Last week we quizzed our readers on traits that differed between 23andMe customers who use Macs versus those who use Windows. Congratulations to Brenda, the winner of the quiz! She got all three answers correct and will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. So what were the correct answers? Read on…
Which of these personality traits is most strongly linked with being a Mac user? Openness.
If you had a tough time choosing which of these traits was most associated with being a Mac user, that’s totally understandable. All of them were. Yep, that’s right. Mac users were significantly more extraverted, assertive, full of ideas, and aesthetically-oriented, but where they most differed was on openness. Openness is a one of the so-called “Big Five” personality traits (five aspects of personality thought to be found across all human cultures), and it’s linked with being curious, adventurous, unconventional, intellectual, and artistic. Does this confirm the stereotype, or just underscore the value of targeted marketing campaigns? We’ll let you decide.
Which is NOT true of Mac versus Windows users? About 40% of men are Mac users, but only 29% of women.
Actually, 39% of men are Mac users, and 38% percent of women. Definitely not a big difference! Of course, this means that all the other answers are true: Mac users were more likely to report being atheist or agnostic, more likely to drink alcohol, less likely to say they were exclusively attracted to the opposite sex, and more likely to have had braces. We thought the braces finding might be related to income, but Mac users were still significantly more likely to have had braces when we controlled for household income and childhood socioeconomic status.
Which of these is true? All of the above are true.
Mac users had significantly higher incomes, were more likely to have had mono (the so-called kissing disease), more likely to have taken medication to prevent malaria (perhaps a sign of adventurousness), and less likely to be politically conservative.
Do these differences jive with the stereotypes of Mac and Windows users? Leave a comment below and let us know!
