Your smartphone can reveal your personality traits

My father has always said this, ‘iPhone is just for showing off’. He has never been an Apple fan and finds an iPhone too pricey for pretty limited functionality. Though we never really concurred with his opinion, a recent research seems to be giving some weight to his thoughts.

According to this new study, people who use Android smartphones may have greater levels of honesty and humility than iPhone users. Not just this, the research says that women were twice more likely to own an iPhone than an Android Phone.

Researchers from the University of Lincoln in the UK conducted two studies of personality differences between iPhone and Android users and found that ‘smartphone choice is the most basic level of smartphone personalisation, and even this can tell us a lot about the user.’

“This study provides new insights into personality differences between different types of smartphone users,” said Heather Shaw, from the University of Lincoln in the U.K.

In the first study, 240 participants were asked to complete a questionnaire on characteristics they associate with users of each smartphone brand. In the second, they tested these stereotypes against actual personality traits of 530 Android and iPhone smartphone users.

The first study revealed that Android users are perceived to have greater levels of honesty and humility, agreeableness and openness but are seen as less extroverted than iPhone users.

The results from the second study showed that most of the personality stereotypes did not occur in reality, as only honesty and humility was found in greater amounts within Android users. However, researchers found that women were twice more likely to own an iPhone than an Android Phone.

Noticeably, according to the research, smartphones have become a status symbol with many folks. The study says that iPhone users thought it was more important to have a high-status phone than Android users.

“It is becoming more and more apparent that smartphones are becoming a mini digital version of the user, and many of us don’t like it when other people use our phones because it can reveal so much about us,” said Shaw.