Personality Analysis
Andy Roy
7/31/2020
Introduction
I found a Kaggle database of a 4967 participant survey of the Fischer Temperament Inventory which consists of 56 questions. While it’s not clear how valid the inventory is, the data collected from such a large number of participants allowed for some light data analysis.
Participants rated themselves (1=strongly disagree… 4=strongly agree) on questions like - I am more creative than most people. - Debating is a good way to match my wits with others.
I examine which questions are correlated by similar ratings. e.g. People who said they agreed with statement X also agreed with statement Y.
While this is not spectacular, it is interesting that this data set does appear to contain “consistent” answers. People did not contradict themselves on the whole… And furthermore, it reminds us that with a good sized data set like this, i.e. with a large set of ‘users’, the answers they give can be aggregated to reveal patterns based on a “correspondence analysis” (I may be deviating from its strict definition).
I used a combination of “contingency tables” and the statistical correlation of the ratings.
The Kaggle database is here.
Example of a Correlated Pair of Questions
## Q37 Q30
## Q37 1.0000000 0.6332119
## Q30 0.6332119 1.0000000
## argumentative
## debater FALSE TRUE
## FALSE 1375 468
## TRUE 651 2473## [1] 1.6 3.1
Fischer Temperament Inventory
Table of questions and short codes.| qnum | short | text |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | unpredictable | I find unpredictable situations exhilarating. |
| Q2 | impulsive | I do things on the spur of the moment. |
| Q3 | bored | I get bored when I have to do the same familiar things. |
| Q4 | interests | I have a very wide range of interests. |
| Q5 | optimistic | I am more optimistic than most people. |
| Q6 | creative | I am more creative than most people. |
| Q7 | experiences | I am always looking for new experiences. |
| Q8 | newthings | I am always doing new things. |
| Q9 | enthusiastic | I am more enthusiastic than most people. |
| Q10 | risktaking | I am willing to take risks to do what I want to do. |
| Q11 | restless | I get restless if I have to stay home for any length of time. |
| Q12 | curious | My friends would say I am very curious. |
| Q13 | energetic | I have more energy than most people. |
| Q14 | funloving | On my time off I like to be free to do whatever looks fun. |
| Q15 | consistent | I think consistent routines keep life orderly and relaxing. |
| Q16 | deliberate | I consider (and reconsider) every option thoroughly before making a plan. |
| Q17 | proper | People should behave according to established standards of proper conduct. |
| Q18 | planner | I enjoy planning way ahead. |
| Q19 | rulefollower | In general I think it is important to follow rules. |
| Q20 | possessions | Taking care of my possessions is a high priority for me. |
| Q21 | traditional | My friends and family would say I have traditional values. |
| Q22 | meticulous | I tend to be meticulous in my duties. |
| Q23 | cautious | I tend to be cautious but not fearful. |
| Q24 | moral | People should behave in ways that are morally correct. |
| Q25 | authority | It is important to respect authority. |
| Q26 | loyalty | I would rather have loyal friends than interesting friends |
| Q27 | respectful | Long established customs need to be respected and preserved. |
| Q28 | straightforward | I like to work in a straightforward path toward completing the task. |
| Q29 | mechanical | I understand complex machines easily. |
| Q30 | argumentative | I enjoy competitive conversations. |
| Q31 | patterns | I am intrigued by rules and patterns that govern systems. |
| Q32 | analytical | I am more analytical and logical than most people. |
| Q33 | intellectual | I pursue intellectual topics thoroughly and regularly. |
| Q34 | objective | I am able to solve problems without letting emotion get in the way |
| Q35 | howworks | I like to figure out how things work. |
| Q36 | tough | I am tough-minded. |
| Q37 | debater | Debating is a good way to match my wits with others. |
| Q38 | decider | I have no trouble making a choice even when several alternatives seem equally good at first. |
| Q39 | technical | When I buy a new machine (e.g. camera computer or car) I want to know all of its technical features. |
| Q40 | sayexactly | I like to avoid the nuances and say exactly what I mean. |
| Q41 | direct | I think it is important to be direct. |
| Q42 | factual | When making a decision I like to stick to the facts rather than be swayed by peoples feelings. |
| Q43 | knowfriends | I like to get to know my friends deepest needs and feelings. |
| Q44 | intimacy | I highly value deep emotional intimacy in my relationships. |
| Q45 | intuitive | Regardless of what is logical I generally listen to my heart when making important decisions. |
| Q46 | daydreamer | I frequently catch myself daydreaming. |
| Q47 | changeable | I can change my mind easily. |
| Q48 | feelingsstay | After watching an emotional film I often still feel moved by it several hours later. |
| Q49 | vividhappenings | I vividly imagine both wonderful and horrible things happening to me. |
| Q50 | sensitivetoothers | I am very sensitive to people’s feelings and needs. |
| Q51 | lostinthoughts | I often find myself getting lost in my thoughts during the day. |
| Q52 | feeldeeply | I feel emotions more deeply than most people. |
| Q53 | vividimagination | I have a vivid imagination. |
| Q54 | dreamtoreal | When I wake up from a vivid dream it takes me a few seconds to return to reality. |
| Q55 | readmeaningful | When reading I enjoy when the writer takes a sidetrack to say something beautiful or meaningful. |
| Q56 | empathetic | I am very empathetic. |