WHAT does your personal space say about you? Taking a look at someone’s room can accurately reveal certain character traits, according to Samuel Gosling from the University of Texas at Austin. His team asked 15 volunteers to try to guess other people’s personalities just from seeing their offices or bedrooms. Photographs and other clues to the appearance or identity of the occupant were removed. The assessors didn’t do well at rating extroversion, agreeableness or emotional stability, but were remarkably accurate at assessing conscientiousness and openness (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol 82, p 379). These are traits that can be hard to gauge just from…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from Âé¶¹´«Ã½
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Life
Remarkable fossils rewrite the story of how animals conquered the land
News

Earth
Waves reflecting off Earth's core shifted Japan after 2011 earthquake
News

Environment
Why El Niño’s impacts on the UK are hard to predict
News

Comment
Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World is still supremely relevant today
Culture
Popular articles
Trending Âé¶¹´«Ã½ articles
1
Has the answer to life's origins been hiding in our cells all along?
2
The secrets to keeping your brain sharp in old age
3
A quantum state that lasts forever may finally be within our grasp
4
Our brains have their first thoughts surprisingly early in life
5
Autism may have two distinct subtypes that vary by brain activity
6
What’s the secret to living well beyond the average life expectancy?
7
Remarkable fossils rewrite the story of how animals conquered the land
8
Pigeons lock their eyes in place when they are flying
9
Autism and ADHD are on the rise due to widening diagnostic criteria
10
Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time