Tag Archives: personality traits

Infidelity Detection And Women’s Interest In Oral Sex – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

A recent paper attempts to link women's interest in fellatio with an evolutionary theory of infidelity detection. The results were negative, but the authors make some convoluted efforts to support their theory. The actual psychological factors influencing women's interest in oral sex are not well understood, but personality traits may play an important role.

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Cat People Are More Distinctive Than Dog People – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

A large survey found that self-identified dog people and cat people differ in all of the Big Five personality traits. Cat people have a personality profile that stands out from other people more than that of dog people. Whether these personality differences affect other life outcomes such as happiness, has not been explored.

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The Misunderstood Personality Profile of Wikipedia Members – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

A widely reported study claimed that Wikipedia members have disagreeable and close-minded personality traits. However, the study report contains serious errors and these claims are therefore very misleading.

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Personality and pain relief – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

The effectiveness of placebo treatment in relieving pain are related to personality traits associated with self-control, particularly control of anger. Brain regions that modulate pain also regulate negative emotions. Could training in self-control improve a person's ability to manage pain?

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The Personalities of Porn Stars – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

Recent studies have provided a glimpse into the usually secretive world of pornography actors and actresses. What sort of personality traits might distinguish porn stars from other people? Might some porn stars be very warm people and others very cold? And why are female porn stars more "spiritual" than other women?

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Personality’s ‘Big One’: Reality or Artifact? – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

Many current theories ofpersonality propose that most of the variation in personality traits can be explained by the existence of a few distinct broad factors that subsume narrower traits.

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Precognition and the search for the soul, part 1 – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

In 2011, Daryl Bem, who has the distinction of being both a respected social psychologist and an investigator into the paranormal, published a remarkable paper describing a series of experiments which he claimed provided evidence that people can be influenced by events before they have happened.

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Opening the Mind: Where Skepticism and Superstition Meet – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

Perhaps paradoxically, openness to experience is associated with less conventional religious belief but also more paranormal belief. Higher openness can be experimentally induced. The effects of this on supernatural beliefs have not been tested.

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Psilocybin and Personality – Scott McGreal (Unique—Like Everybody Else)

Recent research suggests fascinating connections between the effects of the psychedelic drug psilocybin and personality traits related to inner experience. Personality appears to influence response to psilocybin and psilocybin can promote changes in personality, suggesting a reciprocal relationship.

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