As students, we want to believe we’re more than just another number. We’re unique individuals who’ve chosen our own paths. Or at least that's what I would like to believe. At least once a week I'm forced to listen to stereotypical comments made about myself and my fellow English majors, as if we're all the same. This trend to categorize and fit people into boxes is something I'm sure every college student can relate to. We hear it when our relatives visit and give us their opinions on where we're going to end up in life based on what we're studying. We see it when a professor raises their eyebrows at us when we take a class that is obviously outside our comfort zone. We feel the eyes of our fellow peers as they judge us solely based on the textbooks we are carrying.
It's not a feeling I'm sure anyone really enjoys, but maybe the people we sit in class with are more similar to us than we realize or want to admit. Recently, a psychologist from Aarhus University in Denmark has conducted a meta-analysis of the personality differences between students depending on their majors. Dr. Anna Vedel looked at 12 studies that closely examined the connection between personality traits and majors, with 11 of them showing a significant difference.
Vedel’s findings can be seen as both humorous and alarming. After all, it’s not a nice feeling when someone pigeonholes your personality, no matter how true the data may be. So what did she find out? Arts and humanities majors seem to have the least luck, being anxious, unorganized, and more neurotic than other majors. Personally, I find this to be very accurate. If you think of your English major friends who always seem to be re-writing papers because they’ve forgotten something or had an epiphany at the last second, this seems to be laughably true.
However, Vedel found that they scored higher on openness than economics, engineering, law, or science students. They have a more active imagination, like variety, and have many diverse interests. So business majors can’t make fun of them too much. But maybe they just can’t help making fun of their peers; Vedel found them to be the least agreeable of the bunch. The competitive atmosphere among students at my school, which is known for its business program, proves that.
Meanwhile, those who find themselves studying economics, law, political science, and medicine are the most extroverted, which seems fitting since they’ll spend their careers debating and defending their methods and beliefs. We don't see many shy politicians in this day and age and maybe that's because those personalities are drawn more towards introverted professions.
Vedel hopes that her findings can help counselors guide students towards subjects that best fit their personalities, with the belief that if people are studying things that fit them, drop-out rates will decrease. Still, I think she is forgetting to take into account other factors that may sway students when choosing a major. What Vedel fails to realize is that people don’t always have the luxury of studying what best fits their personality.
In recent years, there have been record-breaking numbers of American college graduates who are unable to get a job, let alone one in the field they studied. So how did students adapt to this disparity? They started studying what would either guarantee them jobs or make them good money--medicine, law, engineering, business. But this sometimes comes at a price: they may not get to study something that truly interests them. Likewise, liberal arts majors may get to study what they love, but might have problems finding a job later on. Either way, there seems to be some type of sacrifice involved. It’s enough to make one envious of those lucky few who manage to get the best of both worlds.
So, when you feel like you're being judged and characterized for what major you've chosen, remember that you're probably in good company with the rest of the peers in your field. And if you chose a major that seems to go against your personality, as long as you are happy with your decision and hardworking, I don't see why anyone should question the path you've chosen.
