According to researchers at the Spanish Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, who put more than 500 people into hundreds of different social situations where they either had to work together or conflict with other people, there are only four different types of personalities in the world.
They are: optimistic, pessimistic, trusting or envious.
In the experiment, each of these were defined through a metaphor involving hunting. So here's the scenario, and it's going to sound like one of those pensive things you only debate when you're about two bottles of red wine down and suddenly fancy yourself as someone who can answer life's big questions.
The scenario is: two people can hunt for deer together, but alone they're only able to catch rabbits. Which would they rather do they do?
EnviousAn envious person would decide to hunt for rabbits because it would at least make them equal to the other hunter, if not better.
OptimistOptimists would choose to search for deer - because working together is the best option for both hunters.
PessimistA pessimist person would rather hunt out rabbits because they think they're more likely to catch at least something that way, even if it is a lot smaller.
TrustingTrusting personalities would rather co-operate, so would choose to hunt deer with the other person.
And can you guess which one most of us fall into? Yup, we're weak willed, many of us humans, and tend to envy what our mates have got rather than being happy with our own lot.
30% of respondents in the study were identified as 'envious' - meaning their main goal was to triumph and be better than others, because they feel uncomfortable is someone else has something they've not got.
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