essay

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Article Review #1 Crysel, Laura C., Corey L. Cook, Tatiana Orozco Shember, and Gregory D. Webster. ​“​Harry

Potter​ and the Measures of Personality: Extraverted Gryffindors, Agreeable Hufflepuffs, Clever Ravenclaws, and Manipulative Slytherins.” ​Personality and Individual Differences​, vol. 83, 21 Apr. 2015, pp. 174–179., doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.04.016.

SUMMARIZE: ​This is an article that explores the houses which people are sorted into in

Harry Potter​. The researchers asked a variety of people about their Hogwarts houses and the characteristics thereof, and then had the participants take personality tests to discover if their personalities matched up with the characteristics of the house that they were sorted into. Their findings were surprisingly conflicted: “We expected—but did not find—that those in Gryffindor (known for bravery) would be higher in extraversion and openness, and that Hufflepuffs (known for loyalty) would be higher on need to belong” (Crysel, et. al. 174). While Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins did fit the expectations, Gryffindors didn’t. The researchers concluded that participants views of themselves and which house they wanted to be in influenced the outcomes.

EVALUATE: ​As a person who studies humanities rather than science, this article was difficult for me to get through in places because the study results were reported using typical scientific statistical modes from what I understand. The giant table of numbers in the methods section was particularly difficult to decipher. This led me to skip to the results section where their conclusions were written out in a more comprehensible manner. But, the scientific jargon did lead me to believe that the researchers knew what they were talking about. They also built up my trust in their conclusions by taking the time to explain the limitations of the study that they conducted. Overall, it was a very interesting read because of my interest in the topic, although it seems like a topic more suited to a popular publication than a scholarly journal such as this one.

CONNECT:​As a fan of the ​Harry Potter ​series myself, this article was interesting to think about. I have a lot of friends who put great stock into which house people fall into. In fact, sorting new people is a bit of a group activity for us. It surprised me that professionals in the field of psychology thought that the fictional houses were interesting enough to study scientifically; it’s validating to see that they did find worth in the houses as they do seem to have a connection to the way that people view themselves and their actual personality traits:

Although based on a work of fiction, the quiz reflects at least some of the established traits examined by personality psychologists. Specifically, Hufflepuff participants were higher in agreeableness, Ravenclaw participants were higher in need for cognition, and Slytherin participants were higher in all three Dark Triad traits. (Crysel, et. al. 178)

This idea that the houses are actually based on psychology was amazing to me, since I don’t believe J.K. Rowling, the author of ​Harry Potter​ has any training in the area, and I had considered the houses completely made up and just something for fun. I love this idea that fiction has a grounding in real life, that’s why I’ve always loved studying literature.

APA STYLE Crysel, L. C., Cook, C. L., Shember, T. O., & Webster, G. D. (2015). ​Harry Potter ​and the

measures of personality: Extraverted Gryffindors, agreeable Hufflepuffs, clever Ravenclaws, and manipulative Slytherins. ​Personality and Individual Differences,​ ​83​, 174-179. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.04.016.

Their findings were surprisingly conflicted: “We expected—but did not find—that those in Gryffindor (known for bravery) would be higher in extraversion and openness, and that Hufflepuffs (known for loyalty) would be higher on need to belong” (Crysel, et. al., 2015, p. 174).

CHICAGO STYLE Crysel, Laura C., Corey L. Cook, Tatiana Orozco Shember, and Gregory D. Webster. "Harry

Potter and the Measures of Personality: Extraverted Gryffindors, Agreeable Hufflepuffs, Clever Ravenclaws, and Manipulative Slytherins." ​Personality and Individual Differences​ 83 (April 21, 2015): 174-79. Accessed January 9, 2019. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.04.016.

Their findings were surprisingly conflicted: “We expected—but did not find—that those in Gryffindor (known for bravery) would be higher in extraversion and openness, and that Hufflepuffs (known for loyalty) would be higher on need to belong”. 1

1 Laura C. Crysel et al., "Harry Potter and the Measures of Personality: Extraverted Gryffindors, Agreeable Hufflepuffs, Clever Ravenclaws, and Manipulative Slytherins," ​Personality and Individual Differences​ 83 (April 21, 2015): 174, accessed January 9, 2019, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.04.016.