Personality tests are psychological tools to understand personal traits and draw a stable pattern from his thoughts, feelings, and behavior. A person who completes the personality tests can evaluate their behavior more critically to work on them so that his personality benefits him in particular environments and conditions. Many personality tests are available online as psychologists worldwide try to promote mental health care. The Big Five and Keirsey Temperament Sorter provided reliable and accurate data that I used to compare and assess my traits.
Each test was chosen for specific reasons depending on its focus areas. For instance, The Big Five personality test focuses on five major dimensions, the OCEAN model, to evaluate a person’s mind, consciousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and anxiousness (The Big Five Project Personality Test). Thus, I completed this test because I needed to identify my borders and comfort zone to interact in society successfully. Moreover, The Big Five traits are the most accepted personality descriptors in social psychology, as they are included in more than 10,000 scientific articles (Smith et al., 2021). In contrast, Keirsey Temperament Sorter was selected because it examines four opposing dichotomies: extraversion, judging, sensing, and feeling (Shelton, 2019). This test categorizes people by their inclinations rather than habits, providing me an insight into my actions and choices.
The results of The Big Five are not surprising because I anticipated that I would be illustrated as a person who enjoys companies and novelty. According to the results, conscientiousness accounts for the highest score, 94%, meaning I am well-organized and disciplined. I agree with this score because I organize my work effectively, do time management and write out long-term and short-term goals, proving that I can be relied upon in all organizational and critical moments. The lowest score is 64% of agreeableness, justifying that I tend to be sympathetic and forgiving, but sometimes I can be critical and rude. Although I consider the feelings of people around me, I focus on other things in working moments, trying to be more rational than humane. The disappointing finding is 66% of nervousness, making me realize that sometimes I tend to be less stress-resistant than I would like. This way, this test provided neat and relevant results.
Meanwhile, the Keirsey Temperament test sorts me into guardian protector, who makes up 10% of the population. The results from both tests match because they portray me as a reliable, dutiful, and responsible person. However, the Keirsey test gives more detailed family and social relations information. Guardians are “loyal mates, responsible parents, and stabilizing leaders” (Keirsey Temperament Sorter, 2022). The frustrating thing is that guardians do the tasks others take for granted, which is highly reflected in my high anxiety from the Big Five Test. I find these results reliable because I have great experience managing goods and services and organizing smooth work. I also worry much about the security of my loved ones, which is justified by my temperament type.
Identifying the theory that reflects personality tests facilitates a person’s understanding of the results. The Big Five test is connected to the theory stating that these traits “provide an evolutionary advantage to people who are more conscientious, extraverted, and agreeable – and less neurotic” (Huffman et al., 2017, p. 433). The majority will probably agree with this idea, undermining that in the modern world, there are places and conditions where introverted or less agreeable people show better results. It is wrong to assume that people with the most desirable results are better because it is highly subjective.
Humanistic theories emphasize that a person interprets the environment using behavior rather than unconscious impulses. Therefore, Rogers suggests that self-perception is a critical component of personality that develops from life experiences (Huffman et al., 2017). Thus, the Keirsey test checks people’s self-concept and gives a chance to evaluate the feedback from others. Using this Temperament Sorter, I can conclude the other people’s evaluations and reflect.
Although personality tests can benefit individuals, it is inefficient for mainstream social research on the broader society. It is the principal disadvantage of personality tests utilized by psychologists. Smith et al. (2021) argue that they should re-examine the validity of scales underlying the personality traits as they are usually utilized in smaller groups. Personality tests are helpful for curious and conscious people who want to work on their weaknesses. However, they are advantageous when people start to implement them for personal means during the personality improvement process to achieve some goals: status attainment, establishing trust, efficient social interactions, and persistence in career or study. For example, a person aiming to employ in the creative space with low results for open-mindedness possibly learns to be curious. Therefore, everyone uses his scores to improve their performance or life satisfaction.
To conclude, psychologists suggest taking as many personality tests as possible to raise society’s self-awareness. After completing Keirsey Temperament Sorter and The Big Five test, I evaluated my personality and behavior to utilize them in my daily life efficiently. Moreover, I found disappointing traits such as anxiety and undervalued work. I plan to improve these areas, so my mental and physical health is not harmed. Individuals should decide by themselves which personal traits are preferable and which of them need to be suppressed.
References
The Big Five Project Personality Test. (2022).
Huffman, K., Dowdell, K., & Sanderson, C. A. (2017). Psychology in action (12th Edition). Wiley Global Education US.
Keirsey Temperament Sorter. (2022).
Shelton, T. C. (2019). Student temperament assessment and its relationship with the selection of accounting as a major.
Smith, M. L., Hamplová, D., Kelley, J., & Evans, M. D. R. (2021). Concise survey measures for the Big Five personality traits. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 73(2).