Scene Selection: You Reveal Who You Are by Where You Are

We all know that if you want to get to know someone, you listen to them talk the talk but also watch them walk the walk—literally. The places someone travels to during everyday life are enormously telling. Whether they prefer to visit the park or the pub, the gym or the golf course, people transmit who they are by where they are. Research explains.

Source: Kirill Averianov / Pixabay

Placement Reveals Personality

The choice of venue tells us more than personal proclivities; it also expresses personality. Who can forget the beloved character Norm in the television show Cheers, who sat at the bar all night nursing the same beer, not there to overindulge but to enjoy good friends and good conversation in a place “where everybody knows your name”? We all reveal our personality and personal preferences through the places we choose to patronize.

Sandra C. Matz and Gabriella M. Harari (2021) examined the link between personality traits and where people choose to spend their time.[i] Whether they work full-time or raise children, time permitting, people choose whether their daily routine includes a trip to the gym, coffee shop, or the home of a friend. This is how we end up with so many optimized ads delivering targeted information based on our daily patterns of living. But what does our daily routine tell others about our personality?

The Psychology of Place

Matz and Harari studied how psychological traits related to place preference, how spending time in a particular type of place (library or coffee shop) impacts psychological states in the moment, and how place preference is linked with personality trait expression over time. They distinguish between public places, like restaurants and cafes, work, and being at home. Their results showcased the reality that Big Five personality traits are linked with the frequency of visiting different places on a daily basis.

Matz and Harari found a reciprocal relationship between relatively stable personality traits and the frequency with which people spent time in different places. The participants’ personality predicted their choice of place, and conversely, spending time in particular places predicted momentary personality states and short-term personality traits over time.

Extraverts Are Everywhere

Extraverts are not at home; they are out and about. This is why we seem to see so many of them when we are out in public.

Sure enough, Matz and Harari found the strongest relationships between personality and place preference for extraversion, discovering that extraverted people spent less time at home and more time in public venues, such as bars or cafés, or visiting friends. They also found that people felt more extraverted in public places rather than at home. They note that this captures the extravert tendencies to be sociable, outgoing, active, and energetic, which drives the desire to seek out social stimulation.

Places That Open Our Mind

Place preference apparently impacts both body and mind. Matz and Harari found that people felt more open-minded after spending time in public places, such as at parties, restaurants, stores, on campus, at faith-based venues, and even in the library, than when they were at home. Interestingly, people felt less open-minded after having spent time at the gym.

Matz and Harari noted that some of the strongest effects were found in connection with spending time on campus and at the library, which they recognize as consistent with the intellectual aspect of university design aimed at inspiring curiosity and learning. They also found that students felt more open-minded in social environments, suggesting that such venues stimulate curiosity and interest in abstract ideas.

All things considered, Matz and Harari note that their research indicates that the places people go on a daily basis are linked to personality traits and states. This finding will help people decide how and where to spend their time to maximize desirable psychological states and improve the quality of life for themselves and their loved ones.