Whether you just describe what you ate for breakfast or share an informative news story on social media could be related to your personality type, a new study has found.

A group of UK researchers have examined whether someone’s personality is reflected in what they choose to post on social media.

They tested more than 550 people for the “big five” traits – extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness – and how those were linked to the way they behaved on Facebook.

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At least one of the research team members said they were inspired to do the study by someone who kept popping up on their news feed.

“Greater awareness of how one’s status updates might be perceived by friends could help people to avoid topics that annoy more than they entertain,” Brunel University researcher Tara Marshall and her colleagues wrote in their findings, published in the Personality and Individual Differences journal.

“It is important to understand why people write about certain topics on Facebook insofar as the response they receive may be socially rewarding or exclusionary.”

What do you post?

The results revealed that extraverts were more frequently updating about their social activities and everyday life, which was motivated by their use of Facebook to communicate and connect with others.

People high in openness were more likely to update about intellectual topics, consistent with their use of Facebook for sharing information.

“People high in openness, then, may write updates about current events, research, or their political views for the purpose of sharing impersonal information rather than for socialising,” the researchers said.

Participants who were low in self-esteem were more likely to update about romantic partners.

“Considering that people with low self-esteem tend to be more chronically fearful of losing a romantic partner, people are more likely to post relationship-relevant information on Facebook on days when they feel insecure,” the group said.

Those who were high in conscientiousness were more likely to update about their children.

“Conscientious individuals may update about their children for purposes other than communicating with their friends,” they said.

“Perhaps such updates reflect an indirect form of competitive parenting.”

Narcissists’ use of Facebook for attention-seeking and validation explained their greater likelihood of updating about their accomplishments and their diet and exercise routine. Their tendency to update about their accomplishments explained the greater number of likes and comments that they reported receiving to their updates.

“Narcissism rather than self-esteem was associated with receiving a greater number of likes and comments to one’s updates,” the researchers said.

“Thus, narcissists’ publicising of their achievements appeared to be positively reinforced by the attention and validation they crave.”