7 Revealing Traits of An Honest Person

There are many qualities that society, in general, value very highly in people. Selflessness, perseverance, respect, commitment, loyalty, amongst others. Each one of these qualities are extremely important for the development of society. But it can be argued that the most important and sough after quality is honesty. You might think that honest people can be found at every turn on the street, but studies have shown that 40% of adults lie at least once a day (Brainy Dose, 2020). And although most of these account for small, white lies, it still counts as dishonest behaviour. This makes honest people that much rarer, and valuable. So, in this article, I will be talking about 7 revealing traits that honest people have.

You have strong beliefs

How strongly do you defend your beliefs, even when these are part of a minority? Standing by your beliefs and not being afraid to share them with others are traits that you have as an honest person. You are not afraid to go against the trend, and you will not change what your opinion is simply because other people think differently (Outlandisher, 2020). A common example can be seen in interviews, where you can see two types of people. The first type consists of people who say that the job is ideal for them because it fits their skills and experience, even when it does not. The second type would be the honest people who admits their shortcomings and address how the job does not align with their beliefs. If you feel like you are the second type, then you are more likely than not, an honest person.

You are thick-skinned

How well do you handle criticism from others? Are you someone who will feel down after being criticised once? For this point, defining “thick-skinned” is important. Thick-skinned refers to a person who is insensitive or hardened to criticism, reproach, rebuff, etc. (Dictionary, 2020). As an honest person, you will often tell people the things as they are. And of course, people who don’t like what they hear will get defensive and come back at you with insults or what not (Kim, 2015). This is why honest people tend to be thick-skinned, to prevent being affected by other people’s defensive responses.

You have a calm and consistent voice tone

Have you ever noticed someone constantly raising their voice tone throughout a conversation? This is a dead giveaway that someone is lying. As an honest person, you will maintain a calm and consistent voice tone when talking with others (Power of Positivity, 2020). This is because you’re not afraid of what people might ask you, even when they are trying to accuse you. You reply calmly while maintaining a consistent voice tone because you don’t have anything to hide. As a point of comparison, people who lie and raise their voice tones as they talk do so because they use their voices as a defensive mechanism for when people catch them lying.

You don’t care about popularity

How much importance do you place on other people’s opinion of you? If your answer is not much, then this might one of your personality traits as an honest person. You are not interested in being admired as the smartest, or most attractive, or most interesting, because you know that this is probably not true (Outlandisher, 2020). You do not wish to waste your time and energy convincing people of things like that. Similarly, whenever you do good deeds, you do them because you want to help. After all, doing good deeds only to become more popular can be seen as fake, and completely goes against your beliefs.

You can come across as rude

Are you someone who is not afraid to tell the truth to people, even if it will hurt them? As an honest person, one of your main traits is that you would rather tell someone a hurtful truth than a pleasant lie. Because of this, and considering that, again, some people don’t like the reality of things, you might come across as a rude person who does not care about other people’s feelings (Brainy Dose, 2020). But in the end, even when people think that you’re rude, remember that you do not have ill intent, you’re just being honest with them, and most of the times, people will come across and acknowledge that.

You have close, meaningful relationships

How easy do you find building meaningful and strong relationships? As an honest person, you will find yourself surrounded by close friends. After all, a strong and lasting relationship bases itself on trust and honesty. Let me put it like this, would you rather be a close friend of someone who gossips behind your back, or someone who confronts you when there is a problem? You will most likely prefer someone who is open and honest about problems, and most people will have the same preference towards honest people (Outlandisher, 2020). This is why you’re able to form close and meaningful relationships.

Your movements are natural

Sometimes the most obvious signs that people can give are not verbal. Have you ever talked with someone whose body movement did not match what they were saying? Similar to how you talk with a calm and consistent voice tone, you also move your body in a relaxed and natural manner. Natural movements are obvious signals that you are not afraid of getting exposed or that you have nothing to hide. On the other hand, someone who is lying will usually have stiffer, and more unnatural movements (Power of Positivity, 2020). So, feeling completely relaxed when talking, and having your body language show that, is one of the traits of an honest person.

To conclude, and as mentioned above, honest people are harder to come across as you might think. But if you, or one of the friends you know, have the traits that have been described in this article, you can move forward knowing yourself better, as well as being able to tell honest people surrounding you apart from people who will lie to you.

References

Brainy Dose, 2020. 7 Revealing Traits Of An Honest Person. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PORGoPxD20Y> [Accessed 16 December 2020].

Dictionary, 2020. Thick-Skinned. [online] Dictionary. Available at: <https://www.dictionary.com/browse/thick-skinned> [Accessed 16 December 2020].

Kim, L., 2015. 5 Qualities Of Honest Individuals. [online] Inc. Available at: <https://www.inc.com/larry-kim/5-qualities-of-honest-individuals.html> [Accessed 16 December 2020].

Outlandisher, 2020. 7 Revealing Traits Of An Honest Person. [online] Outlandisher. Available at: <https://www.outlandisher.com/7-revealing-traits-of-an-honest-person/> [Accessed 16 December 2020].

Power of Positivity, 2020. 12 Traits Of A Genuinely Honest Person. [online] Power of Positivity. Available at: <https://www.powerofpositivity.com/honest-person-traits-behaviors/> [Accessed 16 December 2020].