Exploring Professional Personality Assessment Instruments and OnlineTests

You can't surf the internet without stumbling across opportunities to take a variety of online personality tests and quizzes that promise to tell you more about yourself.

Do you want to know why you're so unhappy in that job your friends and family say you should be thrilled to have? There are tests all over the web that will promise to give you a clue. Wondering why you and your significant other are always bickering over trivial things? There are a gazillion tests out there that will offer up theories on that, too.

Online personality tests are as common these days as spam ads for Viagra, weight loss products and breast implants. And why not? Through the ages, people have been preoccupied with understanding themselves and those around them. The internet has just taken our efforts to do so to a whole new level.

You can find serious versions of online personality tests on sites dedicated to careers and job searching, relationships, parenting and education. Online dating sites use personality assessments in their matchmaking attempts.

Looking for something a little less serious? Surf the web, and you'll find entire sites dedicated to offering unique, interesting, entertaining and silly personality tests. Bloggers and online diary-keepers who are suffering writer's block make a habit of taking online tests and posting the results to their pages.

Bored at work? Surf a bit and you're sure to find a site where you and your co-workers can figure out what breed you'd be if you were dogs. Once you know your canine breed, you can go on to find out what Lord of the Rings character is your long-lost twin, and your Star Wars Doppelganger.

In fact, a combination of Samwise the Hobbit, Luke Skywalker and an Irish setter are actually writing this article.

I'm an admitted online personality test junkie, and have whiled away many rainy days or nights when sleep wouldn't come entertaining myself with internet pop psychology.

But personality assessment instruments have been around much longer than internet personality tests. Helping professionals have used them to understand and assist their clients for years, and to guide those clients towards a better understanding of themselves. One career assessment tool, the Strong Interest Inventory, was first developed in the 1920's, according to http://www.discoveryourpersonality.com/aboutstrong.html.

While I don't know of any counselors who base their therapy sessions on whether someone is an Elf or a Hobbit, professional personality assessments are a standard in the business.

How do professionals use personality assessment instruments?

The ways in which assessment tools are used in the helping professions are almost endless.

Guidance counselors and college advisors use them to assist students in choosing majors and exploring career options. Career counselors use them to help clients understand current job dissatisfaction, explore other alternatives, and better utilize their strengths in the workplace.

Professionals also use personality instruments to help people understand and improve a variety of relationships. Organizational specialists give personality assessments to help employees improve workplace dynamics. A marriage counselor may have a couple do a personality assessment to help them understand why they're having trouble communicating. Personality assessment instruments are even used to help people understand and make the most of their learning and parenting styles.

What are some common personality assessment instruments?

I don't claim to know of all or even most of the legitimate and helpful instruments out there. But in my ten-plus years of working in higher education and interacting with career counselors and life coaches, I have found that one of the most used and praised instruments is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, commonly referred to as the MBTI.

The MBTI, which was developed by a mother/daughter team during World War II, identifies 16 personality "types." The test assesses where an individual falls on four different scales which measure preferences to identify his or her type. Are you more of an introvert or an extravert? Are you intuitive or sensing, thinking or feeling, judging or perceiving?

To understand the scales and the types, it is important to work with an MBTI certified professional or counselor. It is easy to confuse the true meaning of the scales. For example, testing more on the "thinking" end of the spectrum doesn't mean a person isn't also capable of strong feeling and emotion. It does mean that when understanding and judging situations and others, that person will be more likely to rely on logic and fairness than on emotions, sensitivities, or his impression of how others might feel. "Judging" and "Perceiving" actually refer to whether a person prefers things to be structured, scheduled, planned and decided or more open to change, spontaneity and flexibility.

Other insightful and commonly used instruments include the Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. Both offer interesting ways to evaluate and understand your preferences, motivations and relationships.

How can I take a personality assessment instrument?

You have to work through a professional to take a true personality assessment.

This can be done online, generally for a fee. A variety of sites offer the opportunity to take an assessment, and then receive results and consultations with a specialist through email or regular mail.

But before you do this, check out other resources. If you are a college student or have a local community college near you, explore the advising center, counseling office or career development center. Students may be able do an assessment and discuss their results with a counselor free of charge. Alumni or community members may be able to take advantage of services for a reasonable fee.

Another avenue to explore is your workplace. If your company has an organizational or human relations office, they may offer assessments to individuals or work groups. Or your department may want to bring in a professional to give and discuss an assessment as part of a staff retreat or professional development activity.

Many life coaches, psychologists, counselors and therapists can also provide you with the opportunity to take and discuss a personality assessment.

What about online tests?

While I caution that taking free online personality tests should be considered a recreational activity and not a true assessment, I'm also the first to admit that completing and discussing the wide variety of online tests and quizzes is interesting, entertaining and fun. While you don't have the advantage of working with a professional who has studied and understands the nuances of a professionally developed instrument, you can gain valuable insights into yourself and others.

One of the more interesting opportunities I've found online is a site where you can take the Enneagram, located at http://www.9types.com/.

Another interesting test can be found here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp.

How do I use online personality tests?

Online personality tests can be used in many ways. Take them to:

- Help decide whether you are interested enough in personality assessments to invest time and money into a professional assessment and consultation.

- Gain interesting insights into yourself and others.

- Create an interesting topic of conversation among your friends and family.

- Spark your thinking about your career choices, relationships, and communications and learning styles.

- Have fun.

What shouldn't I do with online personality tests?

- Take them as definitive insights into your personality or the personality of others.

- Consider taking them and reviewing your results as accurate or as insightful as taking and reviewing an assessment with a professional.

- Use them as an alternative to seeking professional career or relationship counseling or as a way to self-diagnose personality, psychological, or emotional disorders. If you have a rash or a strange physical pain, you might research possible causes online as a first step. But for diagnosis and treatment, you'd see a doctor. Think of looking into personality online in much the same way.

Things to remember when using online personality tests, professional personality assessment instruments, or both:

- Personality assessment and theory is not an exact science. Our individuality and uniqueness are what make us human. Use personality tests and assessments as a way to understand yourself and the world around you, but don't let them put yourself and others in a box.

- There are a lot of people out there who are very interested in personality theories and even consider them a hobby. I'm one of them. But most of us, including me, aren't trained psychologists, therapists or even certified to use and interpret professional instruments. With all the books, articles and online information available out there, we've learned a lot and can talk the talk. Don't let that fool you into thinking someone is an expert. Ask about credentials before you pay a professional or consider something someone has written on a web site or discussion board to be professional information.

Many hobbyists like to share what they've learned about personality. I recently wrote an article about being an introvert in an extraverted workplace. I believe the article gives helpful tips for introverts to function, thrive and succeed without getting drained by an overload of interaction. But I'll be the first to admit that what I'm doing is sharing things that work for me, not giving professional advice.

- Even when dealing with credentialed professionals, beware of those who seem to present the assessments they use or their evaluations of them as exact and precise. The best helping professionals are those who use a variety of tools and knowledge to help people move forward in their careers, relationships and understanding of themselves.

Most importantly, have fun with the insights you gain. Whether you're taking a silly, quick and easy online test that claims to tell you what infamous criminal is most like you or doing a certified professional personality test through your workplace, enjoy the experience.

After all, for most people there is no more fascinating topic than what makes us and those we love tick.