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Updated Tuesday, 10 Nov · 11:04

New personality research, explained in plain English by the team behind the free personality test at Insight Metrics.

A nurse in pale blue scrubs sits on a hospital floor holding his head with a coffee in hand, a picture of stress and emotional intelligence in nursing New studyWork & Hiring

Emotional Intelligence in Nursing: Managing Emotions Tied Most to Distress in 704 Nurses

In 704 clinical nurses in China, regulating your own emotions was the emotional intelligence skill most tied to depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.

  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • 704 nurses
  • One-time survey, network analysis
By Arjun Vardhan · Reviewed by Leon FalknerSmall study
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Personality Research

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A young man sits at a laptop and looks down, deep in thought, a picture of self-compassion and self-control in daily lifeSelf-Compassion and Self-Control: 3,766 Students Point to Resilience and Narcissism

Kinder self-treatment went with more self-control in 3,766 Chinese undergraduates, partly through higher resilience and lower pathological narcissism.

  • Acta Psychologica
  • 3,766 students
  • One-time (cross-sectional) study
Related test: Big Five test

Love & Relationships Science

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A young woman with long dark hair smiles as she holds her smartphone, a picture of attachment styles and emotions in everyday lifeAttachment Styles and Emotions: Anxiety Tied to Anger, Avoidance to Calm

In a study of Turkish undergraduates, anxious and avoidant attachment both went with helplessness, but only attachment anxiety went with anger.

  • Psychological Reports
  • Not stated in the abstract
  • Correlational study
Related test: Attachment style quiz

Work & Hiring

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A nurse in pale blue scrubs sits on a hospital floor holding his head with a coffee in hand, a picture of stress and emotional intelligence in nursingEmotional Intelligence in Nursing: Managing Emotions Tied Most to Distress in 704 Nurses

In 704 clinical nurses in China, regulating your own emotions was the emotional intelligence skill most tied to depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.

  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • 704 nurses
  • One-time survey, network analysis
Related test: Career test

Mental Health & Wellbeing

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A student with a red cap and a backpack walks along a foggy campus path, a picture of student life for a story on personality and mindful eatingPersonality and Mindful Eating: 4 of 5 Big Five Traits Linked in 875 Students

Students higher in agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness scored higher on mindful eating, and neuroticism went the other way, a survey of 875 found.

  • BMC Public Health
  • 875 students
  • One-time online survey
Related test: Big Five test

Brain & Genes

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Dozens of open books laid edge to edge, their pages full of printed words, a picture of openness to experience and the brain at work on languageOpenness to Experience and the Brain: Stronger Signals for Words That Don't Fit

People higher in openness showed a bigger brain response to words that clearly didn't belong, a new brain-wave study found. Task success was comparable.

  • Physiology & Behavior
  • Not stated in the abstract
  • Lab brain-wave (ERP) study
Related test: Big Five test

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Myths & Fact Checks

Personality claims that travel fast online, checked against the studies.

Not shownEmotional intelligence protects nurses from depression

Better emotion regulation went with fewer symptoms, but a one-time survey can't show protection.

  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • 704 nurses
  • One-time survey, network analysis
Not shownYour personality decides how mindfully you eat

Four traits were linked to mindful eating scores, but a one-time survey can't show that personality shapes eating habits.

  • BMC Public Health
  • 875 students
  • One-time online survey
Not shownSelf-compassion builds self-control

The two go together, partly through resilience and lower narcissism, but a one-time study can't show which comes first.

  • Acta Psychologica
  • 3,766 students
  • One-time (cross-sectional) study

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10 Nov11:04Work & Hiring

Emotional Intelligence in Nursing: Managing Emotions Tied Most to Distress in 704 Nurses

In 704 clinical nurses in China, regulating your own emotions was the emotional intelligence skill most tied to depression, anxiety and stress symptoms.

  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • 704 nurses
  • One-time survey, network analysis
A nurse in pale blue scrubs sits on a hospital floor holding his head with a coffee in hand, a picture of stress and emotional intelligence in nursing10 Nov11:04Mental Health & Wellbeing

Personality and Mindful Eating: 4 of 5 Big Five Traits Linked in 875 Students

Students higher in agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness scored higher on mindful eating, and neuroticism went the other way, a survey of 875 found.

  • BMC Public Health
  • 875 students
  • One-time online survey
A student with a red cap and a backpack walks along a foggy campus path, a picture of student life for a story on personality and mindful eating10 Nov11:04Personality Research

Self-Compassion and Self-Control: 3,766 Students Point to Resilience and Narcissism

Kinder self-treatment went with more self-control in 3,766 Chinese undergraduates, partly through higher resilience and lower pathological narcissism.

  • Acta Psychologica
  • 3,766 students
  • One-time (cross-sectional) study
A young man sits at a laptop and looks down, deep in thought, a picture of self-compassion and self-control in daily life10 Nov11:04Love & Relationships Science

Attachment Styles and Emotions: Anxiety Tied to Anger, Avoidance to Calm

In a study of Turkish undergraduates, anxious and avoidant attachment both went with helplessness, but only attachment anxiety went with anger.

  • Psychological Reports
  • Not stated in the abstract
  • Correlational study
A young woman with long dark hair smiles as she holds her smartphone, a picture of attachment styles and emotions in everyday life10 Nov11:04Brain & Genes

Openness to Experience and the Brain: Stronger Signals for Words That Don't Fit

People higher in openness showed a bigger brain response to words that clearly didn't belong, a new brain-wave study found. Task success was comparable.

  • Physiology & Behavior
  • Not stated in the abstract
  • Lab brain-wave (ERP) study
Dozens of open books laid edge to edge, their pages full of printed words, a picture of openness to experience and the brain at work on language10 Nov09:54Mental Health & Wellbeing

Emotional Intelligence and Life Satisfaction: A Clear Link in 334 Students

Health sciences students who rated their emotional skills higher were more satisfied with life, a new study from Ecuador found.

  • Frontiers in Psychology
  • 334 students
  • One-time survey
Four young friends laugh together outdoors in the sun, a picture of emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in daily life10 Nov09:54Mental Health & Wellbeing

Neuroticism and Anxiety: Three Times the Odds of High Anxiety Across 10 Studies

Pooling data from 84,721 adults aged 16 to 104, researchers found the other four Big Five traits went with lower odds of high anxiety.

  • Psychiatry Research
  • 84,721 adults
  • 10 studies pooled
A man sits on the floor by a window and glances over his shoulder, looking tense, a picture of neuroticism and anxiety in everyday life
How we report science

Six Rules for Every Story

Personality research is easy to oversell. These rules keep our news honest, and they're the same for every desk.

  1. Peer-reviewed firstWe cover published, peer-reviewed studies. A preprint is always labelled as one.
  2. We read the paperEvery number comes from the paper itself, never from a press release alone.
  3. Sample size up frontEach story shows how many people took part and how the study was done.
  4. What it doesn't meanEvery story ends with the limits, so a single study is never oversold.
  5. Named peopleA named writer and a named reviewer on every story, with the date and time.
  6. Corrections in publicIf we get something wrong, we fix it and say so at the top of the story.
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