The 12 personality types: the science dividing the internet
A new classification of 12 personality types based on the OCEAN model is sparking scepticism on social media: science or pseudoscience?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The 12 personality types: the classification nobody asked for
Fresh onto the digital scene, a classification based on the OCEAN model promises to reduce human complexity to twelve precise profiles. The Hermetic Thinker, the Independent Observer... the list sounds like an IKEA furniture catalogue. But the model's data —high openness, low extraversion, agreeableness at rock bottom— sketch an unsociable intellectual archetype that, according to its defenders, explains a lot about certain public figures. However, the reaction on social media has been far from welcoming: "Like the zodiac but with less credibility", "another load of nonsense for pigeonholing people", "I don't identify with any of them, I'm an alien". The scepticism is so emphatic that the thread has filled up with users who prefer the binary division of "good people and arseholes" or who outright reject any label. Is there any scientific basis to this taxonomy, or is it just the latest product of the self-knowledge industry?
Fresh onto the digital scene, a classification based on the OCEAN model promises to reduce human complexity to twelve precise profiles. The Hermetic Thinker, the Independent Observer... the list sounds like an IKEA furniture catalogue. But the model's data —high openness, low extraversion, agreeableness at rock bottom— sketch an unsociable intellectual archetype that, according to its defenders, explains a lot about certain public figures. However, the reaction on social media has been far from welcoming: "Like the zodiac but with less credibility", "another load of nonsense for pigeonholing people", "I don't identify with any of them, I'm an alien". The scepticism is so emphatic that the thread has filled up with users who prefer the binary division of "good people and arseholes" or who outright reject any label. Is there any scientific basis to this taxonomy, or is it just the latest product of the self-knowledge industry?
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (36 replies).
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