Moviegoer Mindset (or Statistical Mumbo Jumbo)

This week, Mindset Media (www.mindset-media.com) released a Mindset Profile(TM) of people who go to the movies regularly. The online ad network generated their statistics from a recent study conducted using Nielsen's Online panel.

The study defines people who go to the movies "regularly" as those who see three or more movies each month and plan what movie they are going to see in advance. The results of the study suggest that four Mindsets distinguished regular movie goers from the general population:

• 58 percent more likely to be an Assertiveness 5
• 99 percent more likely to be a Dynamism 5
• 38 percent more likely to be an Optimism 5
• 76 percent more likely to be a Creativity 5

The results are interesting, if dubious. In their press release, the company states:

"[I]f you see more than three movies a month, you are more likely to be highly optimistic, creative, or assertive."

It's the "or" that gets me. Pick any four personality traits and any group of people. I would be willing to bet that every person in that group falls into one of those categories. If I went to a football game, I'll bet I could find at good percentage of the people who were: alcoholic, greedy, driving a Ford, OR suffering from premature hair loss. So what?

I especially like the company's definition of Dynamism. From their press release:

"Dynamism 5's (highly dynamic people) thrive on being where the action is. They see and do more in a typical day than many would dream of doing in a week, or even a month. They believe the only place to be is in the thick of it; never on the sidelines."

I find it more than a little amusing that anyone would categorize moviegoers as wanting to be "where the action is." Movies are by their nature a passive form of entertainment. People who go out to movies are certainly more likely to be "dynamic" than people who stay home to watch DVDs, but I don't think the movie has anything to do with it. People who go to the mall are more dynamic than me.

Say what you want about moviegoers as a whole, I don't think it matters. We're all just people who (like every other group) are likely to have some things in common. I am reminded of those immortal words from John Hughes' The Breakfast Club:

"You see us as you want to see us. In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question?"