Wednesday, December 13, 2006

personality test results

A lot of personality tests don't describe me accurately. I came across the similarminds.com website and decided to take some of them.
Here's one:

Factorlow scorehigh score
Gregariousness46%quiet, reclusiveengaging, socially bold
Sociability58%withdrawn, hiddenwarm, open, inviting
Assertiveness30%timid, gunshycontrolling, aggressive
Poise42%uneasy around otherssocially comfortable
Leadership30%stays in backgroundprefers to lead
Provocativeness38%modest, plays it safebold, uninhibited, cocky
Self-Disclosure42%private, containedvery open and revealing
Talkativeness42%quiet, stealthy, invisiblemotor mouth, loud
Group Attachment26%loves solitudeprefers to be with others
Understanding58%insensitive, schizoidrespectful, sympathetic
Warmth42%disinterested in otherssupportive, helpful
Morality42%break/ignore the rulesplay by the rules
Pleasantness42%aloof or disagreeablegets along with others
Empathy46%out of tune w/ othersin tune with others
Cooperation82%competitive, warlikeagreeable, peaceful
Sympathy70%socially inconsideratesocially conscious
Tenderness34%cold hearted, selfishwarm hearted, selfless
Nurturance34%self pleasing, me firstpeople pleasing, me last
Conscientiousness46%reckless, unscheduled careful, planner
Efficiency26%unreliable, lazyfinisher, follows through
Dutifulness30%leisurely, derelictstrict, rule abiding
Purposefulness30%inattentive, undisciplinedprepared, focused
Organization58%relaxed, obliviousdetail oriented, anal
Cautiousness42%impulsive, spendthriftrestrained, cautious
Rationality70%irrational, randomdirect, logical
Perfectionism42%careless, error pronedetail obsessed
Planning34%disorganized, randomscheduled, clean
Stability18%easily frustratedcalm, cool, unphased
Happiness38%unhappy, dissatisfiedself content, positive
Calmness30%touchy, volatileeven tempered, tolerant
Moderation50%needs instant gratificationeasily delays gratification
Toughness26%hypersensitive, moodythick skinned
Impulse Control46%lacks self controlmaintains composure
Imperturbability26%highly emotionalemotionally contained
Cool-headedness70%demanding, controllingaccommodating
Tranquility26%emotionally volatileemotionally neutral
Intellect90%instinctive, non-analyticalintellectual, analytical
Ingenuity78%lacks new ideasinnovative, novel
Reflection74%unreflective, coarseart and beauty lover
Competence78%slow to understand/thinkintellectual, brainy
Quickness90%intellectually dependentintellectually independent
Introspection82%not self reflectiveself searching
Creativity86%dull headedsynthesizer, iconoclast
Imagination66%practical, realisticdreamer, unrealistic
Depth78%lacks curiositymental explorer


Here's what I think was inaccurate:
Gregariouasness - I'm not extroverted or shy & reclusive, but I'm not in between either. There are, in my opinion, two types of introversion: a) low-level interacter and b) short-burst interacter. They are using a scale with the first type of introversion contrasted with extroversion. I'm the second type of introvert. I talk a lot and interact a lot when I'm around others, but have a strong need for non-interacting time. So basically my behavior alternates between extreme introvert and fairly extroverted, rarely in between. In my case it's probably because of the on/off nature of many things I do being extended to socializing.
Assertiveness - I have no idea why they think I'm not assertive. It seems like they're confusion cautiousness, assertiveness and need to control others, three separate traits. I'm very assertive, cautious, and not very interested in controlling others (except for my brother sometimes, when I'm overwhelmed).
Leadership - They seem to assume that since I'm not concerned with leading others, I stay in the background. Once again, they are ignoring the third pattern. There are not only leaders and followers, but also non-conformists.
Provocativeness - I don't try to cause trouble for the sake of trouble, but I don't try to avoid conflict either. I base my actions towards others mainly on whether I think it's the right thing to do, not on how they'll react.
Self-Disclosure - For some reason, it says I'm not high on this, even though I've been known to tell people I've just met that I'm autistic, a sexual abuse survivor, or both. Not sure why. Their definition of high self-disclosure sounds like it fits me. Perhaps me and the test had different ideas about what some question meant (kind of like the question "I talk too much". I said it was definately not true of me, because I'm fine with talking a lot, but they probably interpreted that as me not being talkative).
Cooperative - It scores me as high on this. I'm not competitive or warlike, but neither am I "agreeable and peaceful". It seems to be looking on a scale from highly competitive to highly cooperative, and I'm highly independent instead.
Tenderness - Why did it rate that low? I am very caring about the suffering of others. I try to calm my rat Anja down when she's scared by moving little letting her hide, being quiet and not making her the center of attention. Maybe they overgeneralized from my tendency to have little sympathy for people who think you should avoid telling them what you really believe in order to spare their feelings. This test is probably very inaccurate for most activists, because activism is usually a combination of being very empathetic and fighting for what you believe in.
Nurturance - Also inaccurate. I don't put myself ahead of others or others ahead of myself, but they took my saying it was "very innacurate" to describe myself as putting others ahead of myself to mean I put myself ahead of others. I believe I'm no better or worse than anyone else, although how I feel about my worth varies widely.
Efficiency - Why do they equate unreliable and lazy? Those are not the same. Lazy is one end of the extreme, unreliable represents variability. A person who is truly unreliable is lazy sometimes and very hard-working other times, like myself. In my case, it's because of differences in executive functions, the cognitive functions involved in planning and regulating thinking and activity.
Dutifulness - They have the same innacurate assumption I've described so often - considering two traits opposite and thinking everyone can be put on a spectrum of those traits when actually some people are different. I'm not leisurely, derelict, strict or rule-abiding. I think up my own rules to follow rather than automatically following society's rules. I think about whether the rules are correct, and only follow good rules.
Perfectionism - Yet another case of ignoring the third option. The book Strong-Willed Child or Dreamer describes my kind of perfectionism well. That is perfectionism that, rather than being characterized by focusing on details and doing it over again until it's perfect, assumes that either it will be perfect first try or I'll never be good at it and might as well give up now.
On the other hand, this test managed to pick up on my mood swings, creativity and 'need for cognition' alright. Of course, those are areas in which the standard way of having those traits isn't that far different from me.

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3 Comments:

Blogger abfh said...

Those tests are often inaccurate, and what's really scary is that some companies use them in hiring decisions. That practice seriously needs to be banned.

7:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

12:43 PM  
Blogger tillytoo9 said...

Will you be posting again soon?

6:43 PM  

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