“Personality test” is a phrase that evokes a wide range of reactions. Some find personality tests highly useful; others find them useless. Our take? If not overdone, they can be effective tools for self-discovery, adding great value to your personal and professional life.
If you want to learn more about yourself, there is a test for that. In fact, there are hundreds. So how do you figure out which personality test is right for you? In this article, we’ll explore a range of tests to help you decide.
What Is A Personality Test?
Personality tests abound. If you haven’t taken one for a job, chances are you’ve seen a free personality test making the rounds on social media. Some of the most common types of tests are the Myers Briggs personality types test and the Enneagram personality test, but there are many others that you might not have heard of.
So what is a personality test, and how do you decide which is the best? For workplaces, personality tests are a way to make sure you fit in with the existing team makeup. But they aren’t the sort of tests where you get a score out of 100. There are no bad personalities, just different ones. Just answer honestly, and you might learn something about yourself.
6 Popular Personality Tests
The Myers Briggs personality test is one of the most widespread personality assessment. It sorts people into one of 16 personality types. People are labeled with one quality from each of these four categories: introversion/extraversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving.
The 16 Personalities test is based on the Myers Briggs, but includes some extra information. As well as the four qualities from the Myers Briggs test, the 16 Personalities test has an extra category: assertive/turbulent. Also unlike the Myers Briggs, the 16 Personalities test is a free test, available to anyone online.
If you’re part of Gen Z, you might be familiar with the Color personality test from its moment in the TikTok spotlight. You answer 12 questions (translated from Korean), and then get told what color your personality is. This test is very fast and a lot of fun, but it’s not suited for a professional environment.
The “Big 5” are markers developed in academic psychology to encompass the main personality categories: extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. There is no one specific Big 5 personality test, but any test developed in academic psychology will use these markers. If you studied personality psychology at college, you’ll probably be familiar with these.
Like the Myers Briggs personality test, the DISC personality test was developed in the 1940s. The 28 questions in the test measure people’s dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness.
The Enneagram personality test divides people into 9 categories, each of which is known by a number:
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- The reformer
- The helper
- The achiever
- The individualist
- The investigator
- The loyalist
- The enthusiast
- The challenger
- The peacemaker
This test is uber popular with millennials. Try asking one, and chances are they’ll be able to tell you what number they are - or even what number their dog is.
Personality Test For Jobs
If you haven’t taken a personality type test for fun, you’ve likely taken one for jobs. Workplaces are increasingly using these types of assessments to help employees maximize their potential. As a result, there’s a growing field developed and administered specifically for workplaces. If all employees take the same test, it can yield useful information about how to help them work with each other.
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Best Personality Test
There’s no one best personality test, but if you’re using them to improve your workplace culture, it’s useful to do some research. Look for a personality test that has positive testimonials. Many HR managers find that personality tests are a useful tool to help employees work well together and learn about themselves. Pay attention to the purpose other workplaces have used tests for—if their goals are similar to yours, the test they used might work well for you too.
Conclusion
Tests like the Color personality test, the 16 Personalities test, the DISC personality test, the Big 5 personality tests, and the Enneagram personality test are only a few of the many personality tests out there. Whatever your goals, one of these tests should help you fulfill them!
Additional Reading:
- Leadership: Where Everything Rises and Falls
- Top 6 Leadership Skills for Managers
- Business Communication
- Pyramid Principle Applied