Nations are sometimes said to consider their own people to be more or less perfect, and everyone else to be pretty odd. Stereotypes exist alongside such national points of view. Germans are supposed to be serious, the Scots dour, the Swedes boring and the French a bit too proud. But how accurate are these stereotypes?

Juri Allik of the Estonian University of Tartu and Robert McCrae of the US National Institute on Ageing performed personality tests on people from 36 different cultures. The aim was to find an average personality profile for each cultural group. Only small differences were found between individual personalities and each culture's average personality.

What causes these differences? Allik and McCrae's data show geography can influence personality. They found people from hotter countries tend to be more extroverted. Genetic differences may also influence personality.

In Robert McCrae's most recent study, he asked people to assess not their own personality, but a member of their community. Stereotypes were found. Australians considered themselves to be extrovert. Canadians thought themselves to be more agreeable than other nations. In this study, there was little connection between the views on stereotype and the average personality of people from different cultural groups. The results suggest that stereotypical views are formed by society itself.

'No, the Swiss aren't boring' by Johnjoe McFadden
Copyright The Guardian
This adapted text Copyright Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2005


Food for thought

Choose three countries from around the world. Make a list of positive and negative stereotypes for these countries. What factors do you think influence a national stereotype?
Try to describe your own personality. How does this compare to your national stereotype?