It’s true! Researchers in Australia included the study of personality, as well as environment and genetics, in a four-year study of the factors involved with myopia. Also called nearsightedness or short-sightedness, people with myopia have trouble seeing things at a distance.

One in four Australians is affected by this vision problem, which usually requires corrective lenses in order to see clearly enough to conduct many daily activities. The common myth is that geeks wear glasses so many people, of all ages, who need them are reluctant to use them.

Researchers from two departments - the Centre for Eye Research Australia and the Australian Twin Registry - at the University of Melbourne teamed up to study 633 twins and 278 family members who are not twins. Psychologists from the university’s School of Behavioural Science administered personality tests, which assessed five major personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, openness, and neuroticism).

No geeky behaviors were linked specifically to the myopic study participants. In fact, the myopic study participants were linked to a small but significant tendency toward agreeableness and no link to introversion at all.

Speaking on behalf of the research team, Assistant Professor Paul Baird urges people to wear glasses when needed and not to refuse or delay wearing them because of faulty personality implications.

The full details of the study, the largest one ever conducted which pairs myopia and personality, can be found in the March issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.