We all have differing personalities. Some people are extroverted and agreeable. Some people are outspoken and neurotic. Some are introverted and conscientious. Have you ever considered how your own personality may impact the way in which you utilize the internet? Psychological research has the opportunity to explain just how our personalities may change our patterns of internet usage. Using a statistical method called proportion of variance explained.
Proportion of variance explained is a percentage used to determine how much people differ based on a certain trait that they have which can be called the predictor variable. To calculate this percentage, one should take the difference between a predicted score using the predictor variable and an actual score. If the predicted scores match the actual scores, then the predictor variable accounted for all of the variance.
Based on an article we read in this class, very little data showed that personality factors as predictor variable accounted for the proportion of variance. In other words, one's personality does not directly determine internet usage. I noticed that for many of the tables in the article, the proportion of variance was insignificant. For example, in one study in which the predictor variables were the big five personality traits and the outcome measure was internet use, all of the percentages for the predictor variables were zero percent or lower. This means that the personality traits accounted for little to none of the reason why people used the internet in the way that they did.
This finding has major implications, especially in relation to recent allegations regarding social media during the previous presidential election. In March of 2018, Cambridge Analytica claimed to have used data from Facebook profiles that entailed the personalities of the users (supposedly, using the Big Five personality traits), and then tailor political messages based on that data. However, since personalities do not predict internet usage, what's to say that personalities predict political views.
Although many people were upset that the data was used to adjust political ads seen on Facebook, this data likely had little to no impact on the outcome of the election for a few reasons. According to an article by The Washington Post, personality is not a good predictor of political views. When you meet someone, can you easily assume their political views simply based on their characteristics? Usually, the answer to that question is no. Similarly, it is incredibly difficult to predict personality based on simply Facebook activity. For instance, when you become friends with someone new on Facebook, can you tell if they're nice or quiet or happy, usually no. Nearly everyone wants to portray themselves as nice and happy on social media, so the task of understanding personality via social media is quite difficult.
If you're worried about Facebook stealing your personal data and using it for malicious causes, consider a few things. First, their data is likely inaccurate. Second, their attempt to sway you or get you to buy another product based on their so-called "understanding of your personality," will likely not work, regardless. Third, recall that you are in control of every decision you make no matter how your social media attempts to sway you.
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