This episode of DNews is brought to you by “How We Got To Now” with Steven Johnson
- Tune in Wednesday October 22 at 9/8c on PBS.
Can the season you were born in actually affect your personality?
A new study says yes!
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and we’ve done a few episodes before on things like
birth order, and how it affects your personality - but what about the time of year you were
born?
It sounds kinda like pseudo-astrology - but according to a new study, the particular season
you were born in can have a significant impact on your risk of developing mood disorders.
Previous biochemical studies have effectively demonstrated that your birth season has an
effect on certain neurotransmitters - specifically, dopamine and serotonin - and those effects
continue to be detectable throughout your adult life.
So armed with that information, a team of researchers from Hungary decided to look at
400 subjects, and match their birth season to their personality types later in life.
Sure enough, they noticed some interesting and statistically significant trends:
People who are born in the winter, for example, tend to be less irritable than those born
in other seasons.
But they’re also more prone to depressive temperaments, than adults who were born in
autumn.
People with hyperthymic temperaments – which is a tendency to be excessively positive - were
also significantly higher in people born during spring and summer.
Yet summer births are more likely to experience rapid frequent mood swings that waver between
sad and cheerful.
Now obviously, being irritable or depressive doesn’t necessarily indicate that something’s
medically wrong with you - but consistent negative temperaments can lead to mood disorders
over time.
The next step is figuring out whether there ARE distinct genetic markers related to someone’s
birth season and their risk of developing a mood disorder.
For now, though - researchers say their most intriguing finding - was that people born
in the summer tend to be the most excessively positive of the bunch.
Of course, every study has its outliers - and this was by no means an enormous sample size
of people.
Still though, what would you guys say about this?
Does your birth season match up with what’s presented here?
Feel free to let us know in the comments below.
Otherwise, thanks for watching!