What our subconscious tells us while we sleep

Our gestures, gait, posture, and even sleeping positions can provide information about our personality traits. Psychologists in Great Britain have identified six predominant sleeping positions that are linked to certain personality characteristics.

While these psychologists link the positions we assume during sleep to an expression of the unconscious, I personally understand them as an expression of who we are, of our identity and our peculiarities. It’s very unlikely that a shy and introverted person would sleep with their arms and hands outstretched, taking full possession of the bed, because we express our personality traits through our bodies and bodily movements.

In one way or another, and while I don’t subscribe to trait theory to explain personality – ideas that, moreover, date back to practically the very beginnings of psychology – it’s always interesting to learn about the studies being conducted in the field of psychological science. Thus, it never hurts to check whether our personality traits truly align with these studies.

1. Fetal position (arms and legs curled up): This is the most common position, present in 41% of people and twice as common in women as in men. It represents a person who appears uncompromising but is essentially very sensitive and emotional.
2. Trunk position (sideways with arms and legs stretched out): This is present in 15% of people and indicates an extroverted, confident and somewhat naive personality.
3. The supplicant position (lying on its side with legs outstretched and arms extended in front): This position is observed in 13% of people and reveals an extroverted but distrustful personality. It indicates someone who takes a long time to make decisions but is very consistent in them.
4. Soldier’s position (lying horizontally on the back with arms straight at the sides of the body): present in 8% of people, it indicates a reserved, calm personality, highly averse to commotion and uproar. This person sets high standards for themselves and those around them.
5. The freefall position (horizontal on the abdomen with the hands on both sides of the head, turned to one side): is found in 7% of people and shows an arrogant, elitist personality, hypersensitive to criticism and who does not enjoy extreme situations.
6. The starfish position (lying on your back with legs and arms outstretched): This position is observed in about 5% of people and indicates a humble and simple personality. They are excellent friends, always willing to help, and very good listeners.

Interestingly, the experiment reported that only 5% of people like to change their sleeping position each night. It seems we’re more set in our ways when we sleep than when we’re awake.

Furthermore, for those interested in delving deeper, studies have also been conducted on the positions we assume when sleeping with a partner. Everything indicates that the position adopted can reflect the state of the romantic relationship, although I found it particularly curious that at the beginning of a relationship, each person abandons their preferred position to please the other; subsequently, most couples return to their previous positions.

Reference: 

(2003) Sleep position gives personality clue. In: BBC News.