New European research suggests that the Harry Potter character you most identify with could say something about your personality, and make it possible for psychologists to predict your behavior.
Carried out by psychologists at South Ural State University, Russia, the small-scale study recruited 70 Russian fans of the Harry Potter movies aged 19 to 23.
The researchers selected 14 of the movies’ characters and asked participants to report which one they identified with most, with identification defined as feeling compassion for the character while watching the movie.
The results showed that the majority of the participants identified themselves with Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. These people, according to the psychologists, identify themselves as creators, but don’t feel that they are in demand, or know how to apply their creative capabilities.
Those who identify with Professor Dumbledore want to see themselves as creators capable of helping the others in difficult situations, and according to the psychologists, will subconsciously build their life around the ideals of goodness and sacrifice in order to achieve a common goal.
Similarly, those who identify with Professor McGonagall want to act as saviors who come to someone’s aid in critical situations.
But not all identified with the more positive characters. Those who identify with Dolores Umbridge are able to ignore the ethical side of a matter, while those who associate themselves with the dark Lord Voldemort have big ambitions, strive for power, and will make decisions based on their desire to achieve high status at any cost.
“If a child or a teenager associates himself with a negative character, open discussion becomes crucially important. A parent can help emphasize certain qualities of the characters in a certain pattern. For example, even the main negative character, Voldemort, was well-educated and surely possessed leader’s qualities. And the goals for achieving of which such qualities are to be targeted, get mainly determined by parents, considering they take active part in their children’s life,” said Vyacheslav Kozlov, associate professor of the SUSU Department of Developmental Psychology and Age Related Counseling.
Ramil Garifullin, an associate professor of Kazan Federal University’s Institute of Psychology and Education, said that the method applied in the study is widely used in practical application. “This is a good projection technique, frequently used by psychologists. This isn’t a strictly scientific method, nevertheless it is used as a supplementary one.” JB
RELATED STORIES:
Top iOS Apps: ‘Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery’, ‘Love Balls’
‘Harry Potter: A History of Magic’ goes online