The Homa Files

Ken’s Take:  Don’t blame me ! My personality is derived from my body chemistry. 

Perhaps, this is how marriage blood tests should be applied …

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From: The Numerati, Stephen Baker, Haughton Mifflin, 2008 

In the late 1990s, researchers began looking into the biology of personality: the genes, neurotransmitters, and specifically, the hormones.

A theory emerged at four different hormones — estrogen, testosterone, dopamine, serotonin – mold personalities.

People with lots of dopamine are likely to be “Explorers” — optimistic risk takers. Explore issues words like excite, spirit, dream, fire, and search. Explorers have a tendency to fly off in different directions the minute they get bored. They get into relationships fast, wonder how they got there, and then try to weasel their way out.

Serotonin breeds “builders” who tend to be calm and organized and work well in groups. Builders have a tendency to talk about law, honor, limits, and honesty. Builders like to keep finances in order, map out vacations, and make sure the cats get their latest battery of rabies shots.

People brimming with testosterone — two thirds of whom are men — our “directors”. They are analytical, logical, and often musical. Directors focused largely on the physical world and over use words like aim, measure, strong, and hard. They also talk a lot about “thinking.”

People high in estrogen are at the “negotiators.” They are verbal and intuitive, and a good people skills. Negotiators talked about links, bonds, love, team, and participation. Negotiators are smooth talking, problem solvers who patched together friendships.

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When it comes to relationships,

• Negotiators gravitate towards directors, and vice versa.
• Explorers are attracted to negotiators.
• No-nonsense builders are often drawn to explorers, who helped them “lighten up.”

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This entry was posted on August 4, 2009 at 7:25 am and is filed under Book Summaries, Personality, Psychology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.