How We Map Information Behavior

BetweenUs maps patterns in how people process information and relate to difference. This isn't personality typing — it's behavioral tendency mapping.

What We Measure

Core Dimensions

Six primary dimensions capture how you engage with information:

  • Open — How easily new perspectives pass into your bubble
  • Closure — How quickly you seek resolution when facing uncertainty
  • Emotional — How strongly emotional language influences your response
  • Identity — How stable your sense of self feels when challenged
  • Breadth — How wide your information world tends to be
  • Reflective — How readily you update your views when encountering difference

Trust Anchor

Your trust anchor reflects where you ground certainty when evaluating what's true. This shapes what kinds of sources feel credible to you.

Common anchors include expertise, community wisdom, lived experience, and institutional authority. Most people use a mix, but tend to lean on one more than others.

Research Foundation

This model draws from decades of research across social psychology, cognitive science, and communication studies. Key constructs include:

Need for Cognitive Closure

Research on tolerance for ambiguity and the need for definitive answers when facing uncertainty (Kruglanski, Webster, et al.).

Openness to Experience

Work on intellectual curiosity, receptiveness to new ideas, and comfort with complexity (McCrae, Costa, et al.).

Emotional Regulation

Studies on how emotional arousal affects information processing and decision-making (Gross, John, et al.).

Source Credibility

Research on how people evaluate trustworthy sources and anchor certainty (Hovland, Metzger, et al.).

Belief Revision

Work on intellectual humility, perspective-taking, and the conditions under which people update beliefs (Leary, Hoyle, et al.).

This tool is designed for interpersonal insight, not clinical diagnosis.

Why Tendencies, Not Types

BetweenUs does not reduce you to a category. It maps behavioral tendencies — patterns that can shift based on context, stress, relationships, and growth.

Your shape reflects:

  • How you currently engage with information
  • Habits that have been reinforced over time
  • The influence of your social and informational environment

Research shows that connection tends to expand perspective. Engaging with diverse viewpoints in low-threat environments can shift these patterns. Your shape is not your identity — it's a snapshot of this moment.

Limitations & Ethics

This tool is designed for interpersonal understanding, not for selection, screening, or diagnosis. It should never be used to:

  • Make hiring or admissions decisions
  • Diagnose mental health conditions
  • Predict behavior in high-stakes situations
  • Label people as "better" or "worse" at dialogue

BetweenUs is a mirror, not a scorecard. Every shape has strengths and edges. The goal is awareness, not judgment.