https://www.16personalities.com/
I was asked to do this in work this week, just for fun though.
My wife was howling at how accurately my type described many of my character traits. I also recognise my self in it, a lot! My daughter is going into 4th year of a psychology degree. She said it's very broad strokes. I can't disagree with her. But I wish I'd known more of it in my 20's rather than my mid 50's. Would have saved me making a mess of so many things! Take the test and see if you see yourself? INTJ - Architect, by the way.
I have no idea why this isn't in the chat forum! Soz
INTJ - Architect
Me too!
Architect too. But then Freud supposedly said the Irish were impervious to psychoanalysis.
3% of population apparently. Do other people get your sense of humour? 🤣🤣🤣
As an anecdote, since childhood I never liked cats. Wanted nothing to with them. Then 5 years ago, we got one. I wasn't happy. Turns out I bloody adore him. I'm totally smitten.
Made me think about my approach to life. If I could be so entirely wrong about this. Then perhaps I might be wrong about, maybe one or two other things? Potentially. As an architect, even when I know im wrong, I still secretly think I'm right.
Made me think...
ISTP. Not an architect, I'm an accountant.
But yes, very, very broad brush. And I can be different types in different contexts.
Another INTJ - Architect
Intp t so they say, needed to find further sources of information, how does being neurodivergent (autistic) affect it... I recollected vaguely perhaps a result from another time in my life was intj. Maybe. Found this was interesting
INTP (Logician)
INFP done similar tests before got much the same result. The earlier one was much longer and done for my work - social care. Seems fairly accurate.
how does being neurodivergent (autistic) affect it
Given Myers-Briggs is an attempt to implement Jung's personality types I would go with it has no more of an impact than any other random factor.
Its a shame they didnt read Jungs comment about the short comings of the binary approach. Its a great example of the Forer effect with most people being able to read most of the "types" and tick quite a few of the boxes.
The lack of any negative types or even any really any negative traits in any of the types shows the problems.
At 71 years of age, I’m pretty sure careers advice is the last thing I need!
I did DISC profiling at work a few years ago , scarily accurate.
It says I'm a logician. I'd say that shows it's not very accurate.
I'm a protagonist apparently. Mrs P will laugh at the description of how I'm so tuned into people's emotions.
I think these things would be fairly harmless if it wasn't for the fact that so many managers seem to take it seriously, to the point that they want us to take these courses so that we can 'interact better' with each other.
I had a look at this particular test and it has the same issue as every other one of these tests I've had to take for work. Half the questions I put my response as neutral, not because I am neutral on it because I can envisage scenarios where I could strongly agree or strongly disagree (with very few scenarios where I am genuinely neutral).
I could get one result simply by putting myself in one mindset or the opposite by putting myself in another.
Who knows, it is possible I'm wrong and for the vast majority of people these tests are accurate and useful and I'm just a special and unique snowflake who can't be neatly put into one of 16 boxes.
But overall my conclusion is these type of tests are maybe useful as a fun game to play at parties (if you're the kind of person whose friends lack sufficient personality that you have to play these kind of games at parties instead of everyone just chatting shit in the kitchen) but instead a large number of managers actually take this bollocks seriously which is the problem.
Yeah, for example " do you prefer to spend time on your own, or love the company of others"
I really like both so put neutral, even though neutral suggests unsure or no opinion either way.
Its a great example of the Forer effect
Interesting reading (on Wikipedia) about this. I did notice a lot of smoke blowing in the results of the test linked in the op.
Beyond flattering my ego for a few moments, knowing I allegedly have the same personality type as Einstein, Darwin, Descartes, Kant, Lincoln, Moog, Aphex Twin, Dustin Hoffman, and Yoda*, is 100% useless.
* intentionally omitted Liam Gallagher
Logician INTP-A
The breakdown seems pretty accurate
ENFJ (Protagonist)
Odd as I had answered most of the questions with the response most related to "meh" from the alternatives. The traits are reasonably in-line with who I am right now though, so I guess it's a decent assessment.
Anyway, I now feel like the guy from Tenet.
It says I'm a logician. I'd say that shows it's not very accurate.
Maybe, I got logician too. And my current job is the most rewarding one I've had and I'm a "Data Process Analyst".
horoscopes for the linkedin generation
Your personality type is:
Advocate
INFJ-T
Quite accurate I'd say!
Adventurer (lol) 84% introverted.
ISTP-T Virtuoso apparently. Whatever that means.
I think it's all bollocks. Typical INTP.
Joking aside, I've done any number of these sorts of tests over the years from mandatory* testing at work to clickbait social media posts. A good amount of them are either self-fulfilling (Question: do you like the company of others? - Answer: yes - Conclusion: hey, you must be an outgoing person! No shit, sherlock) or are little more than Barnum statements.
As a bit of fun they're harmless enough and can be amusing, but some workplaces trust them for real life decisions such as promotion routes and hiring decisions, at which level I think we need to tread just a little bit carefully. Aside from anything else, if you don't know which members of your team are gregarious and which ones are shy without a written personality test then that probably speaks more about the (lack of) Management than about the employee.
(* - back in the 1990s I was subjected to a company-wide personality test. I said "oh that sounds cool, when do I get the results?" They said, I won't get them. So wait, you want to put me through a test of undisclosed provenance, put the details of the results on my permanent personnel record, and I'm not allowed to see what you've written about me? I have no option to challenge anything which might be wrong or defamatory? You must be f'kn kidding me. I point blank refused unless they agreed to share my data with me, they wouldn't so I was one of two people across the company who didn't take it. I wonder what that says about me psychologically... 😁)
They said, I won't get them
Out of interest, did your employer provide any explanation WHY the results wouldn't be shared with you?
(I had to do similar tests but my employer didn't try to hide the results from me. This was 25+ years ago and I can't remember what my classification was and I never figured out whether it hampered or helped my career...)
came here to say horoscope
saw someone had beaten me to it
"Well that was an exercise in asking the same questions in as many ways as possible and my IQ test result should tell what I think of this". I wasn't offered the job I had worked out by that time I didn't want, or any other job with that kind of corporate bollocks. I'd realised by then that the only person I was happy working for was me. 🤠
No I haven't done the test.
Out of interest, did your employer provide any explanation WHY the results wouldn't be shared with you?
I doubt it, it wasn't that kind of company. If they did then I have no recollection of it now (this will have been mid-1990s).
I did Myers-Briggs (this test) 3 times over 25 years at work. Each time I was in a different place within myself (success, personal life, happiness) so tried to reflect that in the answers. Every time I came back as ENTP. Not worked for 9 years, and life stuff is quite dark at the moment. So just done it again and came back as ENTP, again.
I never took it as gospel, it just gave a few insights, and ways of getting along with different personalities. ISTJ was always my nemesis and it did help me try a different approaches which were more harmonious. It also created common ground & language to talk about behavior, which again helped. Its value is to make people think about people they interact with, and that they may react differently, and consider different approaches for greater harmony. Some people are naturals at this, many people benefit from considering a different approach.
Done many of these and the outcome depends on my mood. ENFJ or INTJ. I guess I judge. And am an introverted extrovert. A few of the others scales have been unforthcoming too. A management style one was accurate, however. The Autism Quotient was interesting, most notable when Mrs TiRed filled it in on my behalf 🤣 on average, were normal.
ENFP - Campaigner which is pretty close as I work in charities and been involved in campaigning in various guises over the years.
Similar to @CountZero I'm 69 and retired . Did it anyway turns out I'm a Turbulent Defender like Beyonce and QE2 ( person not ship ) which my wife reckons is spot on 🤔😁
INFP Mediator
Yep
I really really dislike conflict.
I'm too much of an introvert to share my results on here 😀
Anyway. MB is somewhat out of date these days, but there is a big old business behind pushing it for use by businesses. These kinds of things were really intended as a psychological tool for use by psychologists. Corporate suit types getting the company to piddle about with a toy version for the workplace? Take any results with a ladle or two of salt.
My personal experience of doing this in a corporate environment (most recent, though other times were similar) is that one or other of the seniors had seemingly decided that everyone would be able to be twice as effective if we all knew what colour our personality was and what colour everyone else's was and if we could get the right mix of colours on each team we could blend into a glorious rainbow of personality colours in the right proportions and peace and harmony would reign across the land and all that. So we all went and did a test and got a coloured badge a coloured email signature graphic and a personality colours cheat sheet to stick up by our desk and went to a colour personality discussion group and lo and behold... can you guess how much anyone remembered or cared about it, six months later?
ENTJ this morning. Commander. As if 🤣
As others have said, it's horseshit, the scary thing is when it's used in corporate environments.
I’m an academic psychologist who does a lot work in the field of psychometrics. The Myer-Briggs questionnaire has no validity or reliability whatsoever.
There is a reason it is never used by psychologists or academics at all but rather life coaches and career consultants.
Students are often given this type of a measure in the first week of Individual Differences course and then they are all given exactly the same personality profile (which 90%+ agree is accurate) to demonstrates biases and the Barnum/Forer effect.
There are valid measures of personality. MB is not one of them.
ESTJ (Executive), seems I need to have a quiet word with myself
There are valid measures of personality. MB is not one of them.
I've heard. Yet I've been at 2 companies who've used similar tests to understand how we might work better. I don't think it was this MB test but similar and I remember it working well overall. Useful in getting a few basic personality types engaging with each other better .. not sure of the word/term, maybe better emotional intelligence. But I think you need to be open to it in the first place. Some may say gullible rather than 'open' - thing is, we had one manager who was about 95% one type and could be difficult, understanding some of that stuff did smooth out working with them.
I think the measure of these tests that is reliable when used in a workplace is it shows up the folk who don't want to participate or collaborate and always think they know best or their opinion over-rules the group, etc. They may be right of course and there's pros and cons of that attitude .. what's guaranteed is they stand out in these sessions.
Hmmm... Psychoanalyses yourself, then embark on an exercise of handwringing over the results 🤔
I think I'll give that a pass.
I think the measure of these tests that is reliable when used in a workplace is it shows up the folk who don't want to participate or collaborate and always think they know best or their opinion over-rules the group, etc.
I guess it works the other way as well. It exposes workplaces that value acquiescent employees over people who don't mind pointing out when Emperor isn't wearing any clothes.
I would respect companies that based their personality types on horoscopes and decided how people should interact/who to promote based on that. But then that could be because I'm a traditionalist...
Yet I've been at 2 companies who've used similar tests to understand how we might work better. I don't think it was this MB test but similar and I remember it working well overall. Useful in getting a few basic personality types engaging with each other better
Yeah, this. The "results" may or may not be definitive, but it's generally helpful to have a conversation around how different people work in different ways and how to leverage those differences in a team. Of course there are always some people who will say "it's all sh*te" and take themselves off to their corner - until they get moved on, anyway.
a large number of managers actually take this bollocks seriously which is the problem.
They are trying to achieve the low risk way to make lots of money which economic theory knows is not an option.
I guess it works the other way as well. It exposes workplaces that value acquiescent employees over people who don't mind pointing out when Emperor isn't wearing any clothes.
It probably does. Questioning something is one thing, being unwilling to participate or being obstructive is another. Interestingly (to me) the workplace where this seemed to work pretty well wasn't like that, it was just a good place for collaboration, 'anyone can have a good idea' etc, at least during the years before the new ownership that brought in that type of session.
I guess if the tests aren't backed up by psycholigical review they may just work (when/where they do to any extent) via the process and getting people thinking and talking - it's a tool for an outcome not a science apllication. If you get someone running the session who's good, maybe good result and that's more about them than the profiling system validity.
Yeah, this. The "results" may or may not be definitive, but it's generally helpful to have a conversation around how different people work in different ways and how to leverage those differences in a team. Of course there are always some people who will say "it's all sh*te" and take themselves off to their corner - until they get moved on, anyway.
If you haven't figured out how to talk to different personalities by the time you reach adulthood I'm not sure if a two hour course is going to help much.
There do seem to be a lot of people people who feel that being willing to take part in bollocks is more important than pointing out that what everyone is doing is bollocks. This goes a long way to explaining why so many project teams end up producing completely unusable products.
people who don't mind pointing out when Emperor isn't wearing any clothes.
I'm sure that such people exist, and there is a place in an organisation for free thinking iconoclastic individuals. But in practice the ones who are always grumbling seem to be just royal pains in the arse, and everyone is glad when they take their superior personalities and body odour problems elsewhere. 🙂
It probably does. Questioning something is one thing, being unwilling to participate or being obstructive is another.
If someone tries to tell you that their completely unscientific inaccurate method is scientific and accurate then I think obstructing it is your duty as someone who isn't an idiot. Pseudoscience presented as science is a blight on society.
But sure, if it's presented as a fun test to promote discussion and thinking about how we interact then I guess it's harmless. I'd still be skeptical that it's much use but I'm getting paid either way so it's all good.
it's generally helpful to have a conversation around how different people work in different ways and how to leverage those differences in a team
On one course many years ago we all did a questionnaire before the day then the first task was one where you're put into groups and have to build a Lego model that's in a room next door where only one person can go and see it or whatever.
One team got it practically spot on, the others were all sorts of wrong. Turns out the pre course test was around Belbins team roles and there was one ideal team with the others all focusing on a single trait, and the ideal team was obvs the one that got it right.
My most natural trait came out as an Implementor, the type who can't be bothered with planning or instructions and just gets stuck in working it out as you go along. That's pretty fair TBH - I was making a fair go of dismantling a washing machine at the weekend until my brother found a YouTube video to prove that we didn't actually have the right tools to fix it.
ENTJ here - reading the traits was like being nailed to a cross for some of it, I did this years ago and have been using it for self improvement ever since!
If you haven't figured out how to talk to different personalities by the time you reach adulthood I'm not sure if a two hour course is going to help much.
You might not know what someone at work's personality might be, some people have very different personal approaches at work Vs outside work, some are the same wherever they are, etc. Some people are neurodivergant and can't read body language or other cues and struggle with personal comms, some other people don't understand that and need it spelling out to them so they stop being quite as intolerant.
Workplaces are a mixed bag, some cultures are great, some are awful and getting people together to figure out why things are one way or the other can be worth it. Some managements are hopeless and this won't fix anything, some sessions are with people who really are just know it all PITAs (and they come from all levels).
@brucewee sure, if it was presented as science it would deserve questioning. If it's presented simply as an exercise on learning about people's personalities and workplace realtionships (etc/whatever) then it's probbaly going to be what you and others make of it.
There do seem to be a lot of people people who feel that being willing to take part in bollocks is more important than pointing out that what everyone is doing is bollocks.
When presented with the option of doing some actual work or attending a "team-building exercise" which involves dropping an egg onto toilet paper and building a bridge out of straws, the choice people make will tell you more about them than any (arguably pseudoscientific) psychology test.
I once worked at a place where fully at least 40% of my time was in meetings. Most of these meetings a) didn't concern me anyway and b) largely consisted of people complaining that they were too busy. When I pointed out the BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS flaw in this arrangement everyone looked at me like I'd just flown in from Mars. You don't need a half-hour all-hands breakfast meeting before doing a scrap of work in order to hand over from the night shift when the morning crew can simply check the ticketing system to look for status alerts in red boxes. On the rare occasion that something absolutely positively needs a 'drop everything and look at this immediately' response you could've fired out an email and we'd all be half an hour into fixing it by now.
ISTP - T virtuoso
As an ISTP (Virtuoso), you are a bold explorer of the tangible world, driven by a restless curiosity to understand how things work. Your hands-on approach to life is matched only by your adaptability, allowing you to navigate challenges with a unique blend of practical logic and spontaneous creativity. You thrive on solving immediate problems, your mind a toolbox of skills and knowledge ready to be applied at a moment’s notice.
Actually thats pretty close to how I would describe myself.
Pseudoscience presented as science is a blight on society.
But sure, if it's presented as a fun test to promote discussion and thinking about how we interact then I guess it's harmless. I'd still be skeptical that it's much use but I'm getting paid either way so it's all good.
I think that's right, though I think we are in blight territory here as people can take pseudoscientific nonsense like Myers-Brighs quite seriously as we see in this thread, and so too can HR departments.
And that's not to say the whole thing is bollocks, there is some demonstrable albeit modest validity to some personality assessment. And even if there wasn't as with horoscopes, it's a way people can think about themselves and their lives, and how they relate to others - I can share my MB results (to zero interest obv. Why would any of you be) which I can see have some bearing on what I think I'm like. Or I could say I'm a fairly typical Leo which probably tells you more
When presented with the option of doing some actual work or attending a "team-building exercise" which involves dropping an egg onto toilet paper and building a bridge out of straws, the choice people make will tell you more about them than any (arguably pseudoscientific) psychology test.
It may also tell you something about their job and the company they work for. Or, it'd be a risky assumption to make about people if you didn't already know about the management culture.
This popped up for me today. My personal favourite is that introverts prefer not being in a crowded gym.
Regarding the OP, the outcomes for these tests are always inaccurate for me. This is probably a case of the Barnum effect, but I find it challenging to answer the questions in a way that I find satisfactory. I assume this is part of it. Any results that don't match your personality, you can discount as being a result of your inability to answer accurately.
While many aspects of this type of approach in business are used to divert blame from poor management (IMO), my previous employers have demonstrated that there is a certain amount of ignorance surrounding how to integrate different personalities/learning styles into existing teams effectively—especially for those among us who have their mental challenges.
Fifteen years ago, I took a personality test for a job. They declined to employ me, apparently because of the test results. I was told that I would be more likely to challenge authority, and that was not what they wanted. Interestingly, they stated that they would not retest me if I applied for a position in the future, assuming I would not change my personality type.
. I was told that I would be more likely to challenge authority, and that was not what they wanted.
Now there's a double bind! The only way to prove them wrong being to agree and go away...
Now there's a double bind! The only way to prove them wrong being to agree and go away...
Honestly it sounds like this is just them trying to weed out potentially neurodivergent employees so yes, it is not a scenario the interviewee is supposed to escape from.
Not saying that the this poster is neurodivergent, by the way. Just that if you make a drag net you are going to catch everything.
https://theweek.com/business/jobs/how-personality-tests-are-locking-autistic-people-out-of-jobs
