What Does Your Computer Reveal About You?

Every time you use the computer, you may be unconsciously saying something about yourself. According to a study into desktop psychology by Windows Vista, your habits may be revealed simply by the way you customize your desktop icons and background. For example, if you have desktop icons strewn all over your desktop, then it’s likely you are disorganized and tend to be unfocused. If you have plain blue wallpaper, you may be the type of person who keeps his/her personal life private.

“Our desktops are our personal space and as such provide a fairly accurate personality description of an individual,” says Donna Dawson, a personality and behavior psychologist.

Other personality indicators include:

• Even icons on each side – values balance and proportion and tends to keep a cool head in tricky situations. Likely to be organized and dislike clutter.
• Desktop with many rows of icons – reflects a person who likes to feel in control and on top of their life, while at the same time revealing a tendency to be slightly disorganized.
• Personal photos as wallpaper – indicates the kind of person you are and what priorities you have. Often a parent will have a photograph of their child, or a keen traveler will have a photo of an exotic location. Photos of friends show popularity, which is useful in work environments where you need good people skills.
• Trophy photos as wallpaper – can suggest a big ego and someone who revels in their past successes.

It’s probably no surprise that I’m an “even icons on each side” kind of gal. I also tend to stick with the standard wallpaper screens — at work it’s because I don’t want pictures of my family or friends appearing when I need to present to a customer or when I’m sharing my desktop via a quick webconference. I think it’s a bit unprofessional, but maybe it’s really because I like to keep my private life private…hmm, I’ll have to think about that one. I do use the screen saver that displays personal photos, so maybe I’m a mixture of the two.