Mac Users = Openness 5s

A recent study by Mindset Media suggests that Mac users are maybe not the sort of people you'd like to be stuck on a desert island with:

[from Is There a 'Mac' Mindset? 'Mac People' Found to be More Open and Superior Than Population at Large, According to Mindset Media Study]

According to Mindset Media, Mac enthusiasts descending on San Francisco in droves this week to see the latest Apple innovations are apt to have a lot in common with the open-minded, liberal population they will find there. The study, with a robust sample of 7,500 respondents, revealed that people who are highly open-minded or, in Mindset Media parlance, "Openness 5's", are 60 percent more likely than people in the general population to have purchased a Mac. These purchasers are also more liberal, less modest, and more assured of their own superiority than the population at large.

Mindset Media defines Openness 5's as those who seek rich, varied and novel experiences, believing that imagination and intellectual curiosity contribute to a life well lived. They are receptive to their own inner feelings and may feel both happiness and unhappiness more intensely than others.

I was asked about this press release by Diann Daniel at CIO.com (who is probably pissed that I am writing this up here. Sorry, Diann -- story is too good to pass up!).

I quoted David Pogue, who years ago stated that he was not a Mac bigot, but an elegance bigot. Bring on something with a better design, and I will switch, he said, more or less.

But the nature of the marketplace has led to a certain sort of person gravitating to Macs.

I dig the periodic chart look of the Mindset Media graphic. The open green rectangle is Openness.

Mindset Matters, originally uploaded by Stowe Boyd.

I am definitely an 'Openness 5', which is defined as the following collection of traits, along with a very strong preference for Macs:

• High Openness -- You are competitive and precise. You forgive and forget the failures of others less easily than others and may be prone to be righteous when opposed.
• Low Dogmatism -- You disdain so-called moral authorities, especially the conservative kind. You think that kids should be exposed to moral questions and allowed to draw their own conclusions.
• Low Modesty -- You believe you are an exceptional person. You may be considered conceited or arrogant by others.
• High Superiority -- You are an extraordinary person and are comfortable proclaiming your accomplishments from the mountain tops. You are no wallflower, preferring to direct others rather than be directed.
• High Perfectionism -- You want everything to be just so, not only because it pleases you but because the people put so much pressure on you to not make mistakes. Imperfections seem to glare at you, and even if others don't see them, just knowing about them stresses you out.

Well, at least I am not wishy-washy. And neither is David Pogue.