PMAI the Tests Ever Be in Your Favor
That wasn’t what I meant when I said I wanted to learn more! — A reflection after taking the PMAI test
A few days ago, I stumbled upon the Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator, an alternate self-administered personality test similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and often used in conjunction with it. Based on Carl Jung’s human psyche theory of archetypes, humans have an idea of a collective unconscious which produces different archetypes that guide our psychological behavior. There are 12 archetypes commonly found in people: Innocent, Orphan, Warrior, Caregiver, Seeker, Lover, Creator, Destroyer, Ruler, Magician, Sage and Jester. The most salient archetypes found in each person are thought to be the predominant guides for each person’s actions and thoughts. The test is said to help us finding ourselves and to transform our paths positively.
It didn’t take long until I caved in and took the test. My predominant archetype came out as Creator and I was excited. I was hoping to find out a little more about myself just like after every self-administered psychological tests I’ve taken so far, because as far as my 20 years on Earth go, I still do not have a clear idea of who exactly I am nor where exactly I want to end up in life. However, I honestly can’t really say the lesson I drew from taking it was intended by the test maker…
By the time I finished reading the second paragraph of the test report, I felt frustrated. Aside from the characteristics typically found in a Creator, the test report also provided guidelines such as our ideal image, behavior and mindset. From my point of view, the abundance of information made it seem like a mold we were expected to fit in and the idea of trying to live up to others’ standards was suffocating. But that wasn’t all to it. Like many people, I was not just seeking guidance from psychological tests, I was trying to find myself and I expected the test to answer the questions that I couldn’t answer myself. I wasn’t satisfied with the answers I got because I was clueless about myself yet I wasn’t sure I wanted someone else to tell me who I should be either.
In fact, a common error people make is to seek absolute truths instead of general guidance while taking self-administered tests. In career tests, people often expect the results to lay out a plan for their lives and the only thing left for them to do is to follow it. In personality tests, people expect the test to tell them exactly who they are. Although unrealistic, these expectations are understandable as we need self-affirmation to feel good about ourselves. We want to confirm that our beliefs about ourselves are true and we want to be acknowledged positively by other people.
According to Claude Steel, the purpose of the self-system is to regulate self-conceptions for them to be as adaptively and morally adequate, that is, we want to appear competent, good, coherent, unitary, stable etc. Our search for psychological consistency might lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy: We might live up to the standards indicated in the results because we want to be consistent with other’s expectations. Furthermore, we can also be a little gullible. While reading the results of a self-administered psychometric test, people might be under the influence of the Barnum effect. It’s the manifestation in which people give high ratings of accuracy about a description that seems to be specific to themselves when it could in fact apply to group of people. This contributes to making us feel that the tests were are taking are more powerful than they really are.
Self-administered tests only have access to a portion of who we are to make an analysis while we are far more complex beings in reality. We are more than just a number obtained from a series of calculations because we have inner motives and who we are can be situation-dependent, thus the test results can mean a lot of things. Furthermore, most of tests aren’t designed to make accurate predictions about people’s future. Instead, they are supposed to bring out insights for new exploration paths in the statements people make in each item. This can only work if the test is administered properly, which is rarely the case because we are under the influence of different biases that undermine validity. For example, people may be hesitant to answer truthfully when a test question revolves around a negative aspect of themselves even when they are alone because it threatens their positive mental self-image.
What Have I Learned?
We shouldn’t expect tests to provide answers to our inner conflicts. Although I am still not pleased with the way PMAI results are, one thing that I realized after taking it is that finding yourself shouldn’t be the test’s job, but yours. While self-administered psychological tests may be valuable tools that could help you figure out who you are, the only person who’s ultimately responsible for your life outcomes is you. In sum, expect a little less from the test and expect a little more from yourself.
Student ID: 260636987
References:
Krauss Whitbourne, S. (2014, January 4). What You Don’t Know about This Personality Test Can Hurt You. Retrieved March 20, 2016, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201401/what-you-dont-know-about-personality-test-can-hurt-you
McPeek, R. (2008). Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator and Psychological Type. Journal of Psychological Type, 68(7), 52–66. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216101940.
Pearson, C. S., & Marr, H. K. (2007). Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator — Results Sample Report. PsycTESTS Dataset.
Sherman, D. K., & Cohen, G. L. (2006). The Psychology of Self‐defense: Self‐Affirmation Theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Volume 38, 183–242.
Rosen, G. M. (2015). Barnum Effect. The Encyclopedia of Clinical Psychology, 1–3.
