Personality tests with results

The 23 Best Personality Tests In Ranking Order (2022 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: TheInkBlot.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 2021 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.

12 Free Personality Tests You Can Take Online Today

Personality tests are a great way to explore different aspects of who you are and uncover layers you perhaps hadn't recognized about yourself before.

Keep reading to learn more about the purpose of taking personality tests. Then, take a look at the best free personality tests we've compiled and discover aspects of who you are, why you make certain decisions, and more.

The Purpose of Personality Tests

Being truly self-aware is hard. While personality tests might not always be 100% accurate, they work well as a starting point for self-discovery by providing results you might not have concluded on your own. These insights are invaluable for one's personal and professional growth.

Pros of Personality Tests

Personality tests can be used for self-reflection and help you gain better insight on how to play to your strengths and combat your weaknesses.

Personality tests are also widely used in the workplace because they can be a great way for you and your coworkers to better understand each other's communication and collaboration styles.

These tests are great conversation starters, especially among groups of people who don't know each other very well. They can help create connections and establish common ground at work.

Learning about your colleagues' personality traits can reveal how each team member prefers to receive feedback and criticism. This can help your team avoid unnecessary miscommunication down the road, as well as lead to more productive projects and meetings.

Cons of Personality Tests

While there are many pros to taking personality tests, there are also some cons.

Test results can be vague, depending on which test you are taking. Shorter personality tests, though convenient, are often not as comprehensive and accurate as the longer tests. Plus, some tests require a higher level of self-awareness and understanding of how others perceive you – not having this understanding may skew your test results.

Now, let's learn more about the different types of personality tests, so you can determine which one is right for you.

Types of Personality Tests

With so many personality tests to choose from, it can be difficult to narrow down which one is right for you. Some focus on assessing your communication style, while others may look at your emotional intelligence, behavior, and more. Here, we've compiled a list of common types of personality tests you can take for free online.

1. Myers-Briggs Personality Tests

Myers-Briggs is a widely respected and popular personality assessment tool — first used in the 1940s, the test was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers. Initially inspired by Carl Jung's personality theory, the Myers-Briggs test conveniently separates people into 16 categories of personalities, providing each person with a four-letter acronym.

The following four tests are broad-stroke indicators of who you are, using inspiration from Myers-Briggs. Among other things, the tests cover your communication styles, your strengths and weaknesses, your desires and ambitions, how you see the world, and how people perceive you.

If you've never taken a test based on Jung's psychological traits, or Myers-Briggs' 16 categories of personalities, you may be surprised by the accuracy of some of the statements. More importantly, you could gain insight into how your behavior is perceived by others, helping you improve both professional and personal relationships.

2. DISC Personality Tests

The DISC assessment determines where you lie on four DISC factors: dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. DISC is one of the most popular and authoritative career assessments out there, and many companies encourage their employees to take it.

Undoubtedly, 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 rely on passivity and emotion, perhaps your boss's direct statements sometimes offend you.

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.

3. Emotional Intelligence Tests

Psychology Today defines emotional intelligence as, "the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others." Arguably, having emotional intelligence is the most important factor in dealing with conflict and communicating with others.

It's undeniable that emotional intelligence is important — in fact, research has shown success is 80-90% attributable to emotional intelligence (EI), and only 10-20% to your IQ.

In the workplace, whether you're around coworkers in the midst of a stressful project, or dealing with a tough performance review from your boss, it's critical you know how to both identify and handle your own emotions; it's equally important you know how to read other people's emotions, and manage them appropriately.

What is the most accurate type of personality test?

Unfortunately, there isn't a personality test that is completely accurate. The validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the DISC assessment have been called into question by behavioral scientists over the years due to their oversimplification of behavior and personality traits.

Emotional intelligence tests are also divisive among scientists due to the potential for bias against groups outside the norm since one's emotional recognition and regulation often depends on their cultural background.

That said, personality tests can be valuable tools for understanding personality similarities and differences among members of the same organization.

Free Personality Tests

1. 16 Personalities

Best for: Learning how your personality type influences many different areas of your life, as well as how it impacts your relationships.

16 Personalities covers five broad personality aspects: mind, energy, nature, tactics and identity. The test is based on Carl Jung's study of psychological traits (e.g. extroversion vs. introversion) and the Myers-Briggs test, two popular personality theories meant to determine an extensive overview of who you are.

Among other things, the test will cover how you communicate and relate to others — both professionally and personally — what you value and strive for, and how you make decisions. 16 Personalities has been taken over 126 million times, and is available in 30 languages.

Pros: Once you've gotten your results, you'll find extensive information on your personality type including strengths and weaknesses, relationships, friendships, parenthood, and workplace habits. The test is incredibly accurate and can tell you how your personality type plays out in specific situations.

Cons: With seven bubbles varying from "Agree" to "Disagree", it can be difficult and time-consuming to figure out where exactly you fall on each question. A "Strongly agree," "Agree", "Neutral","Disagree", and "Strongly disagree" chart might've been easier to answer.

2. Personality Perfect

Best for: Learning how others perceive you or how they might misinterpret your behaviors, and finding out what you value most.

Similar to 16 Personalities, Personality Perfect is also based on Jung's and Myers-Briggs' personality theories, and uses four broad categories — extraversion vs. introversion, sensing and intuition, thinking and feeling, and judging and perceiving — to compile a four-letter abbreviation of your personality type (e.g. "INFP").

The test provides a broad overview of how you connect with others, how you behave, and, perhaps most surprising, how you're likely seen by others.

Pros: Once you know your four-letter personality abbreviation, you can apply that label to various situations, like work and love, and determine how others' perceive your behaviors in those settings.

Cons: Tests that are based on Jung's personality theories are typically considered rough tendencies, and not strict classifications — and many researchers say Myers-Briggs tests are unscientific due to the different results you might get if you take the test twice.

3. Human Metrics

Best for: Determining a career path that is most well-suited for your personality.

If you've ever wondered which famous personalities share your personality type, you're in luck — Human Metrics shows you that information, along with your four-letter personality type (again, based on Jung and Myers-Briggs theories).

With this test, you'll get information about which career paths are most suitable for your personality type. If you're having trouble choosing a career path or doubting the one you've chosen, maybe this test can help you figure it out.

Pros: This specific test allows you to see all 64 questions on one screen, which makes it easier to scroll back and change an answer if you'd like to.

Cons: Many of these responses can feel situation-dependent. "You feel involved when watching TV soaps", for instance, could depend on the show you're watching, how you're feeling that day (relaxed? overwhelmed?) and simply might not be a strong predictor of who you are as a person.

4. TestColor

Best for: Finding out the ratio of extroverted to introverted you are, plus getting short descriptions of the qualities that most characterize your personality.

Test Color, a test validated by a team of clinical psychologists, psychoanalysts and mathematicians, asks you just two questions: "Click on the colors you like most," and "Click on the colors you like least."

Test Color tells you about your emotional intelligence, your creativity and imagination, your social skills, and your work style, including organization and management styles. I found it to be surprisingly accurate: in two questions, it nailed how I communicate with others and how I act in group settings.

Pros: It's incredibly quick and easy — taking roughly 5 minutes to complete.

Cons: The results are relatively vague and general, and the test doesn't divide your personality into categories depending on the situation. (For instance, it doesn't tell you the difference between your personality in work settings and romantic situations.)

5. Crystal

Best for: Learning how your personality biases you towards colleagues' behavior, and gaining a deeper understanding of your coworkers' personalities.

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

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.

Best of all, Crystal also offers an accurate personality test, enabling you to build an extensive personality profile on one website. Plus, when you input your company, Crystal lets you see your colleague's personality profiles — undeniably critical information when you're looking to empathize with a coworker.

Pros: Can be a useful tool for identifying areas to focus on for professional development and coaching.

Cons: There has been no correlational study to show that test results match real-world job performance.

6. 123Test

Best for: Analyzing and improving your relationships with coworkers.

123Test offers a DISC personality test you can take in five minutes, so there's really no excuses. You'll get a score to find out which DISC factors predict your behaviors towards other people.

The test offers critical information for understanding why you might get along better with one employee, and have more conflict with another. It identifies how you perceive other people's actions (i.e. "You're sensitive to her blunt nature, even though she believes she's just being straightforward"), which can help you improve work relationships.

Pros: It's incredibly quick and straightforward, and will give you a general sense for how you could misinterpret colleagues' behaviors.

Cons: With a few simple images (like the example, below), this test is less advanced than others in the list, and could provide different results every time you take it depending on your mood.

7. Truity Career Personality Profiler

Best for: Figuring out an ideal career path, and learning which skills are required to excel in that career.

This test, based on the Holland Code and Big Five theories, will analyze your interests and personality traits and tell you careers (and college majors) that are a good match for you. It also lets you know about specific tasks and projects you'd love, what motivates you, and provides advice to help you maximize your strengths.

Even if you're happy with your current career track, the test provides suggestions for specific skills you could learn to get ahead in your career.

Pros: If you're early in your career (or a college student), this is a good test for uncovering your interests and discovering potential career paths. Best of all, it lets you know which projects or tasks you'd enjoy — allowing you to mix-and-match and determine the ideal career based on your personal interests.

Cons: It can be difficult to know what you'd enjoy doing if you've never done it. For instance, as a college student, I might not know how to answer whether or not I'd enjoy designing a magazine cover, if I've never experienced design work.

8. Interpersonal Skills assessment

Best for: Improving your communication and listening skills.

Having well-developed interpersonal skills is critical to forming deep and meaningful personal and professional relationships. Interpersonal Skills assesses your listening skills, verbal communication skills, ability to work in teams, and emotional intelligence.

Better yet, the test identifies areas of weakness and provides tactical advice on how to improve those skills.

Pros: After you've completed the test, Interpersonal Skills provides you with helpful resources to level-up your communication or listening skills. Resources include "An Introduction to Communication Skills" and "Advanced Communication Skills" ($13 each). And even without the resources, this is a quick and easy test for evaluating areas for improvement in your own communication style.

Cons: To evaluate your listening skills, you might need to ask other people how they perceive you. Maybe you think you're a good listener, but others disagree — if that's the case, it can be difficult to accurately self-analyze your own skills for this test (or any others).

9. Sokanu

Best for: Determining a few different career paths that could make you happy — and then having the opportunity to pick-and-choose from there.

Major companies including General Assembly, NYU, and Redfin use Sokanu, a career assessment tool that tests you on your personality, background, interests, and goals to determine an ideal career path.

After you take the test, it provides you with multiple matches, which you can sort through to explore different careers and workplaces before choosing an ideal match.

Pros: The test provides you with multiple options for careers that could fulfill you — which I appreciate, since it can be stressful to get to the end of a test and find out there's only one job that would make you happy. Plus, Sokanu offers a library filled with over 1,000 careers, and explains what type of people thrive in them — and why.

Cons: If you don't know much about what interests you professionally, it can be a difficult test to take. Question one, for instance, is "Would you like to... Advise organizations on how to meet their business goals?" As a high school student, I wouldn't have any idea how to answer that question.

10. Berkeley Emotional Intelligence

Best for: Figuring out how well you analyze and interpret other people's emotions — a vital component of strong emotional intelligence.

This test, designed by Berkeley, shows you 20 pictures and asks you to recognize the facial expression on each person's face. It's easy, quick, and 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.

Pros: It's fun and easy, and correctly identifying people's facial expressions is a scientifically-proven way to evaluate someone's emotional intelligence (EI).

Cons: 20 questions is a relatively short test to determine emotional intelligence, so the test is a good starting point, but might not offer a comprehensive view of your EI.

11. VeryWellMind

Best for: A speedy gut-check on how emotionally intelligent you are, with resources to further your understanding.

If you don't have the time for anything more in-depth, this test 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. If you score low, for example, VeryWellMind.com includes a link to another one of their articles, "Emotions and Types of Emotional Responses."

Pros: Takes only a few minutes to complete, and the questions are straightforward and easy to answer.

Cons: It's easy and fun, but isn't necessarily as accurate or scientific as the others in this list.

12. Empathy Quotient

Best for: A more in-depth test to accurately analyze how emotionally intelligent you are.

Unlike the tests above, this one is designed to clinically assess you — the test was developed by Simon Baron-Cohen at the Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge, and uses the same emotional measurements mental health professionals use to diagnose social impairment.

It's a 60-item questionnaire and is suitable to measure "temperamental empathy" in adults.

Pros: It uses the same measurements that mental health professionals use to diagnose social impairments — meaning it's accurate and scientifically-backed, and should provide you with a deeper understanding of your own empathy (and areas for improvement).

Cons: The test requires you to have a certain level of self-awareness and understand how others' perceive you. For instance, one statement is, "I am very blunt, which some people take to be rudeness, even though this is unintentional" — it might be difficult for someone to know whether their bluntness comes across as rudeness.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Topics: Marketing Psychology

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10 serious psychological tests that you can take on the Internet

January 26, 2021 A life

Questionnaires used by practicing psychologists will help you look deep into yourself. The main thing is not to try to make a diagnosis “by profile picture”.

1. Sondi test

The test is aimed at identifying psychological abnormalities. It consists of several stages. At each of them you will be shown portraits, from which you will need to choose the least and most pleasant in your opinion. nine0003

This testing method was developed by psychiatrist Leopold Szondi in 1947. The doctor noticed that in the clinic, patients communicated closer with those who had the same diseases. Of course, the Internet test will not give you a diagnosis - it will just help to detect some tendencies. Moreover, depending on the state of the psyche, the results will be different, so you can take the Szondi test in any incomprehensible situation.

Take the Test →

2. Beck Depression Scale

As the name suggests, this test measures how depressed you are. It takes into account the common symptoms and complaints of patients with this disease. When answering each question, you have to choose the closest one from several statements. nine0003

The test is worth taking even for those who are absolutely sure that they are healthy. Some of the statements in the questionnaire may seem strange to you, but many of them are true for a person with a disease. So if you think that depression is when someone is depressed from idleness, it's time to rethink your attitude.

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3. Zang (Zung) scale for self-assessment of depression

Another test related to depression. It is shorter and easier to understand than the previous questionnaire. If you like an integrated approach in everything and are not ready to be content with the results of one test, you can combine them. nine0003

The author of this test is psychiatrist William Zang, also known in Russian psychology as William Tsung.

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4. Beck Anxiety Scale

The test allows you to assess the severity of various phobias, panic attacks and other anxiety disorders. The results are not very telling. They will only tell you if you have reason to be concerned or not.

You are to read 21 statements and decide how true they are for you. nine0003

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5. Luscher color test

This test helps to assess the psychological state through the subjective perception of color. Everything is very simple: from several colored rectangles, you first choose those that you like more, and then those that you like less.

Based on the results of the Luscher test, a specialist will be able to give recommendations on how to avoid stress, but you just look deeper inside yourself.

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6. Projective test "Cube in the Desert"

This test looks less serious than the previous ones, and it really is. It consists of fantasy exercises. Few questions, but the result is simple and clear.

You will be asked to present a series of images, and then they will give you an interpretation of what you were imagining. This test, most likely, will not discover America, but will simply introduce you to the real you once again.

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7. Eysenck's temperament test

You have to answer 70 questions to find out whether you are choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic or melancholic. At the same time, the test determines the level of extraversion, so you can find out if you are an introvert or just temporarily tired of people. nine0003

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8. Extended Leonhard-Shmishek test

The test helps to reveal personality traits. The final grade is set on several scales, each of which reveals one or another aspect. Separately, it is checked whether you sincerely answered questions or tried to be better than you really are.

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9. Heck-Hess neurosis rapid diagnostic method

This scale will help determine the degree of probability of neurosis. If it is high, then it may be worth contacting a specialist. nine0003

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10. Hall's Emotional Intelligence Test

Emotional intelligence is a person's ability to recognize the mood and feelings of others. To evaluate it, psychologist Nicholas Hall came up with a 30-question test.

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10 psychological tests to help you get to know yourself better

March 12, 2021 Education

Questionnaires to test intelligence, anxiety levels, conflict levels and more.

1. Raven IQ test

This test will help you determine how smart, quick-witted and logical you are. It consists of 60 tasks, the complexity of which gradually increases. nine0003

Each question is a picture with symbols or shapes linked together. Your task is to understand how they are located, and then insert the missing element into the image.

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2. SMIL test

This questionnaire will be useful to make your comprehensive psychological portrait. You will be able to find out the type of personality, dominant character traits, communication style, propensity to take risks, level of self-esteem ... And that's not all!

However, to get the coveted result, you have to work hard: the full version of the test consists of 567 statements. You will have to choose whether you agree with them or not. But there is also an abbreviated version for express diagnostics of 65 questions.

Take the full test →
Take the short test →

3. Thomas-Kilmann test

Find out how prone you are to conflict and how you behave when things get heated. Check which style of disagreement resolution suits you best: confrontation, compromise, or silence. nine0003

The questionnaire consists of 30 pairs of statements. In each question, you will need to choose the answer that most accurately characterizes your behavior.

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4. Test "House, tree, person"

Drawings of a person can tell a lot about his inner world. Check it out for yourself: draw a house, a tree and a person on paper, and then find out what it all means.

After interpreting the results, you will receive information about what lies in your subconscious, how comfortable you feel in society, what worries you and other interesting data. nine0003

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5. Interpersonal Relationship Questionnaire

This test will help determine your level of socialization. Check how easy it is for you to get close to people, how much they influence you, and how great your need for communication and attention is in general.

Be as honest as possible when taking the test. Answer the way you really think, not the way others expect you to. Then the results will be more reliable.

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6. Activity Styles Questionnaire

Activity style is the means and techniques by which a person achieves the set results. Answer questions about your temperament, character and interests, and then find out if you are an activist, thinker, theorist or pragmatist.

After passing the test, you will receive a detailed description of your type, and also find out what can reduce and increase your effectiveness in achieving your goals.

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7. Taylor Anxiety Scale

Sometimes healthy anxiety can be helpful. It helps to be more attentive and more careful in unforeseen situations. But if anxiety arises for no reason and exceeds reasonable limits, it greatly complicates life. The test will help you find out if you are prone to this disorder.

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8. Boyko test for diagnosing burnout

Fatigue, irritability, poor sleep and inability to concentrate on the task at hand are true companions of emotional burnout. If you find yourself experiencing at least some of these symptoms, take the test and see if it's time for you to take a vacation and have a good rest.

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