TT/Hbl skrev:Inte helt oväntat visar studien att yngre personer ofta tillhör den självcentrerade personlighetstypen medan äldre oftare är "förebilder". Att kvinnor gör den övergången snabbare än män är också en slutsats och flest "förebilder" hittas bland kvinnor över 60 år.

– De här förebilderna får samhället att fungera bättre, konstaterar Luís Nunes Amaral.

Men en personlighetstyp är alltså inget man behöver bli sittande med hela livet.

– Det är inte en livstidsdom och de flesta som är självcentrerade till en början växer i från det ganska snabbt.

– Det visade sig att vara medel faktiskt är en tillgång i de flesta sammanhang, fortsätter Amaral.

Average
Average people are high in neuroticism and extraversion, while low in openness. "I would expect that the typical person would be in this cluster," said Martin Gerlach, a postdoctoral fellow in Amaral's lab and the paper's first author. Females are more likely than males to fall into the Average type.

Reserved
The Reserved type is emotionally stable, but not open or neurotic. They are not particularly extraverted but are somewhat agreeable and conscientious.

Role Models
Role Models score low in neuroticism and high in all the other traits. The likelihood that someone is a role model increases dramatically with age. "These are people who are dependable and open to new ideas," Amaral said. "These are good people to be in charge of things. In fact, life is easier if you have more dealings with role models." More women than men are likely to be role models.

Self-Centered
Self-Centered people score very high in extraversion and below average in openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. "These are people you don't want to hang out with," Revelle said. There is a very dramatic decrease in the number of self-centered types as people age, both with women and men.

Reserved
The Reserved type is emotionally stable, but not open or neurotic. They are not particularly extraverted but are somewhat agreeable and conscientious.