Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You

Grammer looked at the tightness of women’s clothing and the amount of skin they showed as a reflection of where they were in their reproductive cycles (determined by estrogen levels obtained from saliva samples). And, by having women volunteers turn around in front of a video camera, he showed that the “explosiveness” of movement (defined by the am

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 pe

Mess meister Eric Abrahamson notes that when analyzing the state of a desk it is important to consider that two forces are at work—those that produce the mess, such as working toward a brutal deadline, and those that reduce it, such as tidying up. So your desk could be clear either because you’ve cleaned it up or because so little goes on that it n

For example, the fifteen most extraverted women’s faces were merged into one image that reflected what was common to all of them. When judges rated these combined images they were surprisingly good at picking up the correct personality traits, especially for the images of women; the findings suggest, as the physiognomists had argued long ago, that

But who is supposed to see these photos? From his desk, Barz would have to turn around to see them; but a visitor sitting across from Barz would see him flanked by the photos of his wife and kids in the background. These are classic other-directed identity claims. Not only is Barz telling us about his values but he is giving us a glimpse into his p

However, as I continued to hang out with Jack, I began to notice that the stories all seemed familiar, even though they described different events. Then one day it struck me why this was so. Whether he was telling me about a presentation at an academic conference, a squabble with a neighbor, or how he fixed his car last week, the narrative was alwa

when interpreting clues according to their probability of being manipulated, it is useful to think of them in three categories: Category 1 clues are the easiest to manipulate—they are deliberate signals, where sending signals is the prime goal of the clues (displaying the gay pride rainbow symbol on your bulletin board). Category 2 clues are delibe

Narcissists are a fascinating group. Unlike many people with extreme personalities—those who are paranoid or excessively emotional and attention-seeking—narcissists often function well in positions of power and responsibility.

There are several likely causes, and they probably combine to drive these personality-face connections. The first is biological. Hormones such as testosterone are known to influence facial features as well as personality