What your eye color reveals about your personality, according to a study

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What your eye color reveals about your personality, according to a study

“If the face is the mirror of the soul, the eyes are its interpreters.” This quote from Cicero now has scientific proof, according to the results of a Swedish study which suggests a link between eye color and personality.

In the last century, psychology professor Raymond Cattell, precursor of the notion of fluid intelligence, considered that personality could be read in the eyes. Aside from the concept of pupillometry, which focuses more on the size of the pupil, the color of the iris would reveal the character traits of its owner. These theories, largely unexplained, still spark controversy. Psychologists

A gene that links the iris and emotions

To test whether our eyes are truly the reflectors of our soul, Mats Larsson and his colleagues at the University of Örebro, Sweden, explored a genetic explanation. In a recent study carried out with 428 participants, these psychologists analyzed character traits well established in behavioral genetics, often referred to as the “Big Five”: extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience. These traits, we know, are partially influenced by our genes. At the same time, the researchers analyzed the characteristics of the irises in the panel. Result: a gene called Pax6 would be involved not only in the formation of the iris but also in that of the anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the brain which plays a key role in self-control and positive emotions.

Don’t expect, however, to decipher your neighbor’s personality by looking into their eyes. Let’s keep in mind that genetics is only one of the components influencing personality. Before discovering your profile, it is important to note that these results should be taken with a grain of salt. The indicators noted by the researchers have certainly been the subject of scientific verification but do not make it possible to establish with certainty the personality of our interlocutors at a simple glance. Because, as we are keen to mention, each of us has our own uniqueness which cannot be evaluated by being generalized. This research obviously has the merit of existing and of enlightening us a little more on the infinite parts of our personalities.

Blue, green, black, brown eyes: discover your typical profile

Black eyes

More intense, the black looks are more mysterious. The same goes for the personality of their owners. These people would be more seductive by nature than others. The black iris is often worn by more pleasant, rigorous and dynamic individuals, according to specialists.

Reliable and responsible, people with black eyes would naturally inspire confidence in those they talk to. By turns confident and witty, they demonstrate unwavering optimism and intense passion in everything they do.

According to the Swedish study, when the iris is even and smooth, as is often the case with dark eyes, people are often outgoing and confident.

Blue eyes

The blue-eyed participants had one thing in common: they possessed a more remarkable inner strength than the others. Shy, they would have higher emotional intelligence.

People with blue eyes are generally more extroverted, according to the study, and often considered wise and romantic by those around them. Extroverted and a bit dreamy, these temperaments excel in crisis management.

Green eyes

Compared to the study participants, the work found that green-eyed people were calmer, more sensitive and more generous.

The majority of them are also curious, demanding and radiate an infectious joie de vivre.

Brown eyes

Still according to the scientific study, people with brown eyes (from light to darker shades) often have a calm and thoughtful temperament. Loyalty, self-confidence and respect are values ​​that would therefore define them perfectly.

Researchers also observed that brown eyes had a common appetite for adventure, even fiercely cherishing their freedom.

Light or dark: which eyes do the most intelligent people wear?

According to the Swedish study, a very laminated iris (with a significant number of patterns and shades) is often found in people with a suspicious and neurotic character. The genes responsible for these patterns would be involved in the formation of certain brain areas. Dark eyes have less resistance to pain. To explain this, researchers rely on Dubin-Johnson syndrome, a rare hereditary liver condition that causes brown pigmentation in liver cells, caused by a substance similar to melanin. Among its symptoms, pain and fatigue. And who says melanin says pigmentation, says darker eyes! If you have black or brown eyes, rest assured, you don’t just have flaws. THE reaction time people with dark eyes would be faster than those of people with light eyes, which could characterize an intelligence that is sometimes above average.

In addition to eye color, melanin plays a role in the connections between brain cells. In a study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differencesresearchers emphasize that the level of melanin in the brain allows this organ to work more efficiently. “This apparent advantage in processing speed may also explain why the reaction times of people with brown eyes are faster than those of people with blue eyes, and why they are generally better at throwing a Frisbee at a target and at hitting a ball with a racket »according to experiments published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills and reported by the Daily Mail.

Another surprising fact: melanin may impact alcoholism, making people with dark eyes more at risk of developing an addiction. This finding was made by psychologists at Georgia State University, in the United States, after surveying more than 12,000 participants. The researchers then found that people with light eyes consumed much more alcohol than those with dark eyes but that they resisted it more easily.

Sources :

  • Associations between iris characteristics and personality in adulthood, Mats Larsson, Nancy L Pedersen, Håkan Stattin : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17343974/
  • Can’t hold a drink or cope with pain? Blame the colour of your eyes, DailyMail, 2014
  • Eye color predicts alcohol use in two archival samples, Personality and Individual Difference31, 535–539, Bassett, J. F., & Dabbs, J. M.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGD1dEvoUHk