Take a Personality Test? Why?

One of the funnest personality talks I have ever done was to a M.O.P.S. group. It was a talk on, "What is your child's personality". When I was asked to do this talk I started to think about how to present this to Mom's of preschoolers, and came across a site on the Internet that had a description of the 4 basic personality types as Pooh characters. It just got better from there. We had so much fun with that. If you want to check it out here is the link: http://www.half-asleep.com/pooh/interact/quiz/

Anyway, people either love personality tests or hate them. I have had people completely refuse to take them. So before I go any further in looking at personality tests and personality types I want to look at a few of the negatives and positives of taking them.

We will first address the negatives that I have heard or just observed.

1. A personality test puts a person in a box - although there is some truth in this - the bigger truth in my opinion is that you are already in a box so it's better to see what that box is and then see how you can open the sides of the box. In other words, a personality will reveal tendencies you have, everyone already knows and sees those tendencies for the most part anyway so taking a test just may open some blind spots you may have - it also may reveal areas you need to grow in - thus giving you an opportunity to expand your box.
2. A personality test gives people an excuse for bad behavior - I actually agree with this and anytime I give a test I state to my clients, "this is not an excuse for you to say you can or can not do certain things because, "that is not my personality". It is an opportunity to see the areas you are weak in and grow in them. We are all capable of becoming more like the other personality types and becoming a more balanced person. No Excuses!
3. A personality test allows people in authority to manipulate me - Again, there is some truth to this - but the other truth is if someone is well versed in personalities they probably have already figured out your basic temperament and could use that anyway. I feel if you are well versed in temperament (personality) you will know when you are being manipulated.
   

It is like anything else in life, anything good can usually in the wrong hands or with a wrong motive be used in a wrong way. Overall, though, I believe understanding more about yourself and others has a greater potential for good.

Next Post we will explore all the reason you should do a test and which tests I have found to be very effective.