National Personalities

In teaching, timing cen be everything. Science has published a study on national characters and stereotypes during a week when I am lecturing on ‘Birth, Death, and Personality.’

MSNBC.com reported on the study:

The study … compares “typical” personalities in many cultures with the personalities of real individuals from those cultures … [they looked at] real and perceived personalities in roughly 50 countries and found [personalities were not based on real experiences.] “These are in fact unfounded stereotypes. They don’t come from looking around you and doing your own averaging of people’s personality traits,” one author said.

The study is making the rounds in the blogosphere. John Hawks evaluates the study; he provides a link to the article and a full citation. It is also noted on Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog.

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