Guide to Discovering Yourself – Exploring Your Personality Type

Each year millions of people are completing personality tests to discover more about who they are. The study of personality goes back 2000 years, which is reflective of our deep rooted interest in who we are, why we are different, how we become who we are and how we can change who we are. The term personality refers to characteristic, unique and consistent patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving. Personality is the way we refer to our uniqueness. Our personality type and our personality traits make us a unique person.

There are a lot of different ways we can dive deeper into understanding our personalities. From introspection and journaling to receiving feedback from others there are many ways to know more about our own selves. Understanding ourselves can be helpful in identifying our core values, our priorities, how we can make better decisions, better career and relationship choices.

In this Article:

• How to understand your personality?
• 3 methods to discover your personality
• Concluding ideas on Personality & Personal development

How to Understand Your Personality

“It is up to each person to recognize his or her true preferences.”

Isabel Briggs Myers

Hippocrates suggested around the year 460BC, that humans had a ‘persona’ – a personality that was comprised of four temperaments, and since than personality became an ever discussed and controversial topic. The word personality comes from the word persona. Persona is defined by the dictionary as the image or personality that a person presents in public or in a specific setting—as opposed to their true, inner self. The persona in it’s original context was referring to a mask worn by the actors on the stage with the intention to represent the personality and mood of that character. The theatrical mask was used to represent the character and make it easier for the viewers to identify the different personalities. While these persona masks project one characteristic, they are disguising the true identity at the same time.

The concept of personality grows out of this background, and it sums up the way we behave, ( talk, walk), the way we think and the way we feel. Personality is about our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. So far so good. But when we start to go a little deeper into what personality encompasses beyond our moods, attitudes and our characteristic way of expressing our opinions, the controversy starts to build up.

Researchers of personality didn’t build a scientifically strong base yet and cannot agree about the definition, about how personality differences develop, what is the real , empirical reason for differences between sisters, twins raised in the same family, why, when and how often does personality change, what are the building blocks of personality? There are theoretically strong answers to these questions but there in not yet an agreement between the different theoretic approaches. Other questions that still wait for answers are : How deep personality goes? Are there layers to it, is there a personality we identify with socially and another inner personality that we identify as our inner self?

As you can see personality is not as obvious and easy to understand as it first appears. Read more about insights and perspectives on what is our personality in Anchor to Blooms article : here.

Guide to personality testing

Today there is an increased interest in personality types and in classifying people along relatively stable characteristics. Testing, scoring and classifying people is very popular in education institutes, some workplaces but also for personal purposes, especially for partner and career choosing purposes. Complexity is hard to grasp and so it makes sense to use

What methods can I use to discover my personality?

• Self-reflection – understanding your values and needs, becoming aware of your emotional experiences, your dominant mindsets
• Learning and associating
• Personality type testing
• Feedback from others

Exploring your personality with the help of quizzes can be a fun, insightful and rewarding activity. Personality testing can help you unpack your personality layers and wider your perspective about who you are. Personality quizzes can be an excellent way to learn more about yourself, to discover your strengths and weaknesses, but keep in mind that results shouldn’t be viewed as an all-encompassing answer to who you are. It sheds light on some aspects of your intertwined, interrelated personality construct. Some light is still better than no light…

What are the different personality tests and methods?

There are many type of personality tests and personality questionnaires available on the Web. Some test are accompanied with hand books and scientifically developed descriptions and some are just for fun and inspiration. Personality tests can provide a breakdown of the complexity of your personality traits, type, behaviors and tendencies into manageable pieces. 

You can perform an interesting exercise by having someone that knows you extremely well take the test on your behalf. Once you’ve both completed the test you can compare results to see where and if differences exist.

The most popular personality test : the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Among the most popular is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This test is based on the personality theory created by Isabel Myers and Katharine Briggs. It measures your preferences and tendencies and breaks the variety of people into 16 “types”. The 16 personality categories are based on measuring the level of introversion or extraversion and ones information-gathering style. The test is self-reported and takes into consideration also the decision-making preferences and ones tolerance of change, ambiguity and chaos when dealing with the outside world.

Finally, you’re likely to run across the 16Personalities test online. This test is based on Myers-Briggs but instead of identifying people by four-letter strings, it divides people into 16 social-media-friendly categories like “diplomats” and “explorers.”

The most scientific personality test: The Big Five

The most scientific : Though the Big Five are by far the most research-backed, scientifically based personality traits that have been identified, there are other schemas for measuring personality. These don’t always tend to correlate with life outcomes the way the Big Five do, but people find them entertaining and sometimes helpful for thinking about their own attributes and goals. (Pro tip: If a system claims to describe your personality based on your zodiac sign, blood type or Hogwarts house, it’s just for fun).

Beyond the Big Five and the MBTI

If you’d like to delve into personality inventories beyond the Big Five, you might have more luck with the HEXACO Personality Inventory(opens in new tab), which aims to be more internationally relevant than the Big Five. In studies of personality, researchers found that outside the United States, a sixth trait kept popping up. This trait is along the honesty-humility spectrum. People who are high in honesty-humility are modest, fair and sincere; people who are low in the trait as boastful, greedy and pompous. The HEXACO inventory otherwise overlaps with the Big Five, measuring openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion and emotionality (which is similar to neuroticism).

Another personality inventory based in scientific theory is the Hogan Personality Inventory(opens in new tab), which draws from the Big Five but focuses on interpersonal interactions specifically. This inventory measures people on traits such as ambition, sociability, sensitivity and prudence.

Personality testing goes beyond examining some basic traits and characteristics. To ensure yourself of a broader perspective it is best to try out various other tests, such as the culture add test, the communication skills test, or any other hard skills test.

Can I change my personality? Will my personality change over time?

Your personality develops over time so what your result shows is usually a temporary picture of what characterizes you right now, Some aspect of that can stay relatively stable over time, but some aspects can change even in the short run.

Conclusions

Sources & Further Reading : Myers&Briggs Foundation, The Best Personality Tests In Ranking Order, 16 Personalities , The Enneagram Institute, Personality Tests at Truity, What is personality?, Methods to understand your personality; Personality traits ;