Personality traits and Big Data: ethical challenges arising from research conducted using the myPersonality dataset

Abstract

In a world where digital data is reshaping our understanding of human behavior, this study examined a pioneering initiative, the myPersonality project, to explore how personality assessment is carried out in the Big Data era. The Facebook myPersonality app, which employed the ipip scale, built a database containing information on more than six million Facebook users. This article analyzed 23 myPersonality-based publications to understand how personality is studied in the Big Data context. Researchers identified 13 lines of inquiry, such as personality itself and language, drawing on 73 social-media attributes and employing 52 methodological tools, from traditional statistical models to advanced algorithms. The study concludes that personality assessment has been automated to tailor products and services to individual characteristics, and that the intensive use of digital data raises ethical concerns, demanding reflection on the scientific and social responsibilities involved in handling such data.