Different types of personality tests

The 23 Best Personality Tests In Ranking Order (2023 Update)

In this ranked list we are going to go over all of the most respected and scientifically validated personality tests out there. You'll find a range of paid and free personality tests. The best of these personality tests are included when you purchase a WorkStyle profile for you or your team - saving you a lot of money - Click here to learn more about WorkStyle profiles

Here's a short history of personality tests before we get to the list...

The history of personality testing...

In around the year 460BC, the Hippocrates suggested that humans had a 'persona' - a personality that was comprised of four distinct temperaments. He suggested that whichever fluid was more dominant in a person determined their 'humour', and thus their different personality.

In 1879, Withelm Wundt became, not only the 'Father of Psychology', but became the first person to draw a clear distinction between the human body and a human personality theory.

The rise of the psychodynamic approach in the late 1800's lead to a drastic change in the way that we viewed and understood personality in social situations with a group of people.

The founder of the Psychodynamic approach, Sigmund Freud, suggested that our personality was a lot more complexed than originally suggested and that our behavior, and personality, is driven by our innate drives and needs.

Carl Jung, proposed that there are only four human personality preferences: sensing, intuition, thinking and feeling, and that these influence our personality. The 1900's lead to an increased interest in personality testing, assessments, and typing, especially in the workplace. Consequently, gaining more understanding of one's personality helped people build their emotional intelligence, find the career that best fit them, improve productivity, enhance relationships, and so on.

Woolworth personal data sheet was the first modern personality test to be invented; it was used by the united states American army to detect which recruits would be susceptible to shell shock.

Since the 1900's personality testing, personality assessments, and theories of human personality has skyrocketed. People are now very familiar with personality quizzes such as the Myers-Briggs personality test, 16 personalities, big five and various IQ tests.

Why Should I Take Multiple Personality Tests?

Most of us have probably signed up for a movie and TV streaming platform like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+. But have you ever felt like there should be one service that collates all those shows into one platform at one price? Personality tests feel the same way at times too. We take one personality test and it tells us a thing or two about us, but might miss out on one key element or another. So what we do is take another personality test for individual or team analysis.

Let’s take a look at one example: Let’s imagine one organization named XYZ corporation wants to understand its team’s personality profiles to improve workplace dynamics. So they take the Big Five Personality test and pay over $135 for it. But the Big Five Personality traits is too broad or descriptive. So then a company proceeds to take a test like Myers-Briggs to cover that base. But then Myers-Briggs might be lackluster in some areas too.

Benefits for individuals

By taking several personality tests, individual get a more comprehensive assessment and understanding of how they work, think, and act. Each personality test has its own strong points when it comes to assessing how we’re wired. So access to that kind of data will bring you more self-awareness and allows you to maximize your core competencies and traits.

Benefits for teams

The same is true for collective teams as well. We better understand how our team can work together to achieve goals together by looking at each other’s personalities and traits. By accessing multiple tests, everyone understands how each team member is wired and whom they can approach to help them in areas where they might lack certain natural gifting.

Now without further ado. ..

The Most Popular Personality Tests In Ranking Order

1. Truity

Website: Truity.com

Established in 2012, Truity has developed a library of scientifically validated personality tests to help people understand themselves and those around them.

Through their website, users can take a range of tests including;

Over 2 million tests are taken on their website every single month. Their blog is also a fascinating read for those interested in the science of personality testing. Their founder Molly Owens regularly appears in the media to share her insights on how personality tests can be of use in the workplace.

learn more at: Truity.com

2. HIGH5 Test

Website: High5test.com

HIGH5 is the free strengths test that helps people find out what they are naturally good at. If you have ever heard about the StrengthsFinder, this is it.

It is based on the principles of positive psychology, an emerging scientific field studying what makes humans flourish. The core premise is that fixing one's weaknesses can help to avoid failure, but to achieve success, happiness, and fulfillment - one needs to maximize their strengths. Therefore, HIGH5 is designed to identify what's strong in people rather than what's weak.

Unlike other assessments, HIGH5 does not assign you to a specific group or type. Instead, it identifies your unique strengths sequence, which is as unique as 1 in 1.86 million. Due to its action orientation and development focus, the assessment is used by professionals in 95% of Fortune 500. It is frequently applied in personal development, team building, coaching, and leadership development.

After answering 100 questions in 20 minutes, you will identify your HIGH5 or the top 5 most developed strengths free of charge.

Learn more at: High5test.com

3. DiSC

Website: DiscProfile.com

Introduced by Walter Clark in 1940, the DiSC personality profile was designed to measure dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness.

The questionnaire was created predominantly for organizational use and can be used for leadership and executive development, management training, sales training, conflict management, team building, customer services, communication and job coaching.

The DiSC assessment contains 28 questions, where the participant picks a word that is most like them, and a word that is least like them for each question. The online personality test is designed to be easy to use, easy to administer and to be delivered by anyone.

Prices for this assessment range depending on the type of career tests, the size and type of team it is being applied to and the number of people.

For the most popular and applicable test, the ‘everything DiSC Workplace Profile', prices start at $64.50 each (per employee).

For more information, visit the DiSC website. This online test is also included in a WorkStyle profile.

4. 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire

Website: OpenPsychometrics. org

The 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) was first published by Cattle, Tatsuoka, and Eber in 1949, however, since then there have been more additions. This questionnaire is based on Allports 4000 proposed personality traits, which Cattle Narrowed down to 171, and then later down to 16, to design the tool.

The questionnaire is designed to measure normal behaviors and can bed used for career development, employees selection, marital help, and counseling; but it does have some clinical reference.

It measures: warmth, reasoning, emotional stability, dominance, liveliness, rule-consciousness, social boldness, sensitivity, vigilance, abstractedness, privateness, apprehension, openness to change, self-reliance, perfectionism, tension

The questionnaire is designed to be used by people 16 or older.

It takes 30-35 minutes to complete by paper and pencil version, and 30 minutes to complete using a computer/online version.

5. HEXACO Model of Personality Structure Personality Inventory

Website: Hexaco. org

The HEXACO model was constructed in the year 2000 to assess some of the personality dimensions, and theoretical interpretations, that had been outlined in earlier studies.

The model measures six major personality dimensions, namely: Honesty-Humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience.

The inventory is comprised of 200 questions for the full-length assessment or 100 questions for the half-length assessment.

The HEXACO 60 is also available for when there is little time. For more information on accessibility and pricing, visit the HEXACO website.

6. Revised NEO Personality Inventory

Website: Acer.edu.au

Developed by Costa and McCrae in the 1970's and later finalized in 2005, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) was designed to measure and test the Big-5 personality traits that are outlined in the five-factor model - namely: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

The inventory also has six subcategories of each of the five traits, for instance, neuroticism is comprised of anxiety, hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, and vulnerability to stress.

Whereas extraversion is comprised of the subcategories of warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking and positive emotion.

The inventory was originally designed for adults but has shown to be useful for younger ages.

The inventory can be used for counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, and doctors, it has also been increasingly used in organizations over the years.

The inventory consists of 240 items, which takes 30-40 minutes to complete.

Pricing varies depending on what version you buy and how you administer it. For more information on the product, how to administer it and how to buy it, visit this website.

7. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Website: Myersbriggs.org

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was introduced by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, in the 1940s.

The Myers-Briggs test is based upon an earlier theory that was introduced by Carl Jung - a theory that humans experience the world using four psychological functions: sensation, intuition, feeling and thinking. These functions affect many things, such as one's work style, mode of rejuvenation, strengths, weakness and so on. Later Isabel Myers and Katharine Briggs would format those four psychological functions into sixteen personality types.

The MBTI measures whether an individual is extroverted or introverted, whether they have a sensing preference or an intuitive preference when it comes to processing information, whether they prefer to make decisions by thinking or feeling and whether they have a judging or perceiving preference about how they do things.

The results from the questionnaire then place the person onto one of 16 personalities, each has their own strengths and weaknesses, such as the ENJF personality type.

The MBTI can be used by test takers for individual development, employee development, team development, team productivity and to increase team effectiveness.

The questionnaire consists of 93 forced-choice questions, where the participant matches a word with a statement.

The pricing of this tool will vary depending on what type of Myer-briggs type indicator you buy and where you purchase it from.

For more information on the MBTI, visit their website. This test is also included when you purchase a WorkStyle profile.

8. Eysenck Personality Inventory

Website: Similarminds.com

The Eysenck Personality Inventory measures personality on two independent dimensions: extroversion versus introversion and neuroticism versus stability.

The questionnaire generates three scores, the 'E' score which indicates how extroverted you are, an 'N' score which measures how neurotic you are, and a 'lie' score, which measures how much you have lied on the questionnaire to be socially desirable.

The full questionnaire consists of 100 yes/no questions and takes 20-35 minutes to complete.

There is also a shorted questionnaire that consists of 57 yes/no questions, that takes only 10-25 minutes to complete.

The pricing of the questionnaire varies depending on the scoring system you use and whether it is administered online.

You can access the questionnaire and scoring options here.

9. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire

Website: SimilarMinds.com

Not to be confused with the Eysenck Personality Inventory, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was later introduced by Hans Eysenck and Sybil Eysenck to measure personality across three dimensions of temperament: extroversion versus introversion, neuroticism versus stability and psychoticism versus socialization.

The questionnaire consists of 100 yes/no questions, or the short scale version consists of 48 yes/no questions.

This questionnaire isn't a particularly well know personality test so versions, and information on the questionnaire, are hard to find, however, there are some online versions available here.

10. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

Website: PearsonClinical. com

Introduced by Hathaway and McKinley in 1939, the Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI) can be used to assess adult personality and psychopathology across 10 scales: hysteria, depression, paranoia, hypochondriasis, psychopathic deviate, masculinity/femininity, psychastenia, schizophrenia, hypomania, and social introversion.

The inventory does have a high clinical reference and is often used to diagnose and assist treatment plans for mental illnesses.

However, it can also be used in occupational settings to screen candidate - especially to measure the psychological stability of those in high-risk professions, such as the police force, pilots or the army.

The MMPI has been changed and revised over the years, but the most recent version, the MMPI-2, contains 567 true-false questions and takes between a 60 to 90 minutes to complete.

There is a shorter version, the MMPI-2-RF, which contains 338 questions and takes around 30-50 minutes to complete. -More detailed information can be found here.

11. The Birkman Method

Website: Birkman.com

Introduced by Roger Birkman, the Birkman method is an online assessment that measures personality, social perception and occupational interests.

The assessment is designed to provide insight into what specifically drives a person's behaviors in an occupational setting and social context.

The questionnaire has 32 scales altogether, 10 that describe occupational preferences, 11 that describe effective behaviors and 11 that describe interpersonal behaviours and environmental expectations.

The method can be used to assess personality in any setting, and is often used in organisational settings for leadership development, team building, career exploration, talent selection and to enhance sales and negotiation.

The assessment consists of 298 questions, 250 of which are true-false questions and 48 of which are multiple-choice. This personality assessment takes around 30 minutes to complete online. Pricing not directly available, visit their website for more information.

12. Values and Motives Inventory

Website: PsyTech.com

The Values and Motives Inventory is designed to identify what drives and energises a person and where they are most likely to gain satisfaction from work.

The inventory measures interpersonal, intrinsic and extrinsic values as well as summarising possible motivating and demotivating factors to an individual at work.

The inventory takes around 20-minutes to complete and can be used for personal growth, development and team building , but it is not recommended for selection.

It can also be used for counselling, coaching and vocational guidance. Pricing is not available online, but you can view a sample report here.

13. Motives, Values and Preference Inventory

Website: HoganAssessments.com

Introduced by Hogan and Hogan, the Motive, Values and Preferences Inventory (MPVI) evaluates a persons core goals, values, drivers and interests that determine what they strive to attain.

The results from this inventory can, in return, predict job success and satisfaction.

The MPVI assesses personality on 10 scales: Recognition, Power, Hedonism, Altruisticism, Affiliation, Tradition, Security, Commerce, Aesthetics and Science.

The MPVI isn't designed to be invasive or intrusive, making it excellent for organisational use.

The MPVI can be used for leadership, to identify a persons fit to the organisational culture and to help create long-term strategies for career development.

The inventory takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete and can be administered online, or be completed by pen and paper. Pricing is not available online, but it is most likely expensive.

For more information, visit their website.

14. Hogan Personality Inventory

Website: HoganAssessments.com

Also introduced by Hogan and Hogan in the 1980's, the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) is based on the five-factor model and the socio-analytic theory.

The HPI measures personality across key behavioural tendencies: adjustment, ambition, sociability, interpersonal sensitivity, prudence, inquisitiveness and learning approach.

It also has six occupational scale which measure: service orientation, stress tolerance, reliability, clerical potential and sales potential.

Designed to not be invasive or intrusive and to have a focus towards occupational interest and use, the HPI is handy to businesses and can be used for staff selection, personal development, staff retention and leadership.

The HPI contains 206 questions and takes 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Pricing is not directly available, but more information on how to access and administer the inventory can be found here.

15. Hogan Development Survey

Website: HoganAssessments.com

This psychometric measure was also introduced by Hogan and Hogan in 1994.

The survey is designed to measure dark personality in an occupational setting across 11 traits: excitable, skeptical, cautious, reserved, leisurely, bold, mischievous, colourful, imaginative, diligent and dutiful.

The traits measured are all qualities believed to emerge in employees at times of strain and are traits that can disrupt employee relationships, damage the companies reputation and derail peoples chances of success.

The questionnaire is designed to have no clinical reference or to diagnose any mental illnesses and is therefore incredibly valuable to organisations.

The HDS can be used to aid employee career development, recognise employee weaknesses and mitigate there before it affects their performance.

Limited information on the length of the assessment and the pricing is available online, but for more detail visit the Hogan website.

16. Californian Psychological Inventory

Website: Psychometrics.com

Introduced by Harrison Gough in 1956, the Californian Psychological Inventory is designed to describe 'everyday behaviour' across 18-scales.

The inventory can be used for employee selection, individual development, succession planning, employee selection, employee retention, executive coaching and can outline performance improvements and motivation of individuals.

The questionnaire can be used by anyone over the age of 13. The inventory can be administer online, or by pen and paper and contains 434 true-false questions, taking around 45-60 minutes to complete.

There are lots of different options on types of ways to use the Californian Psychological Inventory , all with varying prices - for more information, visit here.

17. Personality Assessment Inventory

Website: SigmaAssessmentSystems.com

The Personality Assessment Inventory was introduced by Leslie Morey in 1991 to assess personality and psychopathology across four scales:

(1) clinical scales, which measures neurotic, psychotic and problematic behavioural tendencies;

(2) treatment consideration scales, which measures aggression, suicidal ideation, nonsupport, stress and treatment rejection;

(3) interpersonal scales, which provides an assessment of whether someone is warmly affiliative versus coldly rejecting, or dominant versus submissive; and

(4) validity scales, which are there to ensure the test is valid.

The inventory consists of 344 items that are measured on a four point scale from 'not true at all' 'slightly true' 'mainly true' 'false'.

The inventory takes an hour or less to complete and can be completed online for £799, or by pen and paper for £399 - it is not clear online how many tests this gives you for this price, but for more information look here.

18. Personality and Preference Inventory

Website: Psionline.com

Designed by Max Kostick in the early 1960's, the Personality and Preference Inventory is designed to comprehensively cover aspects of personality that are relevant to the workplace and is designed to elicit behaviours and preferences that are appropriate to vacant positions in the workplace.

The inventory has ten 'role scales', which measures our perception of our behaviour in a work situation; and ten 'needs scales', which measure an individuals preference for behaving in a particular way.

The inventory is designed to be simple to administer, to avoid clinical terminology and interpretation and to be used by non-psychologists, making it great for personal use, or for organisational use.

The inventory consists of 180 items and take approximately 15-minutes to complete.

There is no pricing or direct link to the inventory online, but more information is available here about the Personality and Preference Inventory.

19. Keirsey Temperament Sorter

Website: Verywellmind.com

David Keirsey expanded on the temperament theory that was originally introduced by Hippocrates (outlined in the introduction to this blog).

The questionnaire measures personality across four temperaments: artisan, guardian, idealist and rational.

Keirsey then divided these four temperaments intro two categories (roles), each with two types (role variants) - these 16 personality types correlate with the 16 personality types that are outlined in the Myers-Briggs Personality Type inventory.

The test is very popular in the US and have even been used by the Bank of America and the US air force.

There is little information on the nature, length or pricing of the questionnaire online.

20. True Colours

Website: My-personality-test

Introduced by Don Lowry in 1978, the True Colours test was designed to measure four basic learning styles: independent thinkers, pragmatic planners, action-oriented, people-oriented.

Each of the learning styles represents a colour (hence the name), and each person can be a unique blend of all of four colours.

The results from this assessment can be used to help mitigate potential conflict between individuals by understanding each others characteristics.

Little information is available online but a quick test can be taken for free to get a rough idea of what your true colours may be.

21. Caliper Profile

Website: Caliper.com.au

The Caliper profile is an employee and applicant assessment instrument that measures an individuals job performance potential and can find out which person is best suited for the job based on their intrinsic motivation.

The results from these profiles are often used for hiring, employee development, team improvement, talent alignment, succession planing, employee engagement and to increase productivity.

The Caliper Profile consists of 180 multiple choice questions and can sometimes take as long as 2 hours to complete.

22. Rorschach Inkblot Test

Website: Rorschach-Inkblot-test.com

Invented by Hermann Rorschach in the 1960s, the inkblot test is perhaps one of the most unique and 'quirky' personality tests out there.

Typically done in person, the inkblot test is an assessment where an examiner presents the participant with an inkblot, and the participant tells the examiner what they see.

The participant perception of the inkblot is then analysed and interpreted by a psychologist using complex algorithms - this is then says things about the participants personality.

The test is designed to deter the psychological state of an individual and can be used on children from the age of 5, all the way to adults.

Traditionally the test is done in person with an examiner, but you can do a free shortened test online.

23. Szondi Test

Website: Learning-Mind. com

Developed by Leopold Szondi in 1935, the Szondi test is based on the systematic drive theory and the dimensional model of personality.

During the test, participants are shown a series of facial photographs which represent people who have been classified as homosexual, sadist, epileptic, hysteric, catatonic, paranoid, depressive and a maniac.

The participants then pick the most appealing and most repulsive pictures, and it is believe that the one deemed most 'repulsive' displays something about our personality as we have formed an aversion, or become repressed to that psychological state.

This traditional test is not really used that much anymore, but you can still complete some free versions online such as this one.

Frequently asked questions:

Can I use these tests in the workplace?

Yes.

In recent years there has been an increase in the use of personality testing in the workplace and there is a growing amount of research to support its use.

Studies have found that employees who fit well in an organization are more satisfied and more likely to stay within the organization - and whats the most effective way to ensure an employee fits into an organization?

You got it, personality testing!

Richard Branson also once quoted that 'company knowledge and job-specific skills can be learned, but you can't train a personality', so in order to get the most effective employees for your team you could incorporate personality testing at some point.

For personality tools, specifically designed to measure personality in the workplace, check out this post I wrote a few months ago.

However, there are dangers of using personality testing in the workplace, especially for hiring. For more insight into the potential problems of using personality testing in the workplace, give this article a read.

These seem old, are there modern day alternatives?

Granted, some of these tests are fairly old and perhaps slightly outdated, such as the inkblot testing.

However, the tests such as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, DiSC and the assessments introduced by Hogan and Hogan are pretty modern and have been shown to have good reliability and validity in recent years.

However, if you really do want to take a step into the modern day and explore new alternatives, there has been an increase in online tools that combine many personality tests in a fun and insightful way.

Many of these tests are aimed at organizations, but some could be used for personal use.

Can I use these on my children to predict their success at school?

There are studies to suggest that a child's personality will predict school success.

For example, studies have suggested that children who are highly conscientious will be more successful in school due to their ability to be organized, meet deadlines, comply with rules and work hard.

There is also research to suggest that the personality traits we display can influence our career choice and success.

However, as with almost all things in psychology, there is a huge debate as to whether anything humans do is due to nature or nurture - even our personality, is it influenced by our environment or our genetics?

So, it is possible, that when wondering about your child's school and future life success, their personality will not be the only influencing factor, their success can be greatly influenced by how you, their parent, raise them.

Will knowing the results of my personality tests benefit me in life?

Yes, in many ways knowing and understanding your personality can benefit you in life.

Firstly, understanding your personality will help you at work as it can help you decide what career path to chose, how to develop this career and what sort jobs to apply for based on your personality (and how to behave in these interviews).

Understanding your own, unique, personality will also aid you in personal development - you can understand how you best interact with others, how you need to relax, what motivates you and how you handle stress or pressure.

You are the only person in the world with your personality; you should really invest in learning to understand it.

However, it is important to remember that personality testing does force people into categories or scales; so, although understanding your personality in psychological terminology is great, do be mindful that it may not always be completely accurate.

What do I do if I don't get the result I wanted?

Then you are not who you want to be, and there's nothing wrong with that either.

Learn to understand your own strengths and weakness and learn how you can use these to your advantage.

Say, if you so desperately wanted to be an extrovert so you could be 'popular' or accepted by others, but it turns out that you're actually massively introverted, then you must learn to understand what your needs and wants actually are to be satisfied.

You will most likely not want to be surrounded by people, you will prefer solo work and you will prefer to unwind by being alone - and there's nothing wrong with that either, both extroverts and introverts can be popular, successful and satisfied.

Conclusion

That wraps up 2023 edition of the ranked list of best personality tests.

I hope you find the test you were looking for ;)

Got a preferred test that we haven't included?

Pop it into the comments below.

20+ Personality Tests You Must Take (+ What They Mean for Your Work Life)

Personality quizzes are everywhere, but not all of them are created equal.

Buzzfeed alone has hundreds of them ranging from "Which Sandwich Are You?" (I'm a hamburger with lettuce instead of buns by the way, and I feel attacked) to "Which Buzzfeed Quiz Are You." While these are solid time wasters, they're not going to gift you some lost truth about why you are the way you are. However, there are free personality tests out there that can spur valuable self-reflection and even help you in the workplace.

Now, before you read any further, I have to say, no personality test (especially a free personality test) can boil down your unique thoughts, feelings, preferences, experiences, and behaviors. So instead of looking at personality tests as comprehensive overviews of who we are, let's use them as tools.

These tools, when wielded properly, can help in various aspects of your life. They may give you an understanding of your introvert tendencies or help explain why you tend to be a perfectionist.

With regard to work, in particular, understanding these types of personality traits can help you better empathize with your coworkers and boss, reflect on how you view yourself and gain insight into how others might view you. 

The Best Personality Assessment Type Tests

Here are a few popular tests that may offer some valuable insight into your specific personality dimensions and characteristics. We think these personality tests are well worth your time. 

1. Myers-Briggs Personality Test

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test (mbti test) is taking over the world. Some employers have even started asking for your Myers-Briggs test score in interviews! The reason for this test's success is two-fold. One, it's a free quiz that takes less than 15 minutes, making it accessible. Two, it measures personality traits on a contrasting spectrum, which means the results are read as black and white—making them easy to understand.  

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

I'm conflicted about this method of "scoring," because I find people unique in their shady grey areas. It can be confining, and often a gross oversimplification, to label someone by a five-letter score.

No one score is better than another, and no matter which letter we're looking at, all of them have qualities that—if taken too far—can have negative consequences. So again, we won't look at this test as an end-all-be-all, but as a tool for self-reflection. 

How to Read Your Score: 

Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)

The first letter in your score represents how you interact with your surroundings. Do you feel like your brain is firing on all cylinders—like you're your best self—when you're out with a group? So much so that you seek out these types of experiences? You're exhibiting extraversion in a major way.

On the flip side, if external stimulus can become draining and overwhelming and you seek out solitary moments, you're leaning toward introversion.

Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)

If you're trying to decipher why you focus on certain information more than others, this is the letter for you. "Sensing" or observant individuals will focus on information that is delivered as tried and true. They tend to be pragmatic and thrive in routine. "Intuitive" individuals enjoy ideas, novelty, and imaginative problem-solving.  

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)

This letter interprets how you respond to emotions within yourself and others. For "Thinking" individuals, subduing emotions is important, as they value efficiency and logic. Often, this type is misclassified as cold or unfeeling, when in reality they experience emotions, but might not view them as "useful" in situations.

"Feeling" individuals, are more sensitive to their own and others emotions, potentially making this type more empathetic. This type can be misclassified as weak in the workplace when, often, these are the people who will go above and beyond to fight for their principles and beliefs.  

Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) 

This trait helps break down your decision-making process and how you respond to structure. The "Judging" trait responds best to certainty and order, and often folks with this trait have contingency plans for every event. Complete with mental check-lists, this trait translates to a strong work ethic but might be viewed as inflexible. The "Perceiving" (or prospecting) trait responds more readily to unexpected challenges and thrives in sifting through a variety of options.

2. The Enneagram Test

The Enneagram Test is a wildly popular personality profile test that has been around since the 1960s but has recently experienced a kind of resurgence in popularity thanks to social media. There are countless Enneagram Instagram accounts—both serious and funny—that focus on the Enneagram personality types.  

The Enneagram essentially says that there are nine major personality types. These are: 

• Type 1: The Reformer
• Type 2: The Helper
• Type 3: The Achiever
• Type 4: The Individualist
• Type 5: The Investigator
• Type 6: The Loyalist
• Type 7: The Enthusiast
• Type 8: The Challenger
• Type 9: The Peacemaker 

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

Once you take the test, you'll receive a score that shows you which of these types is your "basic personality type," or the one that you align with the most. What makes the Enneagram a little more nuanced than some other personality tests, though, is that they also include what they call "wings."

The wing is most often one of the numbers that is beside your "basic personality type" number. Your wing includes personality types that you likely also have but that aren't as "dominant" as the ones in your basic type.  

The Enneagram also includes what they call the "levels of development" within each personality type. These levels range from healthy to average to unhealthy. You might experience an "unhealthy" trait when you're stressed out or burned out or just plain tired.

These levels allow you to have an impersonal look at why you may feel you'd be "acting out of character" if you make a mistake at work or if you are rude to someone. The Enneagram says it may actually be in your character, but only when you're operating at an average or unhealthy level and not at your "best." 

The Enneagram is super complex (and it's helpful to look at the visual of how it works), but it's fun to learn what "type" your friends, significant other, and coworkers are. While it can't explain everything, it might provide insight into why your friend seems highly sensitive when you learn she is a "Two" or why your coworker doesn't veer away from confrontation when you learn she's an "Eight."

3.

The Four Tendencies

We're cheating a little bit with this one. That's because The Four Tendencies doesn't gauge your personality, but rather, how you respond to expectations. The creator, Gretchen Rubin, explains that there are two types of expectation. Inner—which is something like a self-created New Year's resolution—and outer—which are things like boss-assigned deadlines, or answering a friend.

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

Your "tendency" (either Upholder, Obliger, Rebel, or Questioner) is determined by how you respond to these expectations. Rubin argues that people who understand their tendency "make better decisions, meet deadlines...suffer less stress, and engage more deeply with others."

While this might seem like a lofty statement, I was pleasantly surprised by how learning my tendency—Obliger—and organizing my goals with my tendency in mind, helped quell some feelings of burnout and allowed me to work with a coworker more effectively.

As an Obliger, I respond well to outer expectations. If a deadline is set by a coworker or boss, I'm the first to create an organized list of how we're going to meet it. At my last job, I didn't feel supported in this, so my perception was that I was the only one who cared about the task at hand. This lead to major feelings of burnout.

Later, I discovered my coworker was a Questioner, meaning she responds best to inner expectations and needs to understand why a deadline is set to move forward. Once we learned each other's tendencies, we had an easier time communicating. I would explain more clearly why deadlines were set, and she would be more intentional about setting top priorities so I wouldn't become overwhelmed. Win, win!

4. The Big 5 Personality Test 

Also known as the five-factor model or OCEAN Personality Test, this personality test is the only one recognized by personality psychologists. (Psst, if you want to know more about this awesome-sounding profession, check out this podcast episode of Ologies. )

What's unique about this test is that you are looking at five broad dimensions of how people differ, and instead of saying you are either "this" or "that," you are given a percentage.

The five factors this test looks at are: 

• Openness to experience
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

Because this model is recognized in academia, there are a few studies that take advantage of this naming convention. One that caught my eye talks about how people who exhibit a high percentage of conscientiousness might find more professional success. It also shares behaviors that contribute to conscientiousness—so if you didn't score high in conscientiousness—you can fold these behaviors into your routine.

A challenge with this test is that the agreeableness trait can be incredibly difficult to judge on your own. Depending on how self-assured you are, you might view yourself as more or less agreeable. Because of this, I recommend having a trusted friend or family member (that you feel safe with) take the test as you. It can be so eye-opening to compare these results, especially if you've ever wondered how other people view your actions. 

5. CliftonStrengths Assessment

While the CliftonStrengths Assessment is not only for work, it's one of the most career-oriented personality tests out there. (We even hosted a webinar about CliftonStrengths Assessments). They have assessments that are geared toward managers so that you can learn how your personality type plays into your management style—and how the personality types of your team members play into their work.

This assessment separates personality types into four "domains." These are:

• Strategic Thinking
• Relationship Building
• Influencing 
• Executing 

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

Under these four domains, there are 34 separate "themes" that allow you to see where your natural talents fall.  

Essentially, this personality test helps you determine what your strengths are—and how to harness them. Another benefit of the CliftonStrengths Assessment is that it helps explain the motivation behind why people behave in certain ways. It makes it easier to work with people when you understand your own personality and reasons for motivation—and when you understand theirs, it's even more beneficial.

The Best Fun Personality Tests

As someone who is constantly curious about why I am the way I am—I'm elated whenever a new personality test comes on the scene. Below are a few more tests that I would definitely categorize as "fun." 

• 6. The Hexaco Personality Inventory

• 7. Which Hogwarts House Are You In? (I'm only

  kind of kidding about this one.)

• 8. Which Side Hustle Is Right For You? 

• 9. BuzzFeed Quizzes

• 10.

  Daily Horoscopes (even Vogue offers one)

• 11. Brain Test

• 12. What's Your Workplace Love Language (based on The 5 Love Languages)

• 13. Human Design Blueprint (we love this one from Erin Claire Jones)

The Best Personality Disorder Tests

First, a disclaimer. We are not psychologists and these are to be done for recreation purposes only. One of the reasons why we love learning about our own personality type is that it impacts how we work with others.

Additionally, we've seen first-hand how it can positively impact a team to learn more about your coworker's and boss' personalities. Again, these are meant to be used for recreation purposes only. Personality disorders are a serious matter and if you suspect you or someone close to you has one, we recommend connecting with a mental health professional. 

14. Borderline Spectrum Test

The borderline spectrum encompasses a range of symptoms, all pointing to the presence of borderline psychic organization or borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, there is considerable variation in the type and severity of the symptoms. People experiencing BPD symptoms can have frequent mood changes that are intense and last longer than usual. Negative thoughts and fear of abandonment can overshadow otherwise healthy relationships. 

This borderline spectrum test combines the insights of several prior efforts to research the borderline spectrum to bring you a single, composite test measuring borderline personality occurrences across 10 different domains.

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

The IDRlabs Borderline Personality Test utilizes research from psychology professor Mary Zanarini, as well as DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, to produce this free online test. BPD's consistency is challenging due to ongoing stigma and the disorder’s similarity to other mental health conditions. The reliability of these different results can make the accuracy in diagnosing challenging, but Dr. Zanarini’s McLean screening instrument demonstrates one step toward improving diagnostic efficacy and subsequent treatment of affected individuals. .

15. Dark Triad Test

The Dark Triad is a personality inventory that explores the socially undesirable traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. The Dark Triad test is often used by police and the courts, in psychiatric wards and evaluations, and even in big corporations.

Studies have shown that people who score high on the Dark Triad are more likely to commit crimes or get in trouble with the law and also more likely to cause social distress among their friends or problems for their workplace.

On the other hand, studies have also shown that Dark Triad individuals are often perceived as possessing leadership qualities and that they have high social status.

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

The three socially dark characteristics of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy are often conceptualized as three interrelated traits known collectively as the Dark Triad.

This test aims to measure the respondent's Dark Triad traits according to brief and easy-to-answer test items that provide an accurate measure of the individual's Dark Triad traits.

Relationship Personality Tests

Another part of our lives where it helps to have more insight into how your personality plays a role is with your relationships. Both personal and work relationships. Here are a few of our favorite tests!

16. Couples Psychometric Test

The Couples Psychometrics Test determines which TV or movie couple you and your partner are based on a set number of questions.

The Couples Psychometrics Test can be found on the Open-Source Psychometrics Project's website, which offers tons of personality tests that are used to collect anonymous data and research (some of the data is even published in academic journals). The test, which can be found under "Statistical 'Which Character' Personality Quiz" on the Open Source Psychometric Project's website, uses a slider bar to determine whether you and your significant other are "creative or conventional," "alpha or beta, "strict or lenient," etc.

It can be done in five versions: recommended, quick, emoji, recommended + emoji, and exhaustive.

Each version varies in length, with the recommended version offering 36 questions per partner. Once you finish, the test will match you with fictional couples from movies and TV shows who have similar personality traits.

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

The website says that the test is for "educational and entertainment use only" and that "it should not be used as psychological advice of any kind and comes without any guarantee of accuracy or fitness for any particular purpose."

So, no, it's not 100 percent accurate and probably can't help fix any real issues in your relationship, but it's fun and maybe that's what your relationship needs the most. 

17. DISC Assessment Test

The DISC assessment determines where you lie on four DISC factors:

• Dominance
• Influence
• Steadiness
• Compliance

DISC is one of the most popular and authoritative career assessments out there, and many companies encourage their employees to take it. In fact, our CEO Lauren McGoodwin, took it in her last job and literally credits it for helping her work better with her colleagues.

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

There's no doubt that personality affects our career ambitions, as well as how we perform in different workplace environments. If you’re particularly extraverted, maybe you’ve chosen a career path that enables you to work daily with large groups of people.

If you have certain communication styles that are a complete 180 from your boss' style, then maybe you two clash a lot. 

Arming yourself with a sense of self-awareness could help you find your optimal career path, foster better work relationships, and mitigate work conflict more effectively. 

18. Crystal

Crystal provides a free DISC assessment, which tells you how your personality fits into your work environment, who you work well with, who you might have a conflict with, how you perceive others’ behaviors, and how others perceive yours.

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

The test helps you understand how your own personality biases you towards certain colleagues (i.e. your personality might take another coworker’s comments offensively, while the coworker just believes in being direct), which could strengthen your work relationships.

Crystal also enables you to build an extensive personality profile on a single website. When you have that, you can input your company, and Crystal lets you see your colleague’s personality profiles. By seeing your colleague's personality data, you have access to critical information that impacts your responses, interactions, and empathy toward them.

The Best EQ + Emotional Intelligence Tests

On the simplest level, “emotional intelligence” is the ability to read the room. It’s a person’s innate sense of what’s going on beneath surface-level dialogues and how the people around them actually feel about the situation at hand.  Arguably, having emotional intelligence is the most important factor in dealing with conflict and communicating with others.

In fact, research has shown success is 80-90% attributable to emotional intelligence (EI), and only 10-20% to your IQ.

19. Berkeley Emotional Intelligence Test

The Berkeley Emotional Intelligence Test, shows you 20 pictures and asks you to recognize the facial expression on each person’s face. It’s easy, quick, fun, and an informative way to learn how well you read other people’s emotions— which is a critical skill for assessing and mitigating conflict.

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

When you have a better understanding of your EI, you can use that information to your advantage. Facial expressions are a universal language of emotion, instantly conveying happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and much more. Reading these expressions is essential to compassion and empathy.  

20. VeryWellMind Emotional Intelligence Test

The VeryWellMind Emotional Intelligence only asks you 10 quick questions before delivering your results. It’s admittedly not medical or scientific by any means but does offer other articles depending on your score. 

How This Test Can Help Your Career/Personal Life:

Similar to the last test, it arms you with valuable information on how well you can read the emotions of others. With EI playing such a big role in your overall success, being armed with this data can never hurt.

Psychological tests: types and principle of operation

Often people take psychological tests on the Internet. They make it possible to determine the type of personality by the answers and tell a lot of interesting things about a person. What is the principle of such tests? Do their results differ from those that can be obtained from professional research?

Contents:

• 1 The first psychological tests and the history of their origin
• 2 The work of tests in modern realities
• 3 Varieties of psychological tests
• 4 Can tests be trusted?
• 5 Why are people interested in any kind of tests on the Internet?

The first psychological tests and the history of their origin

The first tests for human psychology appeared at the end of the 19th century. Their creator was James McKean Cattell, an American psychologist, author of the article "Intellectual Tests and Measurements", which was published in 1890. After this article, psychological tests gained great popularity, and they began to be carried out professionally. However, then the approach to tests was very different from what we are used to and rather resembled clinical trials.

The question-and-answer form of testing did not appear until 1904 thanks to Alfred Binet. It was according to its format and the development of James Cattell that other specialists began to create tests. A few years later, in 1917, the US Army ordered the development of a collective methodology for the formation of tests that did not require specialists to have any knowledge on the topic of psychology. Arthur Sinton Otis fulfilled this order and made a new round in the evolution of psychology tests. After that, the massive development of new ways of knowing the human brain and the principles of its work began in the United States of America.

The work of tests in modern realities

It should be understood that the test is a standardized method, worked out over the years, by which a person always comes to one of the previously prepared scenarios. It determines his personality type, character, mindset and other characteristics. Each response in the system is predetermined, and it is impossible to go beyond it. Today, psychological tests are carried out everywhere: in schools, when applying for a job, in medical institutions, in social structures. Among them there are special ones for children, for women or men, people of certain categories. Each of these tests has its own nuances, some are aimed at identifying mental disorders, others determine how productive or creative a person is. On the Internet, you can even find tests that can identify a totem animal from a person’s answers. Of course, this will no longer be a scientific test, and you should not take it extremely seriously. In principle, whether psychological tests on the Internet can be trusted is a rather controversial issue. You can, most likely, only if this test is on some serious portal dedicated to psychology.

Varieties of psychological tests

There are several types:

1. Verbal tests

This type of testing is used to select employees for various vacancies. The tasks that the test proposes to perform assess a person's ability to correctly and logically perceive information in writing, and interpret it. In addition, the results of verbal testing reveal the ability to form logical conclusions, to independently organize reports, as well as to clearly formulate thoughts and questions.

How do psychological tests of this type work? Verbal testing is structured as follows: a person is given an excerpt from the text for review, after which a conclusion is written that can be drawn from what they read, but they may misinterpret the essence of the text. The subject must make a choice whether he agrees with the conclusion below or not.

2. Achievement tests

They are aimed at assessing the level of skills and knowledge achieved by the examinee, checking for potential. This category of tests is divided into subcategories, some of which are narrowly focused tests, and the other - more extensive. This form of testing does not have a single form and structure: a person may be asked to perform a certain action, solve a problem, write a text, it all depends on the format of the test.

3. Simulation test

One of the popular testing methods. To conduct it, the subject is offered to complete a practical task, but is asked how he is going to perform it. For example, a person who has come to take a job as a teacher will be asked to simulate a situation in which he will need to calm children who are making a lot of noise. Here, the test subject needs to approach testing with all responsibility, clearly answer questions, and also try to think through everything to the smallest detail.

4. Intelligence test

The most famous and widespread is the IQ test. The features of such tests are as follows:

• are aimed at verbal-logical thinking;
• evaluate the development of a visual-effective, as well as a visual-figurative type of thinking;
• determine the quality of memory, concentration, orientation in space, verbal development of the personality.

At the moment, you can find dozens and even hundreds of varieties of psychological testing, and all thanks to such great people as Sigmund Freud, Burres Frederick Skinner, Jean Piaget. The most popular standard test for personality psychology, which allows you to determine the personal and psychophysiological properties of a person. For example, the pessimist-realist-optimist test falls into this category.

In today's world, new generation technologies have left an indelible mark on psychology. That is why clinics already have machines that completely replace the routine work of writing tests and analyzing the respondents. All this has now been replaced by equipment that does such work many times faster and more efficiently.

Can tests be trusted?

Most of the questionnaires are still created abroad and may not correspond at all with our culture and our way of life. The origin of the test plays a big role, because the more local and closer the test is to a person, the better he will be able to describe it.

There are also universal test methods, however, they are less accurate. A great role and responsibility also lies with the specialist who works with the testee; a lot depends on his qualifications. Any person can really conduct a survey, but not everyone will be able to correctly interpret and interpret the answers, as well as correctly convey them to a person. Only a true professional can do this.

For example, the Cattell test can only be performed if the employee has a license obtained after a year of training. There is no way to find educational materials for free on the Internet; they are sold only in special stores and are expensive. If a person manages to find the Cattell test on the Internet, then only an incomplete version, and testing it on your own and making a diagnosis for yourself is useless. Only an experienced specialist will be able to assess the results sharply from the outside, having the necessary knowledge on this topic.

Why are people interested in all kinds of tests on the Internet?

It is important for everyone to have an idea of ​​what kind of person he is, to study himself and discover something new in himself, which he might not have seen or been unaware of before. Tests become indispensable assistants in this matter. Passing tests practically does not take time, which means that it is available to everyone. The compilers probably know what kind of audience reads them, and what exactly people expect from the results of passing the test. That is why many people, having reached the end of testing, thought to themselves: “Wow, it really is!”.

Unfortunately, most people don't realize that the tests are designed so that there are no answers that would not fit, they are generalized and fit the description of each in advance. In this case, the Barnum effect works one hundred percent. In other words, a person clings to a certain part of the description of his personality and does not pay attention to outright inconsistencies that are associated with the lack of proper personalization of the test.

Test results should never be taken as 100% information about you, and the advice prescribed in some of them should not be taken seriously. Each test has a strict focus, so in no case should you stigmatize yourself with what is written in the next IQ test found on the Internet, or refer to the Rorschach test found in a book. Such methods of introspection are no more accurate than horoscopes built on the same principle of the Barnum effect.

Psychology is a science, and psychological testing is a serious procedure that requires deep knowledge in this area. That is why you can never unquestioningly trust online tests that can make you very happy or, conversely, disappoint you in a minute. However, self-knowledge and self-development are necessary stages in the formation of a personality. If you want to know yourself better, choose your tests carefully. And if you're concerned about development, take courses based on human psychology. Wikium offers a wide range of courses to help develop certain skills. For example, the course "Mentalist" helps to learn to understand people's behavior, predict their emotions and reactions to different situations.

Test types | Psylist.net

The content of the tests can be summarized in several groups: intelligence tests, ability tests, achievement tests and personality tests.

Contents

Intelligence tests

Designed to study the level of intellectual, mental development of a person. In this case, intelligence does not mean any manifestation of individuality, but primarily cognitive processes or functions (thinking, memory, attention). Intelligence tests are historically the earliest methods of psychodiagnostics.

The concept of “intelligence quotient” has firmly entered psychodiagnostics as the main and fairly stable indicator of mental development. This coefficient was calculated on the basis of a diagnostic examination by dividing the so-called “mental age” (according to the number of completed test tasks) by the chronological or passport age and multiplying the resulting quotient by 100. A value above 100 indicated that the subject solved tasks intended for an older age, if the IQ was lower, it was concluded that the subject could not cope with the tasks appropriate for his age. With the help of a special statistical apparatus, the limits of the norm were calculated, that is, those values ​​of 10 that indicated the normal intellectual development of a person of a certain age. These limits ranged from 84 to 116. If 10 was below 84, this was considered an indicator of low intelligence, if above 116 - as an indicator of high intellectual development. Abroad, especially in the United States, intelligence tests have become very widespread in the public education system. When entering educational institutions of various types and for work, tests are used as an indispensable tool in the arsenal of methods of a practical psychologist.

Among the most famous tests of intelligence used by domestic psychologists are the tests of D. Wexler, R. Amthauer, J. Raven, Stanford-Binet. These tests have good reliability and validity (worse with standardization on our population).

Team of authors (M. K. Akimova, E. M. Borisova, K. M. Gurevich, V. G. Zarkhin, V. T. Kozlova, G. P. Loginova, A. M. Raevsky, N. A. Ferens ) a special mental development diagnostic test was created for ASTUR applicants. The test includes 8 subtests: 1) awareness, 2) double analogies, 3) lability, 4) classifications, 5) generalization, 6) logical schemes, 7) numerical series, 8) geometric figures.

When processing test results, you can get not only a total score, but also an individual test profile of the test subject, indicating the priority mastery of concepts and logical operations on the material of the main cycles of academic disciplines (social-humanitarian, physical-mathematical, natural sciences) and the predominance of verbal or figurative thinking. Thus, on the basis of testing, it is possible to predict the success of the subsequent education of graduates in educational institutions of various profiles. Along with the peculiarities of mental development, the test makes it possible to obtain a characteristic of the speed of the thought process (subtest "lability"), which is evidence that the subject has a certain severity of the properties of the nervous system ("lability - inertia"). For operational diagnostics of a student's intellectual level, a "short selection test" (KOT) (V. N. Buzin) can be used.

At a higher school, intelligence tests can be used to test applicants at the stage of their admission to a university, to monitor the peculiarities of mental development in the course of training, to identify difficulties, difficulties and decide on the necessary work for correction or self-correction, to assess the quality of education itself - in terms of how much it contributes to the full mental development of young people.

Tests of educational and professional achievements

To diagnose the success of learning, special methods are developed, which are called by different authors tests of educational achievements, success tests, didactic tests.

Achievement tests are designed to assess the success of mastering specific knowledge and even individual sections of academic disciplines, and are a more objective indicator of learning than grades. The latter often becomes not only an assessment of the student's knowledge, but also an instrument of influence on him, it can express the attitude of the teacher to his discipline, organization, behavior, etc. Achievement tests are devoid of these shortcomings, of course, provided that they are correctly compiled and applied.

Achievement tests are used to assess the success of mastering specific knowledge in order to determine the effectiveness of programs, textbooks and teaching methods, the characteristics of the work of individual teachers, teaching teams, etc. , i.e. with the help of these tests they diagnose past experience, the result of mastering those or other disciplines or their sections.

At the same time, it cannot be denied that achievement tests can also, to a certain extent, predict the pace of a student's progress in a particular academic discipline, since the high or low level of knowledge mastery at the time of testing cannot but affect the further learning process.

Achievement tests are different from intelligence tests. The latter are not aimed at diagnosing specific knowledge or skills, but require the student to be able to perform certain mental actions with concepts (even educational ones), such as analogies, classifications, generalizations, etc.

In order to correctly answer the questions included in achievement test requires knowledge of specific facts, dates, etc. A diligent student with a good memory can easily find the correct answers in the tasks of the achievement test. However, if he has poorly formed skills to work with concepts, analyze them, find essential features, etc. , then the tasks of the intelligence test can cause significant difficulties, since good memory alone is not enough to complete them. It is necessary to possess a number of mental operations, knowledge of those concepts on the basis of which the test tasks are composed.

Along with achievement tests designed to assess the assimilation of knowledge in specific disciplines or their cycles, more widely oriented tests are being developed in psychology. These are, for example, tests for assessing individual skills that a student needs at different stages of learning, such as some general principles for solving mathematical problems, analyzing literary texts, etc. Tests for learning skills that can be useful when mastering a number of disciplines are even more broadly oriented. , for example, skills in working with a textbook, mathematical tables, geographical maps, encyclopedias and dictionaries.

And, finally, there are tests aimed at assessing the impact of training on the formation of logical thinking, the ability to reason, draw conclusions based on the analysis of a certain range of data, etc. These tests are closest in content to intelligence tests and highly correlate with the latest. Since achievement tests are designed to assess the effectiveness of training in specific subjects, the teacher should become an obligatory participant in the formulation of individual tasks. The psychologist, on the other hand, is obliged to ensure that all formal procedures are followed that are required to create a reliable and valid tool with which it would be possible to diagnose and compare the studied qualities of individual students or their groups.

Individual achievement tests can be combined into test "batteries", which allows you to get profiles of learning success indicators in different disciplines.

When compiling tasks for the achievement test, one should follow a number of rules necessary to create a reliable, balanced tool for assessing the success of mastering certain academic disciplines or their sections. So, it is necessary to analyze the content of tasks from the position of equal representation in the test of different educational topics, concepts, actions, etc.

The test should not be overloaded with minor terms, insignificant details based on mechanical memory, which can be involved if the test includes exact wording from the textbook or fragments from it. Test items should be formulated clearly, concisely and unambiguously so that all students clearly understand the meaning of what they are being asked. It is important to ensure that none of the test items can serve as a hint for answering another.

Answer options for each task should be selected in such a way that there is no possibility of a simple guess or rejection of a knowingly inappropriate answer.

It is useful to present supposedly correct answers as answer options - distractors that seem to be true to common sense, and only knowledge will help to answer correctly.

People sometimes, not knowing the material, want to “guess” the correct answer, while they choose a plausible answer, choose the “golden mean” (with less probability, a person assumes that the correct answer can be extreme, for example, out of three numbers, they more often choose the average in size), it often seems to people that a detailed and reasoned answer or a scientific answer from foreign terms seems more correct.

It is also important to choose the most appropriate form of answers to tasks. Considering that the question asked should be formulated briefly, it is also desirable to formulate answers briefly and unambiguously. For example, an alternative form of answers is convenient when the student must emphasize one of the listed solutions: “yes - no”, “true - false”. Often gaps are made in the task, which the subject must fill in, based on the meaning of the task and the available knowledge in a particular subject area.

There can be different types of test items according to the logical structure:

• factual question according to the model: “What, where, who, when?”;
• functional question: "For what, why, why?";
• structural question: "What, what parts does it consist of ...?";
• conceptual question: “Define the concept…”;
• conceptual-associative question: "Fill in the gap";
• conceptual and analytical question: "Draw an analogy . ..";
• task: "Continue the row ...";
• conceptual and semantic task of establishing semantic proximity: "Which of the answer options are close in meaning?";
• problem tasks.

In addition to academic achievement tests, professional achievement tests can also be used in higher education. They are used, firstly, to measure the effectiveness of training or training, secondly, to select personnel for the most responsible positions where good professional knowledge and experience are required, thirdly, to determine the level of qualification of workers and employees in resolving issues of movement and distribution of staff to jobs.

These tests are designed to assess the levels of development of specific knowledge and skills required for individual professions, therefore, their scope is limited and determined by the framework of a narrow specialization.

Three forms of the discussed tests are known: performance tests, or, as they are also called, actions, work performance samples, as well as written and oral tests.

In the tests of action, it is required to complete a number of tasks that are most important for the successful implementation of a certain professional activity. Often, for this, individual elements from real labor activity are simply borrowed. Therefore, appropriate equipment or tools can be used to carry out the test. If for some reason this is not possible, then simulators are used that can either reproduce individual work operations or simulate the key situations of professional activity. The speed of work and its quality are taken into account (for example, the number and quality of parts, etc.).

The test has separate standards for highly qualified masters and beginners. Well-known experts in the field of industrial psychology J. Tiffin and E. McCormick recommend using three qualification levels of workers as criteria for comparison: low, medium and high. Accordingly, the validity of the test is established by comparing the average performance of these three groups. Performance tests are very common in determining the skill level of representatives of clerical professions (clerks, stenographers, typists, secretaries, etc.). These are, for example, the Blackstone test for assessing the qualifications of stenographers, the Purdieu test for adapting to clerical work, the Thurston typing test, and a number of others.

Written achievement tests are used where special knowledge, awareness, awareness come to the fore. They, as a rule, are created to order, have a narrow professional focus and are a series of questions that are presented on special forms.

The advantage of written achievement tests is that you can test a whole group of people at the same time.

Another option for assessing the level of qualifications of employees is oral tests of professional achievements. The tests are a series of questions relating to specific professional knowledge and are asked in the form of an interview. They are easy to use and easy to interpret.

It should be noted that the tests, of course, cannot fully reveal all aspects of an employee's qualifications. It is expedient to use them in combination with other methods of determining the level of professional skills.

Achievement tests are now widely used abroad, for example, in the USA they are developed for more than 250 different professions.

At university, achievement tests are particularly suitable for evaluating the effectiveness of vocational training, comparing different methods and curricula by comparing the achievements of groups learning in different ways. They are no less useful for identifying gaps in knowledge among novice professionals and their timely retraining with the help of individualized methods and techniques. Objectivity, ease of use, brevity of the procedure make them suitable for certification of workers for a category, for assessing their qualifications.

However, the work of creating such tests is not easy, it requires special knowledge and skills.

Evaluating the tests of educational and professional achievements in general, it should be noted their good ability to control the learning process and the formation of professional suitability.

Ability tests

Ability tests are divided into general and special. Since general abilities are primarily meant to be intellectual, intelligence tests are used to diagnose them, and special tests are applicable to diagnose special abilities.

Tests of special abilities began to be developed in order to obtain data on the characteristics of a person, not related to his intellectual development, but, as it were, supplementing it. These tests are aimed at diagnosing such abilities that are related to the success of a particular activity or several of its types. Therefore, there are tests of mathematical, technical, musical, artistic and other abilities. In foreign testology, it is customary to classify tests of this type on two grounds:

• by types of mental functions - sensory, motor tests;
• by type of activity - technical and professionalized tests, i. e. corresponding to a particular profession (clerical, artistic, etc.).

Motor tests are aimed at studying the accuracy and speed of movements, visual-motor and kinesthetic-motor coordination, dexterity of fingers and hands, tremor, accuracy of muscle effort, etc. The vast majority of motor tests require special equipment, devices, but there are also blank methods. Strombsrg's dexterity test, Crawford's test of the speed of manipulating small objects, etc. are best known abroad. In domestic psychology, tests developed back in the 1930s became very popular. M. I. Gurevich and N. I. Ozeretsky. To test psychomotor skills, the subjects at a fast pace were asked to tie knots, string beads, trace complex figures with a pencil (alternately with each hand and both together), etc.

Sensory tests are designed to examine different characteristics of perception. For example, visual acuity and hearing, distinctive sensitivity, color discrimination, differentiation of pitch, timbre, loudness of sounds, etc. Special tables and equipment are used to study the features of vision. In the study of hearing, along with individual tests, the Seashore test of musical talent has become very popular.

Technical ability enables a person to successfully operate a variety of equipment or parts. Along with some general ability (technical aptitude or technical experience) there are independent factors: spatial representations and technical understanding. The former refers to the ability to operate with visual images, for example, when perceiving geometric shapes. Technical understanding is the ability to correctly perceive spatial models, compare them with each other, find the same and different. The first tests of this type required the ability of the subjects to design and assemble technical devices from individual parts.

Modern tests are most often created in the form of blank methods. For example, one of the most famous tests - the Bennett test - includes a series of pictures depicting simple technical details and devices, and each picture is accompanied by a question. An answer requires an understanding of general technical principles, spatial relationships, etc.

It should be borne in mind that this group of tests is mainly aimed at identifying knowledge, experience accumulated by the subject, and a tendency to work with technology. Batteries of such tests are successfully used in selection to technical educational institutions.

In the diagnostics of the group of professionalized abilities include abilities that are necessary for specific types of activities or individual professions (artistic, artistic, mathematical, clerical, and other abilities). As a rule, for each group of abilities, their own special tests are created. However, there are more general methods for studying abilities - special test batteries.

They are aimed at measuring the abilities required in various activities and allow a person to navigate the world of professions.

The best known are the Differential Ability Test Battery (DAT) and the General Ability Test Battery (GATB). The first of them was created for the needs of the school and was used in the professional orientation of students. It includes eight subtests that study the development of verbal thinking, numerical (counting) abilities, abstract thinking, technical thinking, speed and accuracy of perception, as well as the ability to correctly use spelling and build sentences (“use of language”).

The GATB was developed by the US Employment Service to provide professional advice to government agencies. It was widely used in industry and the army for the placement of personnel for work posts when hiring.

The creators of this battery did a preliminary analysis of almost 50 tests developed for different professions and found that they are largely the same. 9 abilities were identified, which were measured by all the analyzed methods, and it was for their study that the tasks included in the GATB were selected. These are 12 subtests that measure the level of development of abilities. Diagnosis of general mental abilities is carried out using three subtests: "vocabulary", "mathematical thinking" and "spatial perception in three-dimensional space. "

Verbal abilities are diagnosed by tasks to identify synonyms and antonyms (vocabulary). Numerical ability is studied using two subtests for computing and mathematical thinking. Spatial perception is analyzed using geometric sweeps. Shape perception is represented by two subtests in which the subject compares various tools and geometric shapes. Tasks for the speed of perception required for a clerk are represented by pairs of words, the identity of which must be established. Motor coordination is manifested in the task - to make notes with a pencil in a series of squares. Manual dexterity - finger motor skills are studied using a special device (4 subtests).

This battery takes 2.5 hours to complete. After the test, the so-called test profile of the subject is drawn, which clearly demonstrates the individualized structure of abilities at the time of testing (profile - the degree of severity of each ability factor). The resulting profile is compared with that of a successful professional. Based on the comparison, conclusions are drawn about the specialties recommended for the applicant. However, in practice, it turns out that even bright representatives of the same profession may have different test profiles. This once again confirms the plastic nature and compensatory possibilities of human abilities.

The group of professional abilities also includes those related to artistic creativity. Most often, the diagnosis of these abilities is carried out by the method of expert evaluations of works exhibited by high-level specialists, for example, members of selection committees operating at educational institutions of the corresponding profile. To diagnose certain types of creativity, standardized tests are being developed. Thus, tests of artistic abilities include tasks for understanding works of art and for productivity (i.e., technique, mastery of performance) of activity. Tests of the first kind diagnose one of the most important qualities required for creativity - an aesthetic attitude to life. For example, in tests for the understanding of works of art, the subject must choose the most preferable of two or more options for depicting an object. As such options, paintings by famous artists or subjects selected by a group of experts can be used. This "reference" image is given against the background of one or more distortions, that is, those where the criteria and principles accepted in art (color, perspective, ratio of parts of the image, etc.) are deliberately violated.

Personality tests

Personality tests are designed to study different aspects of personality — motivation, interests, value orientations, emotional makeup, etc. A feature of personality study methods is their diversity and borderline position in the classification of methods. The so-called "personality tests" are not actually tests in their pure form, often possessing signs of projective, semi-projective methods or questionnaires.

Personality tests include both questionnaire tests and methods, in particular Ch. Osgood's semantic differential, G. Kelly's "repertory grid technique", S. Ya. is aimed at studying the motivational sphere of personality, interests and preferences.

The subject is presented with a list of various tasks and is asked to indicate approximately how many hours he spends on their performance within 20 days (480 hours). And then it is proposed to note how much time he would spend on these same things, if he could manage the time at his own discretion.

The to-do list includes 17 areas, such as sleep, food, transportation, work, education, household chores and care, reading, walking, playing, relaxing, etc. After conducting surveys, the actual and desired distribution of time is compared, and based on matches or discrepancies, conclusions are drawn about the preferences, interests and attitudes of the individual, conscious and unconscious needs. It should be noted that the traditional criteria of reliability, importance and standardization are not applicable to most personality tests.

In the group of psychodiagnostic personal methods, questionnaires are used that contain a list of questions or statements. The subject is asked either to give a specific answer to the question posed, or to treat formulated statements on various topics in a certain way. Questionnaires are oral, written or computer-based. The answers are presented in open or closed form. The open form provides for a free answer, the closed one implies the choice of ready ones (“yes”, “no”, “I don’t know”, etc.).

Questionnaires can be used to study personality traits, her interests, preferences, attitudes towards others and herself, self-esteem, motivation, etc. Compared to projective techniques that are difficult to conduct and interpret, questionnaires are simple and do not require long-term training of the experimenter . Questionnaires and questionnaires can also be used to obtain data on the biography, life and professional path of the individual, to identify the respondent's opinions on current life issues, to assess the quality of the learning process and attitude to the disciplines studied, etc.

The most famous and widely used in psychodiagnostics are the Minnesota Multi-Stage Personality Inventory (MMRI), the Cattell R Personality Inventory, the Pathological Diagnostic Inventory (PDO), questionnaires for identifying personal and situational anxiety, E. Strong’s interest questionnaire, etc.

Any questionnaires that diagnose personality traits are applicable only in their own culture. Therefore, the transfer of these methods to other cultures requires a particularly subtle translation, adaptation and testing of each issue.

Thus, the advantage of questionnaires is the simplicity of the procedure for conducting and interpreting data, the ability to cover with their help the study of a wide range of socio-psychological conditions of life and personality characteristics of the subject. At the same time, given the rather large set of currently available survey methods, one should be very careful about their selection for conducting a survey.

A clear formulation of the goals and objectives of the study is required to find the most appropriate diagnostic techniques.

Projective methods

“Projective methods are aimed at the experimental study of those personality traits that are least accessible to direct observation or questioning” [Sokolova E.T., 1980]. Among the diagnosed qualities, one can name the interests and attitudes of the individual, motivation, value orientations, fears and anxieties, unconscious needs and urges, etc. other people of those qualities and desires that are inherent in the person himself, but in which the person does not recognize himself, suppressing them. Unconscious experiences generated by a person’s unconscious drives are accessible to objective diagnostics, as they are reflected in the nature of quick verbal associations, involuntary reservations, in the content of dreams, fantasies, in certain mental errors, in the features of drawings or the perception of indefinite drawings. The well-known Rorschach test of “ink spots” showed that when looking at 5 black ink spots and 5 colored spots, the subjects say that each of the spots reminds them of what it looks like, as a result, the content of the inner world is symbolically transferred to the outer one. Similarly, children's drawings, plasticine crafts, games reflect the inner world of the child. The projective test TAT (thematic apperceptive test) is widely known, Morgan and Murray developed the TAT in 1935 year. In the TAT test, the subject is presented with "fuzzy", ambiguous drawings depicting human figures and faces in different situations, on the basis of which a person comes up with a story, but at the same time he involuntarily focuses on certain details of the image, builds his own version of the plot, involuntarily projecting his worries and feelings on the heroes of their stories. Analysis of the results of TAT can only be carried out by a highly qualified psychologist who has mastered this technique. Easier to process and interpret is the Rosenzweig projective frustration test, in which the subject must attribute some phrase to the character depicted in the picture, reflecting the conflict situation. Based on the analysis of the phrases with which the subject reacted to various conflict situations, the level of frustration, aggressiveness of a person, the style of his reactions (aggressive, self-accusatory or rationalizing) are revealed.

To identify the psychological characteristics of a child, not verbal methods are better suited (especially if the child’s speech is poorly developed), but graphic projective methods, when the child is asked to draw a tree, or a house, or a person, or a family, or an animal. The external simplicity of graphic techniques, however, is deceptive. An experienced psychologist does not literally follow the instructions for interpreting such drawings, does not draw conclusions based on individual signs and details, but takes these signs into account in a complex context with the circumstances known to him from the life of a child.

To increase the reliability of the interpretation of projective techniques in particularly important diagnostic cases, several independent expert psychologists are involved, and a definite conclusion is made only if their assessments coincide.

The psychologist-diagnostician bears full responsibility for possible moral damage, including damage to somatic and neuropsychic health, which can be caused to the subject if the psychodiagnostic examination is not carried out correctly. Therefore, only a qualified and trained specialist has the right to conduct a psychodiagnostic examination. This is one of the ethical principles of psychodiagnostics. Let's take a look at a few more principles.

• Professional psychodiagnostic methods can be distributed only among certified specialists.
• Sovereign rights principle: a person should not be fraudulently tested, he should know who will have access to the results of the survey and what decisions can be made.
• The principle of objectivity - the examination should be impartial, within the framework of friendly neutral communication with the subject, without showing sympathy or antipathy, without providing help and prompting.
• Confidentiality principle - all information obtained during the survey must be kept confidential and may be available only to those for whom it is intended.
• The principle of psychoprophylactic presentation of the results - the results of the diagnosis should be presented in an encouraging context that does not traumatize the psyche and self-esteem of the subject.

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