What in the World - Why are we obsessed with personality types and labels?

Download Why are we obsessed with personality types and labels?

Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you enjoy small talk with strangers or do you do everything you can to avoid catching their eye? Type A or Type B?

Right now the internet is obsessed with these labels. Personality types, birth charts, attachment styles, Myers Briggs, colour coding your aura.

These days the internet is full of tests that attempt to define who you are by answering questionnaires, but the reality is more complicated. We go through these trends with Claudia Hammond, a psychologist and BBC presenter.

Plus we hear from BBC colleagues in other parts of the world. Yuna Ku tells us the trends around personality types in South Korea and Makuochi Okafor in Nigeria explains how Igbo culture defines people’s characteristics according to four categories.

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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Video producer: Baldeep Chahal
Producers: Benita Barden, Julia Ross-Roy and Rio Rennalls
Editor: Emily Horler

Published on Thursday, 25th December 2025.

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