Why I used to hate personality tests
For some reason, personality tests have always rubbed me off the wrong way. The simple notion that a test can supposedly tell you who you are, and perhaps determine how you choose to live you life, has made me a tad apprehensive (even a bit defensive). It indirectly removes all our agency as individuals. Your test results imply that “this is a fixed trait”, and “now you have to deal with it”. And so, particularly, what doesn’t appeal to me, is the presupposition that a test can make a final judgment on your being.
Perhaps I owe my negative conception of tests to my first exposure to them as a tween. As a typical tween growing up in the early 2000s, J14, BOP, and Seventeen magazines were all the rage. My friends and I would take the little personality quizzes in them, and get excited to share test results. I would notice how comforting it was to be categorized, and how readily my friends accepted the categories their quiz results had placed them in.
Now, I’ve grown completely aware of the fact that these make-shift personality quizzes I was first exposed to, cannot compare to standardized personality tests used in the field of psychology. Still, however, my view regarding personality quizzes remained the same: I simply didn’t like the idea of a test suggesting that I was fixed into a particular category based on personality trait(s).
That being said, it was only recently that I had an epiphany of sorts. I realized how adaptive it is to have an awareness of your personality traits, and how a lack of awareness could potentially impact your life negatively.
This is what had happened. I was reading a fabulous book called Quiet by Susan Cain, for my Intro to Personality class, when I realized, ever so suddenly, how crucial it is to be conscious of your personality traits. It wasn’t about being placed into a category and having a test score dictate the course of your life. Knowing about your personality traits was something advantageous. It was being aware of your own resources and tapping into them.
Reading this particular book was like I had embarked on a voyage of self-discovery. Cain focusses on introversion and extroversion, one of the spectrums that comprises the Big 5 Traits of personality. To call this book enlightening, would be an understatement. Quiet exposed me to a world of introverts, and their many struggles in the workplace and in various social situations, as they fight for their rightful place in an extroverted society. On a personal level, it helped me embrace my very own introverted nature, and opened my eyes to many truths I had failed to grasp on my own.
Basically, Susan Cain’s message to introverts in Quiet is pretty monumental. She highlights what Western society has deemed as the least favourable side of the spectrum: introversion. Beyond that, she indicates ways in which we could capitalize on our personality traits, regardless of what side of the spectrum we may lie on.
In short, if I could convey one message to you, it’s that tapping into your self, with a personality test or by some other means, can really help you capitalize on the inner resources you possess, and can aid you in gaining control over various aspects of your life. Self-awareness will set you free!
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