"To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom."
-Socrates
Much had been said about knowing yourself first as being the key to success. Sun Tzu's Art of War also highlights how it is the first step to winning your battles. We learn a bit more about ourselves through our experiences everyday. The process of learning doesn't really end until we die. That in itself poses a difficulty, how much more if we were to get to know other people as well? The Art of War also made mention that this is step 2, know thy enemy. Aside from how long-winding this task is, the added difficulty of never really knowing what other people are thinking makes this close to impossible. The thought of other people are thinking the same way as you is a huge misconception. People share the same human emotions but our differences; in how we think, respond, interact, are as sure as night and day.
So how do you deal with these differences? Wouldn't it be great if there was a tool that could help you get to know yourself and even other people? Well, some tests say they could. I'm talking about personality type tests that will tell you who you are and who others could be. I've listed three of my favorites here. If you're encountering them for the first time, tell me your results below and how accurate they were for you. I'll be leaving links to the tests in this post. So, without further ado, let's get to them.
The MBTI
MBTI stands for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and it was developed by the mother daughter tandem Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs. Carl Jung, at that time, formulated a theory of psychological types which essentially states that much seemingly random variation in human behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment. The purpose of the duo was to make the insights of type theory accessible to individuals and groups.
According to the Myers & Briggs Foundation, they addressed the two related goals in the developments and application of the MBTI instrument:
The identification of basic preferences of each of the four dichotomies specified or implicit in Jung's theory.
and
The identification and description of the 16 distinctive personality types that result from the interactions among the preferences.
In short, they simplified Jung's theory by streamlining the psychological types to four dichotomies, each of the four pertaining to your preference of the four aspects:
Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).
Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).
Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).
Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).
So after you answer questions that will let you arrive to your preference, you get a four-letter code that will tell you your type. I've listed two of my favorite go-to websites below:
16personalitytests
Take the Test! 👉 https://www.16personalities.com/
This test claims that mastering your personality is the key to achieving balance, success and confidence. This also claims to let you understand others, get you a roadmap to your success. It does this by letting you answer 60 introspective and experiential statements. You have to answer using your degree of agreement with the statement from super disagree, disagree, somewhat disagree, neutral, somewhat agree, agree and super agree. This test also features a premium version, so if you're up for that, please share with us the premium features.
The results of this test is a unique personality type that is most likely who you are. It will describe to what extent you're leaning to the dichotomy. It features a lowdown of the following: your personality's general characteristics, strengths & weaknesses, romantic relationships, friendships, parenting styles, career paths, and workplace habits.
From this test, I've gotten to know that I was an ISFP, then I evolved to ENFP to ENTP to ENFJ. It's crazy how this changes for me. I've mentioned this in my previous blogpost Ten Facts About Me. Most of my friends have a fairly consistent result when it came to their types, so check yours out if you haven't already.
Truity
Take the Test! 👉 https://www.truity.com/test/type-finder-personality-test-new
In contrast to the above test, this test features 128 questions. The tone of the statements is also self-centric, more introspective compared to the one above. The last set of 23 questions is a slide type, where you will determine to what degree your preference leans to the left or to the right statement. Unlike the test above, the free version of this test gives you three personality types that are good matches to who you most likely are. Like the test above, it will describe to what extent you're leaning to the dichotomy.
I personally prefer this test compared to the previous because of the way the statements are stated. I can relate to the questions easier and I have no trouble in answering as well. To those who are curious, yes, I've gotten the same results with this test and the above test, and that is how I know that these tests are somehow accurate, they have an agreement with regards to what type I am but it depends on the time that I've taken these tests. Would be glad to know how yours will turn up as well. Tell me in the comments section!
The Enneagram
This test classifies takers into 9 "ennea-" personality types. The types are universally determined as 1-9, with different authors naming each type according to its key characteristics. According to Truity, Enneagram types are as follows: Type 1 The Perfectionist, Type 2 The Helper, Type 3 The Achiever, Type 4 The Individualist, Type 5 The Investigator, Type 6 The Loyalist, Type 7 The Enthusiast, Type 8 The Challenger and Type 9 The Peacemaker. Riso and Hudson calls the types almost the same way except for Type 1 which they call The Reformer.
The Enneagram also finds application in career and leadership. It claims to be a comprehensive and fantastic tool for guidance through the personality's growth process.
Ecletic Energies Enneagram Test
Take the Test! 👉 https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/test
This test will give you your type and wing. The wing is adjacent to your prominent type, meaning this personality type scored highest next to your prominent type. If you don't have a dominant wing, say your wings got the same scores, it's said that your wings are balanced. This test doesn't really give leeway to moderately agree or disagree with the 125 statements as they are only answerable only by no, partly and yes.
Enneagram Personality Test
Take the Test! 👉 https://www.truity.com/test/enneagram-personality-test
Like the Truity MBTI test, at the end, this will give you your top three enneagrams. This test features 87 statements that you have the option to rate in terms of its level of accuracy. Unlike the ecletic energies test, this gives slightly inaccurate and slightly accurate as options.
The Creative Types
Take the Test! 👉 https://mycreativetype.com/
This is by Adobe. In a strict sense, this is not exactly a personality test. I included it here because I find it really cool and I think it'll help us Hivers gain insight into our creative process. This test features 15 questions which allows you to pick from two answers per question. After completing the questions, you will then be classified according to your creative type. Are you the artist, thinker, adventurer, maker, visionary, innovator, dreamer or producer? Take the test and find out.
The test is bit heavy on the graphics but it is a sight to behold. Your creative type will reveal your strength, untapped potential (a nice way of saying your weakness), ideal collaborator, and a comprehensive description of how your creativity tends to work.
What the critics say
There was a phase in my life when the first thing I'd ask a person was "What's your MBTI type?" (crazy, I know). Some have debunked personality types and have social experiments to prove that people are prone to the Forer or Barnum effect. This is the phenomenon that occurs when people believe that personality descriptions apply specifically to them. When in fact, the description is actually filled with information that can apply to mostly everyone.
My take on this is I'd like to think that humans really like to put order in disorder and that is why, type classification like these exist. I think that there's not a big problem if we take tests like this, so long as we place this in the perspective of entertainment and not regard this as an exact science.
After reading all the way through, I'm expecting most of you to use the line "What's your MBTI personality type?" over "What's your sign?" I'm willing to bet that you'll get that hot nerd's number in no time!