“Most personality tests are a lot of hooey because they’re too shallow,” says psychiatrist Christine B.L. Adams, MD. And she’s correct. Although quiz websites are fun, they never quite pierce that far beyond the surface of what motivates a person. The actual secrets? They’re buried in the small everyday behaviors that the majority of people don’t even know.
From entering a room to responding to praise, these micro-behaviors are remarkably insightful. Psychologists, body language experts, and behaviorists have discovered that the behaviors are more insightful than self-reporting since they access hidden feelings and agendas in the moment.
Here are nine quiet but revealing characteristics that might tell more about you than even the most popular quiz and what you can do if you wish their recommendations to have any effect on you.
1. Your Walking Style
Body language specialist Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD, refers to standing up straight with head held high likely to convey confidence, sociability, and friendliness the “power walk.” Slouching in toward oneself, conversely, may convey vulnerability or self-consciousness. It’s not just a matter of posture: In a 2021 study published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, individuals with psychopathic traits were able to identify vulnerability from the way a person walked. Your gait, then, can affect how you are greeted and how others greet you. If you wish to exude self-confidence, working on your walk to be firmer and more purposeful may alter your impression and your mindset in some subtle yet significant ways.
2. The Handshake Factor
Your handshake is short, lasting only seconds, yet it can be very revealing. Patrick Wanis, PhD, discusses that firm, forceful handshake will definitely convey self-assurance, whereas the limp one will convey insecurity or social phobia. The palm-down shake will be interpreted as dominating or controlling, and the two-handed grip will be perceived as too warm depending on the situation. In a study published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, even stronger handshakes were judged to be more emotionally expressive, more extroverted, and more positive. In women, trust in offering a handshake also predicted higher education, greater openness to experience, and more intellectual activity.
3. Your Email Style
Your writing style can be as revealing as your words. Dr. Adams gives as an example that overuse of “I,” “me,” and “mine” is usually characteristic of narcissism, and unselfconscious, easy-going speech is characteristic of extroverts. Flawless grammar and not a single typo may be a sign of perfectionism and care for details, yet sloppy syntax may be a sign of less detail orientation. Being super long in descriptive emails may be a sign of energy and enthusiasm but some neediness as well. Research, for instance, research with Polish managers within telework, illustrates that effective communicators likely tread the balance between direct and warm, changing the tone so that they become rapport-building but not mushy.
4. Nervous Tics and Fidgeting
Nail biting, curling hair, or picking skin are not inherently such “bad habits.” These conditioned body behaviors have a tendency to occur when an individual is stressed, bored, or upset. A 2022 Brain Sciences study demonstrated they’re especially common in perfectionists, who may employ them as a coping method under duress. They’re short-term coping, but they fuel tension in a cycle. Finding the emotional origin of them is the beginning of healthier coping.
5. Punctuality tendencies
Always early? You could be neurotic. Always on time? That’s typically linked with conscientiousness and agreeableness. Always late? You could be more laid-back or more egotistical depending on your type. Research by the Journal of Research in Personality concluded punctuality was linked with higher levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness, but routine earliness was linked with higher levels of anxiety. Chronic lateness is also linked with ADHD tendencies, so there is still more to discuss before you presume.
6. Eating Behaviour
Slow eaters will want to be in control and aware, but fast eaters will be driven and impatient.
Thrill-seekers enjoy having experimental taste buds, and fussy eaters will desire to be high in neuroticism and anxiety. Even the way you set your plate up is an indicator: separating foods by itself is an indicator of fussiness and wariness. Personality and eating research also indicates that openness and conscientiousness pair with healthy, vegetable-based diets, and high neuroticism pairs with unhealthy, disorganized food choices.
7. Sights of Clothing Colour
Your world within is described by the colours that attract you.
2020 research for Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts found dressing in flashy or designer attire was at times linked to insecurity and low authenticity where impressing was the want. But if the fashion statements are not attention-seeking but self-expression, then they will be likely to manifest as creativity and imagination. Color psychology research also links warm colors like red with extraversion and energy and cool colors like blue and green with conscientiousness and emotional stability.
8. Frequency of selfies
Selfie posting need not necessarily be a sign of narcissism it might also be an indicator of social coherence.
A 2022 Journal of Open Psychology found that extroverted, relationship-oriented but less emotionally stable, lower-self-esteem people were high-frequency selfie posters. Age also enters the picture: younger subjects’ links between selfie taking and personality were more rigid. Motivation is the clincher whether communication, memory storage, or attention-seeking it alters the psychological rationale.
9. How You Take Flattery
When you deflect or minimize compliments, Dr. Adams claims this is an indication that you don’t hold yourself in high esteem or have imposter syndrome. This behavior can eventually legitimize negative self-thoughts and become more difficult to accept compliments. Taking compliments is not arrogance but self-respect and permitting validation to play a role in your self-concept.
The wonder of those subtle cues is that they’re not set in concrete you can shift them the way you shift. By being more aware of the cues you’re sending, you can get your daily habits to line up with the qualities you desire. Personality isn’t only who you are it’s also what you habituate, step by small step.
