Who Am I: Recognizing the Tools that Determine Personality Types
Written by Camille Luiza Fernando — March 20, 2021
To anticipate an outcome before it happens, with showing evidence to prepare for the unexpected — it is like pursuing to think that ideas, perceptions, personalities, even strengths can be guessed through the power of theories and tests published in different sites the media encompasses. Thinking of what will make anyone accepted, alongside their achievements consumes every person’s mind. Even when these precise lining of questions are not scientifically powered nor contains total accuracy, people always seek and consider this.
Personality tests or astrological predictions are manifested in every individual as they see these as a helpful tool to seek an opportunity in any aspect in life. According to Rutledge, the importance of taking a personality test is that it shows a potential for self-reflection and comprehension about the capabilities and choices that complement every goal a person has (Schaffel, 2018). Moreover, VirtualHr published an article tackling how personality tests can influence in choosing potential career paths. It finds people job opportunities since these can serve as company guidelines in placing them with a group of like-minded individuals.
It is through someone who has countless personalities that makes them unique. As per Chatterjee (2020), zodiac signs also affect the personality or the behaviour of an individual based on, “the movement of the sun on the astrological signs,” going as far as stating that each zodiac sign has distinctive qualities, thus, people can tell the traits of a person based on it (Martin, 2015). For instance, Aries women know how to control their power and be a good leader, while Taurus women are the one who speak their heart out alongside know how to stand for themselves (Wright, n.d.). As for the many “personalities” every test offers, they all act as the bullets to seek a better life and grab opportunities around the globe. Many researchers studied various characters a human has, and later narrowed it with the model known as the Big Five.
The Five Personalities in “The Big Five Model”
In 1936, Gordon Allport and Henry Odbert conducted a list of all traits a person was capable of inhabiting which consisted of 4,500. Raymond Catell in 1940, tapered the thousand traits into 16 and later became five as psychologists found a way to deduce these (Lim, 2020).
Openness to Experience
Being able to think “outside the box” describes this trait. It is the ability of a person to be imaginative and develop a wide interest in all. Having this trait explicit means an individual has a high tendency of being a good leader (Thill, 2021).
Conscientiousness
It describes the propensity of a person to be responsible, well-controlled, and be a goal-achiever. This also entertains those who know how to follow guidelines and adapt easily to what is usual. Individuals who have this trait are normally good at jobs with allocating more time such as pilots, surgeons, etc. A study of Harvard Health Publishing proposed that conscientiousness has a possibility to result in cognitive benefit if an individual has self-control and is organized — giving the upshot of preventing or regulating the effects of aging and diseases of the brain.
Extraversion
The inclination of a person to find stimulation outside a specific room to involve interacting to other people is extraversion. It often results in getting a high motivation and thrills in aiming towards a goal as well as engaging to gain social rewards such as friendship, romance, power, and the liking (Owens, n.d.).
Neuroticism
It is the trait that reflects emotional stability or the chances of being unable to conceal feelings whenever sad, angry or worried (Cuncic, 2020). Others defined Neuroticism as a negative trait since it encompasses low self-controlled, perceived threat and a high tendency in grumbling.
Agreeableness
This trait is the highest dimension in the Big Five. It is the ability of a person to socialize and develop a relationship with people. An individual who has agreeableness tends to manifest a strong interaction towards the environment encompassing positive views of it. However, shyness can be a hindrance in producing a positive effect of agreeableness as it shows fewer social skills and constant hiding of emotions (Fan et.al., 2019).
The general public is engaged in different assessments found in all media platforms that pursue to determine what personality type suits them in finding happiness, interaction, fortune and jobs. One of the popular tests in the world is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Katherine Briggs — co creator, began constructing the test after Carl Jung’s Psychological Types became her inspiration while her daughter was studying. The test has a series of questions that has a purpose to set on a person’s 16 core personality types based on — extrovert or introvert, sensing, or intuitive; thinking or feeling; judging or perceiving. These personality types could also relate to the zodiac sign of a person.
Inclination towards the “Popular Test”
In 2019, 1.5 million individuals took the test knowing that it contains 90% of accuracy. As per Emre, a professor at the University of Oxford, one of the reasons why people mostly spend time answering various questions in the test is because the MBTI is free from judgement and all the results are mostly positive (Bragg, 2019). It also offers a vocabulary to talk about self-actualization, desires and wants without feeling the need to express regret or thinking that it is a mistake (Block, 2018). It acts as the starting point to wonder what kind of person you are or what actions you want to achieve in your life. Moreover, the test aims to match people with the best job according to their personalities. It is also a softer function used by the employers to pursue employees to open an interest in seeking a suited work and develop an excellent disposition.
Notwithstanding the fact that the creators Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers did not undergo formal training in psychology, statistics, or psychometrics, the test gained a limelight in businesses, organizations, universities, and institutions. In accordance with this, psychologists believed that the test did not meet the four standards in social science — are the categories reliable, valid, independent, and comprehensive? (Gholipour, 2019). Besides, a person repeating the test could get different results. Psychologists often considered the Big Five in assessing personalities due to the explicit scientific validation than Myer-Briggs Indicator Type.
Even having accessible tools to discover one’s traits, human-beings have different ways to discover the possibilities in a single day by comprehending various signs the world must give.
Why do people consider Astrology?
Most people provide a time for lurking on different platforms to read a horoscope and understand certain zodiac signs to know their personalities. As stated by the article “Understanding Science, how science really works,” astrology uses a set of rules to comprehend the heavenly bodies or the basic premise such as sun, moon, planets and constellations to construct predictions and various explanations happening around the globe including the human personality traits. However, astrology is not testable, hence, it produces an outcome with a general conclusion that is mostly in favor to the readers.
But why do people always consider this?
According to Patel (2019), perusing horoscopes on a daily basis or even knowing the zodiac chart can be used as a guidance for a decision an individual will make and to ascertain some cultural aspects such as the possibilities in conceiving a child or not. Moreover, a particular sign acts as pillars constituting dissimilar aspects of the human personality that capture empathy and self-actualization (Firth, 2019).
In other words — believing in such tools made to convey an explanation about something the world encompasses is a guide towards living with contentment and satisfaction. The personality types or even the astrological predictions are considered as useful in taking a path to improve one’s life and determining the best action to be made daily. Human ways to expand their own disposition, however, cannot be defined in a single word, but how it shows, and manifests is one of the powerful simplifications to digest. It is an approach to express oneself to the world, communicate and respect. Consequently, we can perceive opportunities that suit us and thrive on a social life beneficial in living inside the world.
REFERENCES
Block, M. (2019). How The Myers-Briggs Personality Test Began In A Mother’s Living Room Lab Retrieved 12 March 2021 from https://www.npr.org/2018/09/22/650019038/how-the-myers-briggs-personality-test-began-in-a-mothers-living-room-lab
Chatterjee, D. (2020). 5 Ways how zodiac signs affect our personality and behaviour. Retrieved 13 March 2021 from https://www.pinkvilla.com/lifestyle/people/5-ways-how-zodiac-signs-affect-our-personality-and-behaviour-581457#:~:text=The%20movement%20of%20the%20sun,the%20sun%20on%20the%20sign.
Cuncic, A. (2020). How Neuroticism Affects Your Behavior. Retrieved 11 March 2021 from https://www.verywellmind.com/how-neuroticism-affects-your-behavior-4782188
Fan, J. (2019). Shyness Weakens the Agreeableness-Prosociality Association via Social Self-Efficacy: A Moderated-Mediation Study of Chinese Undergraduates. Retrieved 11 March 2021 from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01084/full
Firth, C. (2019). The Psychology Behind Why People Feel So Connected To Their Zodiac Signs. Retrieved 13 March 2021 from https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-psychology-behind-why-people-feel-so-connected-to-their-zodiac-signs/
Gholipour, B. (2019). How Accurate Is the Myers-Briggs Personality Test? Retrieved 12 March from https://www.livescience.com/65513-does-myers-briggs-personality-test-work.html
Knowledge@ Warton (n.d). Personality Puzzler: Is There Any Science Behind Myers-Briggs? Retrieved 12 March 2021 from https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/does-the-myers-briggs-test-really-work/
Lim, A. (2020). The Big Five Personality Traits. Retrieved 11 March 2021 from https://www.simplypsychology.org/big-five-personality.html
Martin, I. (2015). Do Zodiac Signs Reflect Our Personalities?. Retrieved 13 March 2021 from https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/09/18/do-zodiac-signs-reflect-our-personalities/
Patel, A. (2019). Reading horoscopes is an addictive ritual, even in a world of skeptics. Retrieved 13 March 2021 from https://globalnews.ca/news/4962221/why-we-love-horoscopes/
Owens, M. (n.d). Dimension of Personality. Retrieved 11 March 2021 from https://www.truity.com/book/extraversion-dimension-personality
Schaffel, V. (2018). Why do we need personality tests to tell us who we are? Retrieved 19 March 2021 from https://www.nbcnews.com/better/pop-culture/why-do-we-need-personality-tests-tell-us-who-we-ncna914371
Thill, R. (2021). Openness to Experience Personality Trait. Retrieved 11 March 2021 from https://www.verywellfamily.com/openness-to-experience-personality-trait-3288339
VirtualHr (n.d). Importance of Personality Testing. Retrieved 19 March 2021 from https://www.virtualhr.co.ke/importance-of-personality-testing/
