There are many free personality tests available on the Internet. Which ones are worth taking and what can they teach you about yourself? This depends on what you are looking for, of course. Some people love taking tests and quizzes of all kinds. If you are a member of a social site like Facebook, you probably see all kinds of quizzes that are added on a daily basis. Some of these are fun to drink and share with your friends, but they’re not likely to be very revealing about your personality or potential.
The purpose of the more serious personality tests is to help you discover what your abilities, aptitudes, and tendencies are. This can help you plan a new career, decide on a course of study at a college, university, or technical school, or even help you decide what kinds of people to date. The point is, these tests, if well constructed, can tell you specific things about yourself that you may not have realized before. More often, you will say to yourself, “That’s right, it really is me!” after running the test. In other words, you probably knew the information on some level, but never consciously used it. Or you didn’t think it was that important.
A good example of a well-respected personality test is the Myers-Briggs typology test (also called MBTI). This test is based on the work of the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. This test divides people into 16 types. I won’t describe each one in detail here, but for clarity, I’ll briefly mention the criteria it uses.
To find out where you fit in the MBTI, you answer a lot of questions, but these are really aspects of four basic questions. First, find out if you are more introverted or extroverted; This basically means whether you are more internally or externally oriented. Second, you decide if you are more sensitive or intuitive, that is, if you mainly use your senses to see (and hear, taste, etc.) the world or if you use your mind or intuition more. Third, it asks if you are more of the type of person who thinks or feels. That is, do you react more intellectually or emotionally to the world?
Lastly, do you judge or perceive more? This has to do with whether you are someone who plans things in advance or if you are more spontaneous.
This is a very simplified description, of course. When you answer all the questions on the exam, you will have a better idea of how to find out precisely where you stand on these four basic points. So find out what “type” you are. This test is used quite frequently by corporations and other institutions to decide how suitable a person might be for a job. It is also very helpful in helping you get an idea of what kind of career would suit you or what kind of people you would be most comfortable with.
Another popular and highly respected personality test is the Enneagram, which was first introduced by spiritual master George Gurdjieff. The enneagram divides people into nine basic types and is actually a whole school of psychology. There are some good books on the enneagram, as well as some free tests you can take online to find out what type it is.