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- Some commonly used types of personality tests include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and the HEXACO Personality Inventory.
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Personality Tests | Psychology Today. Reviewed by Psychology Today Staff. The psychology of personality promises to help people better understand themselves and those they know in...
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- Personality Traits
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- History of Personality Tests
- Types of Personality Tests
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- Tips for Taking a Personality Test
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A personality test is a tool used to assess human personality. Personality testing and assessment refer to techniques designed to measure the characteristic patterns of traits that people exhibit across various situations.
Personality tests can be used to help clarify a clinical diagnosis, guide therapeutic interventions, and help predict how people may respond in different situations.
Personality is something that we informally assess and describe every day. When we talk about ourselves and others, we frequently refer to different characteristics of an individual's personality. For example, we might refer to someone as adventurous, kind, or moody. Psychologists do much the same thing when they assess personality but on a more systematic and scientific level.
One of the earliest forms of personality testing, known as phrenology, emerged during the late 18th century and was popularized during the 19th century. This approach involved the measurement of bumps on the human skull, which were then attributed to specific personality characteristics.
Later, psychologists began attempting to determine how many different personality traits there were. Gordon Allport, for example, proposed that there were more than 4,000. Psychologist Raymond Cattell used a statistical technique known as factor analysis to whittle this list down to 16 different personality factors, while Hans Eysenck narrowed the list down to just three.
One of the most popular approaches to personality today is known as the Big Five theory of personality. This theory suggests that personality is composed of five broad dimensions: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness.
Today, a wide variety of personality tests have become popular and are often based upon specific theories of systems of personality. Commonly used personality tests include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the HEXACO Personality Inventory, and the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire.
How do personality tests work? Personality testing is designed to elicit responses from participants about their behaviors, preferences, emotional responses, interactions, and motivations in order to evaluate personality characteristics and patterns.
There are two basic types of personality tests: self-report inventories and projective tests:
•Self-report inventories involve having test-takers read questions and then rate how well the question or statement applies to them. One of the most common self-report inventories is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI).
•Projective tests involve presenting the test-taker with a vague scene, object, or scenario and then asking them to give their interpretation of the test item. One well-known example of a projective test is the Rorschach Inkblot Test.
The greatest benefit of self-report inventories is that they can be standardized and use established norms. Self-inventories are also relatively easy to administer and have much higher reliability and validity than projective tests. Projective tests, on the other hand, are most often used in psychotherapy settings and allow therapists to quickly gather a great deal of information about a client.
For example, a therapist can look not only at a person's response to a particular test item, but they can also take into account other qualitative information such as tone of voice and body language. All of this can be explored in greater depth as people progress through therapy sessions.
There are a number of reasons why a person might take a personality test. Personality tests are administered for a number of different purposes, including:
•Assessing theories
•Evaluating the effectiveness of therapy
•Diagnosing psychological problems
•Looking at changes in personality
•Screening job candidates
Personality tests can be useful for a number of reasons. These tests can help you learn more about yourself and better understand both your strengths and weaknesses. And while all personality tests are different, learning that you might be high on a specific trait can help you gain greater insight into your own behavioral patterns.
For example, your results on a personality test might indicate that you rate high on the personality trait of introversion. This result suggests that you have to expend energy in social situations, so you need to find time alone to recharge your energy. Knowing that you have this tendency can help you recognize when you are getting drained from socializing and set aside quiet moments to regain your equilibrium.
There is no way to prepare for a personality test, but there are some things that you can do to make sure that your results are the best reflection of your personality:
•Be honest. Don't try to present an "ideal" version of yourself. Instead, try to just answer in a way that reflects who you are and how you feel.
•Read the instructions. Your results might not be an accurate reflection of you if you don't understand the guidelines or questions.
•Don't try to "beat the test." Avoid trying to guess what you think might be seen as the "ideal" answer. Just respond honestly.
As you start looking at all of the different personality assessments that are available, you will probably notice one thing quite quickly: There are a lot of "informal" tests out there! Just a simple online search will turn up an enormous range of quizzes and tests designed to tell you something about your personality.
The vast majority of quizzes that you'll encounter online are just for fun. They can be entertaining and they might even give you a little insight into your personality, but they are in no way formal, scientific assessments of personality.
Deception Is Possible
One of the biggest disadvantages of self-report inventories is that it is possible for people to engage in deception when answering questions. Even though techniques can be used to detect deception, people can still successfully provide false answers often in an effort to "fake good" or appear more socially acceptable and desirable.
Introspection Is Needed
Another potential problem is that people are not always good at accurately describing their own behavior. People tend to overestimate certain tendencies (especially ones that are viewed as socially desirable) while underestimating other characteristics. This can have a serious impact on the accuracy of a personality test.
Tests Can Be Long
Self-report personality tests can also be quite long, in some cases taking several hours to complete. Not surprisingly, respondents can quickly become bored and frustrated. When this happens, test-takers will often answer questions as quickly as possible, often without even reading the test items.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an assessment of personality based on questions about a person’s preferences in four domains: focusing outward or inward; attending to sensory...
- The MBTI’s type for any one individual is often not consistent over time: People may take the test on multiple occasions and receive different pers...
- Forced choice fails to capture the dimensional nature of personality. The MBTI’s scoring format places individuals into one of each pair of categor...
- The notion that personality is completely fixed from birth isn’t accurate, and it can be valuable to possess flexibility in how people view themsel...
- The MBTI has been used in an array of domains. Companies have used it to hire and organize employees. Career advisors have used it to recommend whi...
- Despite its limits as a valid personality assessment, the Myers-Briggs can be a valuable tool for self-reflection. Taking a fun personality test ca...
- People are endlessly fascinated by personality tests. This may be because people seek hidden information about themselves, wanting to understand an...
- The Myers-Briggs often delivers results that aren’t entirely reliable—so why do people trust them? One reason for this illusion of accuracy is conf...
- The MBTI is perhaps the most well-known, but other popular personality tests include the Enneagram, which assigns personality descriptions based on...
- Most personality psychologists use tests that measure the Big Five personality traits: extraversion, agreeableness , conscientiousness, emotional s...
- ISTJ – The Logistician. These individuals tend to be serious, matter-of-fact, and reserved. They appreciate order and organization and pay a great deal of attention to detail.
- ISFJ – The Defender. These individuals are friendly, responsible, and reserved. They are service and work-oriented, committing to meeting their obligations and duties.
- INFJ – The Advocate. People with this personality type are serious, logical and hardworking. They are also compassionate, conscientious, and reserved. They value close, deep connections and are sensitive to the needs of others, but also need time and space alone to recharge.
- INTJ The Architect. These people are highly independent, self-confident and prefer to work alone. They are analytical, creative, logical, and driven. They place an emphasis on logic and fact rather than emotion and can be viewed as perfectionist.
3 days ago · Personality assessment, the measurement of personal characteristics. Assessment is an end result of gathering information intended to advance psychological theory and research and to increase the probability that wise decisions will be made in applied settings.
2 days ago · It probably didn’t take you long to rate yourself on each of these items given how direct they are. These 20 items fall by groupings of four into the five major factors that the UA team ...
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Personality tests are techniques designed to measure one’s personality. They are used to diagnose psychological problems and screen candidates for college and employment. There are two types of personality tests: self-report inventories and projective tests. The MMPI is one of the most common self-report inventories.
