Nearly 6 in 10 Koreans associate blood type with personality

Almost 6 in 10 Koreans believe in the correlation of blood types — A, B, O or AB — and personalities, a survey showed Friday.

In a Gallup Korea poll of 1,501 adults aged 19 and over, approximately 57 percent of respondents support the concept of the blood type personality theory, a pseudoscientific notion suggesting that blood types can predict one’s personality and temperament.

In terms of preferences for a certain blood type, 49 percent of the respondents favored type O blood, followed by 14 percent choosing type A blood and 12 percent choosing type B. Type AB blood accounted for the remaining 6 percent.

In South Korea, popular stereotypes associate people with type O blood with being confident and sociable, occasionally perceived as overly passionate. Type A individuals are often seen as timid, yet considerate and diligent, while type B individuals are considered straightforward and blunt, but are sometimes stereotyped as cold-hearted and stubborn. People with type AB blood are typically thought to be logical and critical, but stereotyped as egotistical and even psychotic.

Of those who link blood types to personalities, 36 percent preferred to consider their future partner’s blood type, while 64 percent did not consider it a relevant factor.

Thirty-four percent of the participants in the poll had type A blood, with 28 percent having type O blood and 26 percent having type B blood. The lowest percentage had type AB blood at 11 percent.