Your profile pictures on social media could be giving away a lot about your personality, says a recent study from the University of Pennsylvania.
Leqi Liu and colleagues examined the profile images of 66,000 Twitter users, and estimated their personality based on the content of their tweets. They found that each personality trait – based on the Big Five model (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) – had a specific style of profile picture posting.
And the results were fascinating.
Those users high in openness to experience, a trait defined by active imagination, sensitivity, a preference for variety, and intellectual curiosity, were most likely to have profile pictures that didn’t include faces. According to the researchers, this reflects a desire to not conform with what’s expected.
These types of people also tended to have high quality profile photos. They were less blurry, more sharp, and had increased saturation. They were more likely to be black and white, and have an ‘artistic’ element.