Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality | Brian Little

Trait psychology aligns you along five dimensions that describe universal aspects of differences between people. These are:

1. Open to experience vs those who are more closed.
2. Conscientiousness vs those with a more careless approach to life.
3. Extroversion vs more introverted people
4. Agreeable individuals vs those not agreeable.
5. Neurotic individuals vs those who are more stable.

The five dimensions of trait psychology have implications for our well-being.

For example:

• Openness and conscientiousness are good predictors of life success. Open people achieve success through being audacious, and conscientious people by sticking to deadlines.
• Extroversion and agreeableness are both conducive to working well with people.

Extroverts need stimulation by finding exciting things, such as loud noises, parties and social events. They like to have a lot of eye contact, they use more diminutive terms when they meet somebody. They prefer simple, black and white language.

Introverts are more likely to spend time in a quiet space where they can reduce stimulation. They may be misinterpreted as antisocial, but that is not necessarily true. You may simply realize that you do better with less stimulation. Introverts prefer contextually complex sentences. As a result, they sometimes talk past each other.

We also have free traits where we act out of character. You're very agreeable, but act disagreeably in order to advance a personal project in your life. It may relate to your kid, where you've been to hospital but they still don't know what's wrong. Or it could be your mom. 

You may be an introvert but have a core project that makes you act in an extroverted way. So, don't ask people what type they are. Instead, ask them what are the core projects in their life.