Who Do You Think You Are?
Find Out with Online Personality Tests
Human beings share a universal craving to understand themselves. For
millennia, we've tried to achieve that through astrology, I-Ching, tarot
cards, palm reading, phrenology and other arcane studies. The modern
age applied science to the endeavor and created personality and IQ tests;
now the technology revolution has automated the process. You can find
tests of every ilk on the Internet -- variations on tests long administered
by educators, psychologists and career counselors -- and they'll score
your results in seconds. We may no longer step behind Madame Rosa's
curtain to pursue personal enlightenment, but we surely feel the same
delight our ancestors did when we recognize ourselves defined on a glowing
screen.
Should I Worry About Privacy?
There really isn't any reason to worry about webmasters learning intimate information about you through online tests. Websites generally don't collect the data that result from your test responses. The Body-Mind QueenDom site explains how its test technology protects readers' privacy: "We receive your test results (answers to individual items, the final score, age and gender) in an anonymous e-mail (while the test is being scored, the CGI script sends us an e-mail, so the sender is Body-Mind QueenDom, not you)," according to the site. "Your anonymity is absolutely guaranteed -- we don't even have your e-mail. No information is extracted from your browser."
Even so, "Cyberia Shrink," pseudonymous psychologist and test developer of Body-Mind QueenDom, cautions that those sites that ask for your name probably keep test results with that contact information.
Are They True?
The
personality tests you'll find online aren't as extensive or statistically
validated as ones administered by professionals, which means they're
not as accurate. That's why Steve Bond, president of Online
Psych (AOL Keyword: OLP), recommends you "consult a trained and
caring professional ... when you are looking to address serious issues
in your own life." Even so, online tests can be useful in helping you
get to know yourself better.
How do you tell which personality tests are reliable? According to Cyberia Shrink, reliable tests include details about the test's percentiles, validity, etc., and a disclaimer that a test cannot replace professional treatment. Less reliable tests are those with fewer than 15 questions, or questions that are unclear or ambiguous or condescending, or answers that are so general they could apply to anyone. And, she says, you should beware the test that seems to be manipulating your responses or consistently leaving something out. Ultimately, Cyberia Shrink says, the most useful tests are the ones that explain your results.
Personality Tests
Keirsey Temperament and Character Web Site
This site offers a version of the most famous of the personality
tests, the Myers-Briggs. The test asks you a long series of "which
do you prefer" questions to determine whether you tend toward extroversion
or introversion, intuition or sensing, thinking or feeling, and judgment
or perception. Depending on your results, the site may label you an
inventor type or a supervisor type or any of a number of other profiles.
What this test said about me matched exactly the results of an offline
Myers-Briggs test administered by my company.
Emotional IQ test
Emotional IQ measures our capacity to understand and deal
with our own feelings and the feelings of others -- a quality some
researchers see as being just as crucial to success as intelligence.
In this test made for the Utne Reader, author Daniel Goleman cautions
that "there's no single, well-validated paper-and-pencil test for
emotional intelligence like an IQ test, but there are many situations
in which the emotionally intelligent response is quantifiable" --
presumably those situations described in his test. (For more information
about EQ, see the Time magazine article on the topic.)
Enneagram Personality diagram
This is a lengthy test that determines what motivates you. It was
introduced to the West by a Mediterranean mystic and addresses spiritual
enlightenment as well as personal knowledge. More in-depth information
on the Enneagram (including another test) can be found on the Enneagram
Personality Dynamics page.
Body-Mind QueenDom Personality Tests
Psychologist "Cyberia Shrink" has designed several tests to
help you get to know yourself better in many areas. Are you a Type-A
personality? Are you a jealous
person? How's your self-esteem?
You can find the answers to these and other questions at this terrific
site. And for test junkies, there is an extensive list of additional tests on other
sites.
Career Tests
What Career Is For You?
This test on the Job
Search website asks 21 "which would you prefer" questions to determine
what professions match your preferences. How accurate is it? The test
provided me with a list of professions that included magazine editor.
CareerPro
Offering a shortened version of the Myers-Briggs test, this site matches
your answers with a career profile that corresponds to your results.
This test told me I should be an author.
--Julie C. Roth
Click here for Part Two: IQ Tests
(NetGuide originally posted this article on February 22, 1998.)
