“Just follow your heart.”

“Man, use your head!”

It’s not uncommon to use the words “heart” and “head” in a metaphorical sense, right?

Usually, when we hear references to heart and head in figures of speech, we think that the heart represents our emotions and the head our reasoning.

So, where is your true self located? Your heart or head?

Well, how do you make decisions? By the way you feel about something, or by reasoning it out logically?

This concept of whether a person makes decisions based on emotions or on logic has actually been explored in several studies. The results were quite interesting.

What makes you a heart or head person?

According to research, a “heart person” will most likely

• define themselves as having emotional and interpersonal warmth.
• rely on their feelings to make a moral decision.
• find it important to have close interpersonal relationships and communication.
• place great value on belonging to specific social groups.
• suffer from negative emotions when under stress.

While a “head person” will most likely

• define themselves as being more level-headed and independent.
• consider matters logically and rationally before making moral decisions.
• obtain higher academic averages in school and higher scores in tests of general knowledge.
• associate with people of higher intellect.
• love an intellectual challenge.

Of course, each personality type – heart or head – has its strengths and weaknesses. A heart person might be more agreeable and social, but get much more stressed when under pressure. A head person might be smarter and reasonable, but tend to isolate himself in social settings and come off as aloof.

What difference does it make if you’re a heart or head person?

Well, there may be certain implications when it comes to all sorts of personal interests and opinions. Researchers found, for example, that a heart person would be more likely to support stricter abortion laws. When compared to a head person, a heart person might determine that death occurs when the heart stops beating, instead of when the brain stops functioning. These differences in opinion can play into how laws might be shaped.

A survey of U.S. college students also revealed that those identifying themselves as heart people were more likely to favor heart-disease charities, while those identifying themselves as head people were inclined towards brain-disease charities. This variation in interest can influence how much funds might go to specific research for different diseases.

Researchers also believe that whether you consider yourself to be a heart or head person might offer insight into many other areas of your life. For example: It can affect how you react to factually-based or emotional-based marketing ads. Heart or head association might play a role in how well you do in different occupations. Also, it may help with online dating profiles, assisting your search to find the most fitting partner possible.

Finally, and most interestingly, heart/head studies also found that our sense of self can be influenced. When students were asked to read a paragraph that was full of “me’s” and “I’s”, they saw themselves as more independent and promptly leaned toward identifying themselves as a head person. When other students were asked to read a paragraph full of “we’s” and “ours”, they began to see themselves as more socially interconnected and therefore, leaned more toward identifying themselves as a heart person.

So, what if you don’t fit into either category?

While research results are interesting to contemplate, it stands to reason that only limited insight can be gleaned from personality typing, considering that this kind of study information is often unreliable. After all, humans are very complex creatures. It’s pretty much impossible to put us all into neat little categories or boxes.