbid piece of information. However, it speaks to how much a person’s walk can reveal about themselves. If your weight is usually forward and your stride is quick, you are extremely productive and highly logical.
If you walk with your chest forward, shoulders back, and your head held high (common in a lot of politicians and celebrities). You are fun, charismatic, and socially adept, though you may tend to hog the spotlight. If your weight is over your legs, not forward or back, you’re more interested in people than in tasks and more focused on your personal life than your career. Lastly, if you’re light on your toes when you walk and your eyes are glued to the floor, you’re most likely introverted and polite.
Your Email Etiquette
Psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, PhD, writes in Fast Company that there is a strong connection between our email persona and our real-life character. Narcissists will generally use words such as “I,” “me,” and “mine” frequently. Extroverts tend to be more casual and talk about fun-related things, like music and parties. And it’s not only what you say—it’s how you say it. An absence of typos is a sign of someone’s conscientiousness, perfectionism, and potential obsessions, whereas poor grammar indicates lower levels of IQ and academic intelligence. Interestingly, long emails reflect energy and thoroughness, but also some degree of neediness.
Your Punctuality
One of the habits that reflect your personality – The Journal of Research in Personality suggests that timeliness is an accurate assessment of positive character traits. Punctual people are more conscientious and agreeable but being early was connected to neuroticism. And those who are chronically late tended to be more laid-back.
Your Handwriting
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Graphology has been a science since the days of Aristotle and handwriting experts can detect more than 5,000 personality traits from them. People who write large, for example, are people-oriented and attention-seeking, whereas those with small handwriting are introverted and are capable of acute concentration. Writing with a slight right slant means you’re friendly and impulsive; a left slant means you’re reserved and individualistic. No slant suggests you’re logical and pragmatic. Lastly, handwriting with heavy pressure indicates you have strong emotions and are quick to react, but a light pressure implies an easiness and ability to move from place to place.
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Nervous Ticks
Habits like skin picking or nail biting are now labelled as body-focused repetitive behaviours or BFRB in personality. Repetitive behaviours prove to be comforting in situations where a person is bored, relaxing as well as extremely frustrating. Ticks will emerge in different situations and reveal a tendency towards perfectionism, irritation and dissatisfaction.
Your Shopping Habits
Two types of consumers emerged from a series of experiments published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The first type is a person who meticulously scrutinises every bottle in the aisle before deciding on their purchase. The second will review everything quickly and be done. According to research, the first type of shopper scores high in cognitive reflection, in that they are very analytic and detailed oriented. The second don’t do well with details and prefer more general information in their decision-making process.
Your Shoe Choices
While your show choice may be related to work attire or an event you are attending, when you are not bound by dress etiquette, what shoes you chose to wear may reveal your personality. People who wear comfortable shoes tend to be relatively agreeable. Wearing uncomfortable shoes implies that you’re more of a calm person, while those with new and well-maintained footwear have a more anxious or clingy persona.
The Way You Carry Your Bag
Picking a bag to go with an outfit seems to be the focus of getting dressed. However, people may not give as much thought to how they carry it. The mindless choice of how you prefer to carry your bag reveals the following . Wearing a purse in the crook of your arm shows you are high-maintenance and place a lot of emphasis on social status. Wearing the strap across your body with the bag in front means you prioritize protection and accessibility. While toting your bag behind you demonstrates a cool, calm, and collected personality. People who sport a backpack are more independent and want to take care of themselves and the people around them. While those who carry their bag in their hands tend to be assertive, well-organized, and efficient.
Your Eating Habits = Personality
You are what you eat, but you are also how you eat. Slow eaters are usually people who like to be in control. Know how to appreciate life, but fast eaters tend to be ambitious and impatient. The adventurous eater is a thrill-seeker and risk-taker. While picky eaters are likely to exhibit anxiety and neuroticism. Lastly, if you’re someone who likes to separate different foods on their plate, you’re very cautious and detail-oriented in your everyday life.
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