Psychological Tests

Personality tests are ubiquitous. Try typing the words ‘personality tests’ on either of the search engines and observe the outcome. Thousands of free personality tests appear, each offers to provide you results at minimal or no cost. As we gain maturity, we realise that personality tests are being featured more prominently in our lives. Personality tests have since taken on a more serious role. It is no longer an instrument for entertainment.

I had never underestimated the benefits of personality tests. There are, in fact, numerous personality tests in the market. The Drive-Influence-Steadiness-Compliance (DISC) personality test is one which claims its system to be of a ‘universal language of behaviour’. The world acclaimed Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality inventory designed to identify individuals’ preferences for perceiving and processing information. The Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (MAPP) allows the identification of true motivations towards work and states the kind of job that fits you best. As seen, each personality test is intended to serve different interests and purposes. I do believe that personality tests can only be developed to their fullest potential and be of help to an organisation, if and only if they are used prudently and selectively.

I am fond of doing personality tests. I do believe that personality tests are great aids to self-understanding for the different individuals. Of course, I am not suggesting that people do not understand themselves well and hence, should engage the help of personality tests. I am suggesting that personality test offers more scientific and deeper explanation to what people understand of themselves. As mentioned in the article, personality test is a journey of self discovery. Comparison of personalities should never arise as there is not a personality combination that is better than the other. And it is important that we understand that your supposed personality does not follow you through for a lifetime as personality can be changed by external and situational factors. Another aspect is that personality tests do point out personality traits’ strengths and weaknesses, and even suggest ways on turning the supposed weaknesses into strengths. While the tests may be able to capture most of the personalities, human nature is fundamentally complex. Users of personality tests should be rational enough not to be too reliant on the results. The bottomline is to use these tests as a form of advice and reference, and not be led by it blindly. This rational also holds truth for the usage of personality tests in the corporate world.

We must understand that there is no such thing as a good or bad employee, just a good or bad job fit. For example, in MBTI, if I belong to the sensing type of person, as opposed to intuition type, I would most prefer facts to vague ideas. And knowing my personality, I may want to avoid jobs