What kind of cactus are you? If you were a dog, what breed would you be? Based on your Starbucks order, who is your celebrity crush?
Thanks to social media and the good folks over at BuzzFeed, there is a never-ending supply of quizzes that probably entertain more than they inform. The idea of personality inventories are nothing new, however; real, authentic, true-to-psychology tests exist. When I taught psychology back in my Floodwood School days, we would look at what we could of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory to see where we landed in the world of personality and psychopathy. I am sure many of us have taken the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory somewhere along the line once or twice, revealing perhaps more truths than we wanted to face.
Facing my fears two-fold, I am prepared to let you look into me a little bit as I reveal to you my results from five different personality inventories:
I am an INFJ in the strictest sense. It is essentially the same exact results I have gotten ever since I first took the Myers-Briggs way back during my freshman year of college (back then the I for introversion would be replaced with an E for extraversion, but that flip flops less these days). Having the result of an INFJ essentially states that I am (I)ntroverted, I follow my i(N)tuition, I place a greater emphasis on how my actions with make people (F)eel more than I do clear objectives, and I (J)udge situations in an attempt for them to be systematic and predictable (I LOVE SYSTEMS). This code could not be more accurate. I am everything this codes, and more; one of the most accurate truths about INFJs (and therefore a truth about me) is that we tend to live a bright and vibrant inner life that we rarely share with the outside world (this is why I LOVE the movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”).
2.
Enneagram – The Challenger: This personality test is relatively new to the scene, but it is becoming increasingly important in understanding how we function. According to the version of Enneagram I took, one of my main results was The Challenger (weird…). Challengers are known to be direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective. Sounds about right in my book.
3.
VARK – AK: This inventory has more to do with learning styles than anything else, so taking the VARK Assessment will give good indication in which ways you best learn out of four optionsL Visual, Aural, Read/Write, or Kinesthetic. I am a Read/Writer and Kinesthetic person, which is no surprise here. I have always done best in school by reading, highlighting, and finally re-writing onto index cards. The process of writing again and again paired with the tangible, physical action of flipping through the cards always served me well when studying.
4.
RIASEC – EAS: Ever wonder how personality impacts career and vocational choices? So did John Holland when he developed the Holland Code, which provides insight into how our personalities can accurately determine jobs. My Holland Code is EAS, which points towards Enterprising, Artistic, and Social careers. What kinds of careers are those? Oh, I don’t know…teacher, communicator, marketer, business owner…you know, just all the things I LOVE TO DO.
5.
VisualDNA: This is Friday High Five, so I needed one more personality inventory. I found Visual DNA after a quick trip to Google, and thought that might be a nice fifth quiz. It was SO COOL. The process is simple: You are asked to click on a series of pictures based on how they make you feel. The results reveal your percentage in five different categories: Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. I found my results to be pretty accurate. It said I was 76% open, meaning that I like to embrace new and unique experiences (which I do), and that I was 54% extroverted (which, even though I am sure I am more introverted, I took it on a day like today where I am kind of amped up, so I could see where and why I would be slightly more extroverted than most days). I am, however, 90% neurotic, which I guess means that react intensy to emotional events, and sometimes the feelings from that reaction last longer than normal; it also said that maybe my reactivity prevents me from seeing things clearly once I become stressed…which I guess is kind of (INCREDIBLY) accurate of me.
We can hide from a lot of things, but we shouldn’t hide from ourselves. We are all unique, amazing beings, and we should embrace that which makes us different and live in that reality! A good way to start is to take a (real) personality test like the ones link above to see who you are, and be that person.
Taken one? Let me know your results below!!