For those who may not be familiar, the website LiveJournal.com is, as defined by Wikipedia, a “virtual community where Internet users can keep a blog, journal, or diary.” While I don't use the site myself, several friends of mine do, so I decided to visit one of their journals and see if the person had any LiveJournal friends that were people I did not know. Indeed, a girl aliased “theatergirl62” had a public journal, titled “My Own Little Stage,” and going in I knew nothing about her other than her college (Princeton). I decided to go to a random point in her journal and read a couple of entries, noting my thoughts relating to the "Big Five" traits after completing each one. I rated each on a scale of -2 to 2, representing Strongly Disagree – Strongly Agree, with N/A indicating I can't make any claim, similar to the Hancock experiment. I've included some actual excerpts from her journal to support my conclusions, which is why this post is as long as it is.
Entry 1: March 3rd 2008, 1:03 AM
“This past Tuesday night I got sick... when we got seated and started discussing, though, I started to feel really, really nauseaus and dizzy. I excused myself (seriously thinking I had to throw up or faint), sat in the bathroom/called mom (who says more likely a stomach bug than something related to my blood-giving), laid on the floor for a few minutes, nothing happened... got up really slowly, noted how pale/yellow I looked in the mirror, and went back in to class...tried to focus/participate, but had to excuse myself a 2nd time a few minutes later and then decided I was just going to head for McCosh because I was feeling pretty awful.”
“After several training steps (tours, a special training tour, much memorization, etc.) I tried out to be a Princeton Orange Key Tour Guide this Saturday by actually giving a tour (and being graded on it, basically). I just found out about 2 hours ago that they picked me!! I'm officially an Orange Key Tour Guide!!”
“Yes, Mom bought the ticket today. I'm officially going to visit Michigan Boy (aka Israel Boy) and all the other cool people out in Michigan. I'm kind of scared, not gonna lie. Well, excited and scared. (Into the Woods, anyone? Anyone?) EDIT: 1:47 AM: oh my goodness I just realized I told my Mom the wrong dates; I have the wrong date tickets to MI... Shoot... I shouldn't be too worried about it; we'll fix it over lunch tomorrow, but right this second I'm so stressed over it. I'm looking for a replacement flight... the best pair of flights out and back is like twice the price with the change fee in it. CRAP. Mom's not going to be happy with me... And I can't afford to pay any of it right now. ;alkwjflw;ke Shoot.”
Thoughts:
I immediately attribute her a high level of neuroticism from the last paragraph – in this random entry she displays emotional instability, freaking out about a trip to Michigan. She's first anxious about the trip itself and then even more anxious about buying the wrong tickets. The use of the phrase “;alkwjflw;ke Shoot” is particularly effective at conveying her anxiety. Also, her calling her mother from the bathroom in the first excerpt suggests feelings of vulnerability, and again anxiety, which further emphasizes her apparent neuroticism.
Surprisingly, the first excerpt also reveals quite a bit of conscientiousness as well, which is normally harder to detect. She knows she is extremely sick, yet returns to class, trying to focus and participate, which suggests significant dedication to school. Extraversion is hinted at with her happiness at being selected to be a tour guide, and her going to take a trip to visit “Michigan Boy,” but not strongly. There is no suggestion of agreeableness or openness.
Neuroticism: +2
Extraversion: +1
Openness: N/A
Agreeableness: N/A
Conscientiousness: +2
Entry 2: March 6th, 2008, 3:33 AM
“Brief work rant:
AHHH SO MUCH WORK AND SO MUCH FLOOD REHEARSAL/PERFORMANCES AND THEREFORE SO LITTLE TIME TO GET WORK DONE.
Also, I HATE HAVING NO TIME TO DO READINGS. They just take too long. Even/especially when they're interesting (like my Linguistics and Religion readings) or fun/cool (like my Atelier readings)... asd;lfkjawe crabby right at this moment 'cause it's almost 4 AM oops I should have been asleep hours ago.
That is all.”
Thoughts:
This makes two consecutive incoherent text mashings (in this case, an “asd;lfkjawe”). Interestingly, this entry does nothing to change my initial thoughts, and simply reaffirms my previous judgments – this girl is clearly, at least to me, both extremely conscientious and extremely neurotic. The whole entry interrupts work, and is regarding her stress over not being able to do readings, another academic priority. Her abandonment of grammar and words further emphasizes the neuroticism (it conveys anger, stress and anxiety). Her mentioning of theater rehearsal/performances again suggests some level of extraversion (the theater does rely on human interaction) but not enough to change my previous thoughts. There is again no indication of openness or agreeableness. I conclude with:
Neuroticism: +2
Extraversion: +1
Openness: N/A
Agreeableness: N/A
Conscientiousness: +2
This is in line with the Hyperpersonal model. I can only put my finger on a few traits (really, extraversion could just as well be a N/A) and those that I can I attribute heavily. In other words, my breadth is limited, but the traits I feel I can rate are done so intensely. The Hyperpersonal model would suggest that I react this way because of a limited amount of cues; I'm forced to “fill in the blanks” by overestimating the traits that are hinted at in the text. Also, the fact that my opinion does not change from the first to the second entry may evidence the SIP theory, as I've spent more time with this person yet apparently know nothing new about them.
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2 comments:
She sounds like a neurotic drama queen with poor time management skills. From my personal experience from doing my undergrad in theatre and currently working in theatre, personalities like this are sadly very common and frustrating among that community.
I like your approach to the assignment, going to the middle of the blog and reading. It seems like a good way to get a sense of the personality over time as opposed to only one month or a few days. I thought using the scale was a great addition. It's a very "research" minded approach.
My only reservation in agreeing that your interaction would fit with the Hyperpersonal Model is an evaluation of the specific channel. If I am clear, this person writes a diary online for anyone to read, and her friends know her journal name. In one respect, a diary represents a person reflecting on one’s inner most secret feelings, and in another respect, those feelings are posted to the general public. It is confusing. Does the channel represent someone like a flasher willing to expose his most private thoughts to the public?
I am probably too quick to form opinions. I think you can judge her openness by her willingness to become a tour guide. She was willing to try a new experience. Also initially, I formed a negative opinion about her agreeableness based on her talking about her stressing over her illness, her making a mistake over the wrong date and her admitted crabby behavior at 4 AM in the morning. Then I realized this forum of communication was intended to vent negative feelings and that assessing agreeableness requires an interaction. I agree with your deduction that your reaction fits with the Hyperpersonal Model. You picked a truly interesting psychological space.
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