Why do we take personality tests?

Many people enjoy taking personality tests during their free time, including myself. However, it is interesting to me why we are interested in taking them. I doubt that the average person takes such a test to determine if they have a maladaptive personality. So then why take a personality test? Some might do so for selfish reasons. For instance, they want a seemingly valid and reliable test to tell them how intelligent, confidant and hard working they are. Others might do it out of curiosity; to test the accuracy of the test by comparing its results to their own perceptions of themselves. Certain individuals might even take these tests to determine if it can tell them more about themselves than introspection can.

I decided to complete a personality test to explore if the answers from the test corresponded with my own thoughts about myself and also if I could learn anything new about myself from it. I completed the test found on: http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test.

Taking this test was an interesting experience because I often found myself asking what each question was trying to measure. For example, one question asked if I prefer to stand against the walls of a large room or in the middle. I assumed that this particular question was measuring anxiety and confidence levels.

Moreover, the test took approximately 10 minutes to complete. Each question was formatted such that the person taking the test would have to decide on a scale of 1 to 7 if they agreed or disagreed with each statement (1 = strongly agree, 7 = strongly disagree).

I like that the test measured multiple domains of personality. They called these domains mind, energy, nature, tactics, and identity.

· Mind was a measure how one interacts with the environment (introvert/extrovert)

· Energy gauged how one directs his or her mental energy (intuitive/ observant)

· Nature determined how one makes decisions and copes with emotions (thinking/feeling)

· Tactics estimated how one approaches work, planning, and decision-making (judging/prospecting)

· Identity assessed how confident one is in their abilities and decisions (assertive/turbulent)

For the most part, I agreed with the results. I was accurately found to be introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging and turbulent. What I found particularly interesting is that the site not only described by personality type (Advocate), but also listed my strengths and weaknesses, described my romantic and platonic relationships, career paths, and workplace habits.

Although its predictions do not seem very convincing, it was entertaining to read. I now understand why people enjoy taking these tests, regardless if one really believes the results or not.