Personality Testing

I’ve taken these tests and similar tests before. Most recently, while at the desk on a slow day at the library, my co-workers and I took the Enneagram test (from a different website), and my sister and I entertained ourselves one evening by taking the Myers-Brigg test (the same one listed in the reading and from another website because the first site crashed while we were using it) first as ourselves and then as we thought different fictional characters would answer. While it was interesting to compare types at work or with my sister, I wonder how reliable the tests are, since I got different results for both tests this time around. Last time I took the tests, I discovered I was an INTJ and a Type 1. This time I found I was an ISTJ and a Type 5. Based on the descriptions, parts of both types apply to me at least some of the time, and the two types are not too far apart.

I found taking the tests frustrating, both this time and previously, because I often wanted to choose both answers (especially on the Enneagram test) or got hung up on the wording of the question. For instance, any time the Myers-Brigg test used “always,” experience with true/false tests inclined me to choose “No,” even if the statement was true about me most of the time, because I could come up with at least one exception. Likewise, I had difficulty answering “Strict observance of the established rules is likely to prevent a good outcome” because I thought the answer depended a lot on what the established rules were and how they had been devised, as well as what I was trying to accomplish and what was meant by “a good outcome.” I suppose that my thought process while taking the tests might itself be indicative of my personality.

I’m not sure how much I can learn about other people from this kind of information. The descriptions I read seemed to describe me fairly well, but I also know that due to the Barnum effect (also called the Forer effect), I may be giving the the results more credit than they deserve. I also noticed that while overall the descriptions seemed fairly accurate, not every trait listed seemed to fit me. Likewise, knowing someone else’s Myers-Briggs or Enneagram personality type does not guarantee that they share all of the common traits of that type, so I would hesitate to make too many assumptions about the person’s personality. While I can see some instances where having this information would be useful, for instance, when assigning people to a project, a manager may want to take personality types into consideration either to try not to put too many very different types together or to intentionally put them together, but I wonder if a formal personality test is necessary to achieve this. Still, if nothing else, taking the tests can spark discussions about similarities and differences in personalities, which in turn can help co-workers learn more about each other.

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