While we cannot group people into rigid categories, we can identify general trends in personality. If you know your personality type, you can have valuable information about yourself, such as what motivates you or when you are most efficient. You can learn a lot about personality just by reflecting, taking personality tests, and understanding what different personalities mean.
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Method 1 of 3: Understanding Personality
Step 1. Know your morals
Everyone can judge what is right and what is wrong. Many call it "conscience". When you know the moral code, you may feel good. When not being listened to, your “inner voice” may make you feel guilty, uncomfortable, or anxious.
- Recognize and realize when this moral dilemma occurs. Listen to your heart that guides you.
- Morals will help guide you in knowing yourself. You can identify what is not good, as well as what brings hope.
- If you live by morals, remember that there is good in this world. Kindness wins when you act on morals.
Step 2. Identify your personal values
Values are big ideas that shape decisions. These ideas are broad goals such as financial security, closeness to family, or health. Once you know your personal values, you can set goals that align with your personality. This will increase your chances of achieving your goals and living a happy life.
For example, if financial security is important to you, make it a goal to have six months of salary savings. Although difficult to achieve, the chances of success are greater if you think and act according to these values
Step 3. Know your interests
While the motivation behind your goals is values, interests provide the focus needed to achieve them. You will know you are interested in something if it has held your attention for a long time. If you build a career (or hobby) based on your interests, you will be happier and more satisfied than if you ignored them.
For example, if your interest is art, you will be much happier in an arts-focused career than a career in banking. Even if you're not an artist, you can still do things like curating art, teaching art, or writing about art
Step 4. Understand social needs
While everyone needs common things like friends and a support structure, the intensity of each need varies. Here there is the influence of extroverted and introverted nature. Think about how you can recharge after a tough week. Are you out with friends or need some alone time? By understanding these needs, you can keep yourself balanced and happy in your daily life.
- Extroverts like to be around other people and act spontaneously.
- Introverts enjoy alone time and plan their days carefully.
Step 5. Know your rhythm
Awareness of when you feel most energized or most tired plays an important role in overall success. Take note of when you feel at your best, and when you feel tired. Pay attention to when you are hungry, and when you want to exercise. Use this information to keep body and mind in sync.
If you're used to getting up early, working a third shift might not be appropriate. On the other hand, people who are more productive at night will be late for work that starts at 6 a.m
Step 6. Acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses
No one is great at everything, and that's not a problem. Acknowledge what others recognize as your strengths, and what they don't. Also, pay attention to when you feel successful at a task, and when you struggle. This will begin to build your awareness of certain talents and abilities. Once this is known, you can use that knowledge to correct deficiencies or play on strengths.
Examples of strengths are abilities such as “focus”, “good at math”, “creative”, and “understanding other people.”
Step 7. Search for input
Ask how friends and family see your personality. Compare their input with how you feel. If they match, you're most likely displaying that attribute consistently.
If some close people view your personality differently, reevaluate what you believe about yourself
Method 2 of 3: Taking a Personality Test
Step 1. Find out which type of test is best for you
There are hundreds of psychological personality tests that assess and measure unique and individual variables. The type of test you choose depends on what you want to know about yourself, how much time you are willing to devote to taking the test, what questions you are willing to answer, and how much you are willing to spend on taking the test. These tests include:
- Tests to measure the level of intelligence as well as neurological and cognitive analytical function.
- A test to measure whether you are an extrovert or an introvert and how you work with other people.
- A test to measure how you analyze situations and deal with different types of stress.
- Tests to measure whether you are more prone to certain mental health problems.
- Know that each test has its advantages and disadvantages, and you are free to choose the type of test that interests you.
Step 2. Choose a personality test
Carl Jung is considered to be the one who first sparked our interest in personality tests. In the early 1900s, he developed a way to assess certain attributes. Since then, this idea has been adapted into various versions. Some popular ones include:
- Personality and Preferences Inventory (PAPI): this test is often used to screen candidates in business environments.
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: this test is used to identify personal preferences in introversion, extroversion, sensation, thinking, intuition, and functioning.
- True Colors Test: this test classifies properties into different colors so that they are easier to understand.
Step 3. Take the test when the mind is calm
Take deep breaths or use visualization techniques to calm your mind before taking the personality test. You should take the test when you have had enough rest and your appetite has been satisfied. You will find it difficult to answer questions honestly and accurately when you are stressed. If the question is overthinking, you will be confused as to which is the “right” answer.
Step 4. Answer the questions honestly
After years of school, most people search for the “right” or “most correct” answer. There is no right or wrong in personality tests. You will not be judged, but explore personal attributes. Answer the question as is, not what you want or the answer should be
For example, there might be questions like, “Do you like leading projects, or being given instructions?” Many people may be compelled to choose “lead” because they feel it is the “right” answer, but if you don't like the thought of managing a team, choose “take instructions”
Method 3 of 3: Understanding Personality Test Results
Step 1. Know the basis of most personality tests
While this doesn't apply to all tests, most personality tests evaluate personality on five attributes (usually called the Big Five). The degree to which each of these attributes appears varies from person to person, and your personality depends on which one is dominant. These five characteristics are abbreviated as OCEAN. Here's the statement:
- O for openness, or openness.
- C for conscientiousness, or prudence.
- E for extroversion, or extraversion
- A for agreeableness, or easy to agree
- N for neuroticism, or neuroticism.
Step 2. View each attribute as a spectrum
For example, there are no total introverts or total extroverts. That is, there is no person who never wants to be around other people, or never wants to be alone even for a second. However, most people will be more inclined to one side. Likewise with personality attributes. You can't be defined by just one attribute, but will fall somewhere between introvert and extrovert.
Likewise with the attributes of openness, prudence, agreeableness, and neuroticism
Step 3. Be aware of the changes
Over time, we experience new things. This new experience forces us to grow and change as human beings. You should be aware of the influence this development has on personality. Acknowledge when your personality changes, no matter how small. This will help you to always be yourself.
Step 4. Change the part of your personality that makes you unhappy
If you are not happy with your current personality, you can change it. Setting goals and focusing on the attributes you want to display can affect short-term changes in personality. If you do it long enough, you start to see the difference in yourself and adjust the social and emotional side of it until it becomes a long-term change.
