What did you study at university? If it was something along the lines of law or business you might
what to look away now. That's because according to new research, which has found a link between our
university subjects and our personalities, you have selfish, uncooperative tendencies and are not very in
touch with your feelings. On the plus side, you’re probably the life and life and soul of a party, the findings
suggest.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 13,000 university students who were involved in 12
separate studies From this ,they discovered a correlation between the “Big Five”major personality traits
and the subjects they were enrolled on.
For example, those studying law, economics, political science and medicine tended to be much more
outgoing than those taking other subjects, the study found. But when it came to “agreeableness”—the
tendency towards being helpful, generous and considerate — the lawyers scored particularly low, as did
business and economics students.
Arts and humanities students, as well as those studying psychology and politics scored highly for
openness, meaning they were curious, imaginative and in touch with their inner feelings, while economists,
engineers, lawyers and scientists scored comparatively low. However, the arts and humanities students also
tended to be less conscientious and more nervous, typically exhibiting signs of anxiety and moodiness.
Psychology students were not far behind arts and humanities students for these traits.
Study author Anna Vedel, from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, said she was surprised by the
results. “The effect sizes show that the differences found are not trivial, far from,”she said. “On the more
humorous side they do confirm our more or less prejudicial stereotypes of the disturbed psychologist, the
withdrawn natural scientist, the cynical economist.”
And she said that the findings could help those school pupils who currently have no idea what to
study at university, as well as helping academics to plan their lectures. “I’m not arguing that these results
should play a major role in either guidance or selection, but it might provide some inspiration for students
that are in doubt study choices and want to make a choice based on more than abilities, for example,” said
Dr Vedel. “Or teachers might better understand their student population.”
