Participants with high self-liking scores tended to have usernames to match, such as redhotjenni or princess_suzy. But the participants low on self-liking chose names like sadeyesagain and nothingmuchinside. When Chang-Schneider looked to see whether this was part of a broader pattern, she found that indeed in certain cases—and especially when

Tattoos are usually regarded as classic other-directed identity claims. Not only do they proclaim a particular value or attitude or allegiance, the permanence of tattoos signals that the wearer anticipates a continued commitment to that value—you

For a good brief introduction to the Big Five, check out Sanjay Srivastava’s Web site: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sanjay/bigfive.html. For a more advanced treatment, see John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five Trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of

Levine discovered that the pace of life was associated with a slew of other characteristics of the countries. Fast-paced countries tend to have colder climates, are more economically productive, have higher smoking rates, and higher rates of death from coronary heart disease.

a quotation attributed to Albert Einstein: “Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.”

Grammer takes a perspective rooted in evolutionary theory. This means he tries to understand our modern-day traits and preferences by considering the pressures—such as the need to find a good mate or quickly detect a dangerous foe—that have shaped our ancestors over the millennia. Deception is a topic that interests ethologists like Grammer. Just

Like extraverts, people high on neuroticism have decorated offices, but, as we saw, the content of the decoration is slightly different. Whereas extraverts keep pictures of people around them, those high on neuroticism use decoration, such as inspirational posters, to calm themselves.

living spaces are great for learning about openness, conscientiousness, and, sometimes, neuroticism; but if it’s people’s extraversion or agreeableness you’re after, a peek at the “most played” list on their iPods is more telling

traits provide “a psychology of the stranger.” They paint a portrait in broad brushstrokes but leave out much of the finer detail.