What your degree says about your personality

The findings could be useful for school leavers considering their tertiary options or those wanting to change careers. Photo / iStock

Ever wondered if you're in the wrong career? Or what you'd study if you were to go back to uni?

A new study could help people figure out the best job for their personality, as it reveals which traits are most prominent among students in certain degrees and tertiary courses.

The study, conducted by a psychologist at the University of Denmark, looked at the correlation between undergraduate degree subjects and the "Big 5" personality traits: neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

According to the findings, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences those who study the likes of law, economics and business are selfish, while those who pursue more arts based degrees are moody and prone to anxiety.

When it came to extroverts, these types are more likely found to have studied political science, economics and law. Premedical students also exhibited high traits of extroversion.

Arts, humanities and psychology students on average scored higher than those in other courses in their "openness to experience".

And when looking into trustworthiness and selflessness, those studying law, business and economics did not score well, suggesting they're more inclined to be selfish.

The paper's researcher, Dr Anna Vedel, reviewed 12 studies profiling over 13,300 students.

She said the findings could be useful for school leavers considering their tertiary options.

Speaking to MailOnline, she said: "I'm not arguing that these results should play a major role in either guidance or selection, but it might provide some inspiration for students that are in doubt about study choices and want to make a choice based on more than abilities, for example."

She also suggested it may help teachers to better understand their students and tailor teaching to them.

- nzherald.co.nz