An atlas of personality profiles created by Estonian researchers reveals patterns between personality and life events

Have you ever wondered how your personality is related to how you do in life? Estonian researchers have put together a large overview of personality profiles – a so-called “personality atlas” that helps us better understand how different combinations of personality traits are related to people’s choices and life events.

For decades, personality psychologists have studied the relationships between the Big Five personality traits—neuroticism, extraversion, sociability, conscientiousness, and openness—and a variety of life events and choices, from mental health disorders to career choices. While many individual personality profiles have been described, a comprehensive view has been lacking to better understand the common patterns across personality profiles and across life courses.

A comprehensive meta-analysis was completed in collaboration between researchers from the University of Tartu (UT) and the Estonian Institute for Health Development (EIHD) and McGill University in Canada, which brings together the results of almost a hundred previous studies. Similar to the approach used in genomics and neuroscience, the researchers created an analytical framework that allows them to systematically compare data from hundreds of studies and assess how the life histories of people with similar personality traits overlap in different fields. The study pooled data from 90 previously published research papers, based on which 162 different phenotypes, i.e. life events, traits or choices, were standardized.

“We found that a large number of previously published personality profiles can be grouped into five large groups, and so far, pathological and problematic life events and characteristics have been described the most in personality psychology,” explained Kerli Ilves, a researcher at the University of Tartu and the National Institute of Health. For example, profiles related to different professions or different health behaviors had been published much less frequently. “Our mapping helps us better understand which combinations of personality traits are more closely related to undesirable or desirable life events and patterns. The better we understand how personality affects people’s behavior and life events, the better we can offer appropriate recommendations and solutions to guide life and health in the desired direction,” Ilves added.

The five main personality profile groups that researchers found and described based on previously published data are:

Burdensome and distressed – this group is characterized by high neuroticism, especially anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. This group included most personality profiles of psychopathological conditions, such as depression and anxiety disorder.

Egocentric and impulsive ( egocentric impulsivity ) – this group is characterized by high impulsivity, self-confidence, and hostility, as well as the lowest sociability. This included, for example, narcissistic and manipulative personality profiles.

Antisocial and addictive – this group is characterized by higher levels of impulsivity, hostility, and a thirst for adventure, as well as lower levels of assertiveness and sociability. This includes, for example, the personality profiles of alcohol abusers and gamblers.

Distressed perfectionists – this group is characterized by high conscientiousness, anxiety, and vulnerability, but low warmth, trust, and positive emotions. This group included personality profiles associated with perfectionism and compulsive behavior, for example .

Purposeful achievement-strivers – this group is characterized by low neuroticism and high assertiveness. This included, for example, personality profiles associated with educational level and top executives .

It was possible to divide 90% of the personality profiles included in the work into these groups. You can read more about their characteristics in the article.

In addition, the researchers developed a new, more accurate statistical method for comparing personality profiles. The method takes into account both the different sample sizes of the studies and the relationships between personality traits. This confirmed, among other things, that, for example, disordered eating and addictive behaviors are remarkably similar at the personality level.

The analysis gives researchers and practitioners a new tool to understand the personality patterns underlying people's behavior and use this knowledge, for example, to promote mental health or target interventions.

The analysis was published in the journal Personality Science: https://doi.org/10.1177/27000710251378408