Transcription
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to read anyone's personality within seconds? Take a second to think about how such an ability could help you excel in life.
When someone is talking to you, only 7% of what they are saying is communicated in words, and the other 93% is conveyed using body language and the tone of your voice. It is important to be able to read a person's body language and facial expressions, but what we're about to discuss goes much deeper than that. Imagine if, after meeting someone, you could gain insight into that person's true character, to find out what type of person they really are.
We're going to start off with something extremely simple but incredibly effective: by asking a single question, you can get a glimpse of a person's real character and build on this fundamental knowledge. You also have the option to use this knowledge to take a look into your own character and see what it might reveal about you.
To get some answers, we must consider a test that was performed by a well-known psychologist. During the test, students were asked a simple question: which was to rate the personalities of several of their acquaintances. Maybe you've heard the saying, "It says more about them than it does about you," when referring to someone who is saying mean things to another person on the internet or in real life. During the study, after students had rated several of their acquaintances, researchers found that the students were more likely to have the personality that reflects the way they rated their friends. For example, if a student rated most of their friends as being happy and kind-hearted, they were more likely to display these personality traits themselves. The same was true for students who rated most of their acquaintances as being negative or manipulative. The conclusion of the study said the simple tendency to see people negatively indicates a greater likelihood of various personality disorders. Put simply, if you want to know if a person is more likely to display certain personality traits, just ask them what they think of others, or for the best results, pay close attention and observe how they speak about those around them, whether they're talking about close friends, loved ones, or strangers.
Now that we've learned an incredibly simple and easy way to gauge a person's personality within seconds, let's dive even deeper into the realm of intuition. With enough practice, you can read someone's personality with your intuition much more effectively than you ever could with words or body language. Your intuition is what your gut feels, and it's not based on what your head is thinking. Intuition is non-verbal information perceived without logic, and some would say it's information that you feel. When you read someone with your intuition, it allows you to see deeper than the obvious and catch a glimpse of their true personality.
To practice using intuition, there are three things that you must pay attention to: First, honor your gut feelings, especially when you first meet someone. A gut feeling is your body's perceiving information before your brain has time to think, and it's a primal response. You can think of it like your internal truth meter, and it will help you to determine if you can trust the person or not. Second, take notice if you get goosebumps, because they're intuitive tingles that tell you when someone inspires or moves you. Goosebumps are also caused when someone says something that really tugs at your character. The third and final way to practice using your intuition is to pay close attention to flashes of insight, because they occur quickly and without warning. If you've ever had an "aha" moment during a conversation where you felt like you really got a feel for the person's true character, this was your intuition at work. And these flashes of insight happen so quickly that they can get lost in the chatter if you're not paying attention to them.
People have always said the eyes are the windows into the soul, and if we are talking about a person's true personality, then there is a lot of truth to this old saying. Like the entire body itself, the eyes transmit powerful electromagnetic energy, and if you take the time to observe a person's eyes, you can see if they're angry, mean, tranquil, or sexy; or when you look into their eyes, does it look like they're guarded or hiding? When analyzing a person's eyes, you'll be once again using your intuition to read the response.
Now that you know how to read someone with a simple question and intuition, let's take a look at some other ways to gauge their personality. An easy way to instantly find out if a person is introverted or extroverted is to observe their response to any question. If you ask a question and the person immediately responds and seems to be thinking out loud, there is a good chance that they have an extroverted personality. If, after asking a question, the person takes a second or two to respond, then there's a good chance that they have an introverted personality type. Once you understand how this works, you can improve your interactions with others. If you're an extrovert talking to an introvert, make sure to give them enough time to respond after you say something.
It takes time and effort to practice, but the ability to read subtle cues that most people don't notice will make you extremely good at reading a person's personality. Basic psychology tells us that people tend to move away from uncomfortable experiences in their childhood as they grow older. For example, picture a child who was always one of the weakest kids in school; maybe he got picked last for the football team or didn't get picked at all. Over time, this person associated a long list of painful experiences or emotions with being weak. Psychology tells us that this person will seek to move away from this pain as they get older. In practice, this means the person is likely to pursue things in life that make them appear strong and not weak; for example, they might start lifting weights, or they might run for a powerful position within the government or other organization. Once we understand that people do things to move away from pain, we can get a better understanding of why they do the things they do or act certain ways, which can help us to better empathize with them.
Let's take a look at another example. Picture a small child named Bill; he grew up on the poor side of town, and since his parents were poor, he rarely was able to have nice things. When Bill went to school and saw wealthier kids with nicer cars, phones, or other materialistic things, he experienced a strong sense of pain, while the other kids enjoyed an amazing lunch; Bill was lucky if he had anything to eat. Imagine if this continued to happen in every area of Bill's life growing up and how much pain would build up over time. As Bill got older and gained more opportunities, one of his main goals in life, whether he realized it or not, was to move away from the pain of being poor. Once we understand how this works, we gain a better understanding of why people do the things they do, and we'll have more information to decide if we want them to be a part of our life.
Let's move on to another insanely powerful trick to read someone's personality. According to science, we can read 90% of a person's personality by simply looking at their shoes. Researchers from the University of Kansas ran tests and found that it's possible to judge about 90% of a person's true personality by observing their shoes. A person's shoes can tell you their emotions, political affiliation, income, gender, and even age. During the study, 63 students were asked to look at photos of 208 different pairs of shoes that belonged to people who volunteered in the study, and the volunteers had filled out personality questionnaires before the study. The students were asked to predict the personality traits of the volunteers based on nothing but their shoes. Although some of the findings were obvious, much of the results were quite unexpected. The study found that expensive shoes belong to high-income earners, and colorful, flashy shoes belong to extroverts. Shoes that weren't new but looked spotless belong to conscientious personalities, and functional or practical shoes belong to agreeable people. Ankle boots were associated with people who had an aggressive personality, and shoes that looked uncomfortable belong to people who have a calm personality. Well-kept and brand-new shoes belong to people who have attachment anxiety or people who always worry about their relationships, and less expensive shoes or flip-flops belong to liberal thinkers. Now it should come as no surprise that boring shoes belong to people who don't care what others think of them, and boring shoes also belong to people who have difficulty forming relationships.
Before we end this, imagine if you could gauge a person's personality just by looking at their profile picture on social media. According to a study published by the AI Digital Library, you can potentially discover a lot about a person by looking at their Twitter or Facebook profile picture. The study found that people who scored higher for neuroticism had simpler photos with less color; these people were more likely to display a blank expression, and in many cases, their photos were partially hidden. In case you don't know, neurotic personalities are more likely to be negative over the long term, and they usually suffer from feelings of anxiety, anger, envy, and guilt much more often than others. Now, according to the study, extroverted individuals usually had a profile picture with other people in the picture, and the images were more colorful and showed the person smiling widely at the camera. The people who had the best-looking profile pictures were most likely to be open to experience, and they had pictures with higher contrast and sharper images; these photos also displayed the person's face taking up more of the photo. The study even found that highly agreeable people usually post bad pictures of themselves, but they're usually smiling, and the pictures look lively and bright.
The ability to quickly read a person's true personality or inner character gives us a massive advantage over others who lack this ability, and it is an ability that you can use to improve every area of your life. You might not be good at first, but with enough practice around other people, you'll get good enough to read people quickly and effectively; and depending on the situation, this ability could win you more money at the poker table, or it might even save your life. I really hope you guys enjoyed this video, and until next time, thanks for watching.