Whatever will satisfy our perennial desire to typecast fellow humans?
I’ve come across a number of personality quizzes through the years, from carefully crafted questionnaires to Buzzfeed quizzes. I’ve also seen hardcore skeptics, and people who ask for others’ type within seconds of first meeting them.
Today I thought it’d be fun to go into some of the more prominent tests - let’s go!
MBTI
The classic 16 types.
Screenshot from https://www.16personalities.com/infj-personality
There are essentially 4 metrics, and for each of these you will lean towards one of two ends of the spectrum. This gives you four letters that make up your personality.
This is widely regarded as one of the most helpful typing systems. I know some employers use it to understand their employees’ working styles better, and my brother had to take it before matriculating into university. I assume they’ll be using these results to decide his class and roommate etc. which is pretty cool.
My school made the whole batch take this when we were in secondary 3 (though I’m not sure if they factored this into class allocations afterwards - these mostly went by subject combinations). I remember sitting on the floor of the hall filling in a loooong survey about all these different scenarios. I got INTJ at first but a classmate who was Very Into the MBTI insisted that my results were wrong.
I’ve taken various MBTI tests on the internet since then - all of varying reliability - and have consistently gotten INFJ. So that’s what I tell everyone my type is now.
This is apparently one of the rarest personality types, at least in the US. A friend pointed out a really cool thing about how types are distributed: apparently types that value cooperation, stability and keeping promises (the SJs) tend to be more common. All these are important for building a cohesive, harmonious society so it all makes sense!!
Enneagram
Even more accurate than the MBTI??
Image by Kadeix, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This system classifies people according to their core fear/motivation. It has gained a lot of popularity in my friend circle in recent years, and I’ve seen a lot of dedicated Instagram accounts popping up too.
But I’ve always been super confused about which type I am. Every time I take a test it tells me I could be any of three types, and those three types keep changing.
That’s until I came across this YouTube video that explained each type as movie characters and realised that the most accurate way is to learn about all the types then try to figure it out for myself.
It’s super interesting by the way - you can give it a watch if you’re into this.
For now I’ve decided I’m a 9 wing 1. Which means my deepest fear is upsetting the peace around me, and so I do whatever I can to keep it. And that I can be non-confrontational to a fault and run from my problems. I also value following the rules, and I see that as one of the key ways I can keep the order around me.
All this said, I’m still not 100% sure about my type. If anyone would like to enneagram analyse - ennealyse me, if you will - please hit me up.
Horoscopes
It’s written in the stars.
Ah, the classic. I first got to know about Western horoscopes in the many Winx Club/Disney fairies/17 magazines I went through in primary school and my early teens. They would sometimes recommend books, or lip glosses (oh the 2010s), or tech gadgets (Fancy a Blackberry? Or a digital camera? The latest Walkman, mayhaps?) along with your monthly forecast.
Even then I took everything with a pinch of salt. I always wanted another horoscope’s recommended item more than what they assigned me, so in my heart I sort of had an inkling that these people didn’t really know me.
Afterwards I went through a phase when I was 13 or 14 being absolutely obsessed about horoscopes. I researched all the signs, went online to print out my birth chart, tried to memorise all my friends’ signs, and found out if my crushes had compatible signs with mine.
I found out all I could about my sign - Sagittarius - and all the associated traits or things I would like. I’m supposed to be adventurous; I hate giving compliments; I look good in navy, red and white.
And if I were an eyeshadow, I’d be a matte berry.
Image from @makeupnewsmel on Instagram
I really took these things to heart too. I built my wardrobe around those colours for a large part of my secondary school life. Nautical fashion was my thing. I think I was at the age when I was trying to figure out what kind of clothes I liked, so I appreciated any sort of guidance, even if they could be completely baseless.
It took me a few years to realise I don’t even like wearing navy (it’s so boring!!!). I haven’t bought navy clothes in years, and even then they’re mostly for work.
But it was all part of the process. I look back on those days quite fondly. I obviously don’t believe in them anymore. It’s a bit different from the first two systems too cuz you don’t take a test to get your sign; it’s entirely based on when you’re born. Which I don’t find to be a good indicator of what makes you special as a person.
Hogwarts houses
We’ve made it to the most reliable one on the list.
Image by BassemImBeWiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
I have absolutely no idea how the algorithm figures out whether I value loyalty or courage or wisdom or resourcefulness more based on what pet I prefer as a companion in my hypothetical stint as a budding Auror, but has that stopped me from taking any test I can lay my fingers on on the internet?
No. No, it has not.
This system frustrates me in particular because I’ve always wanted so badly to be a Ravenclaw but I consistently get Hufflepuff.
Which is kinda the lamest house in the entire series and I have friends who would NOT let me forget that.
Still, I am very ready to win house points and defend the Hufflepuff honour if ever I need to.
Why are we so into personality types?
Most people use it as a guide to understand others, but some of my friends think it’s all a bit pointless. “If you want to find out how I make decisions and what my motivations are, ask me.”
But I do think personality types can be helpful. At least for understanding my drives and being aware of what I need to watch out for in myself. So more of a self awareness thing, really.
All that said, it’s a starting point and definitely not the rule. We’re all beautifully and wonderfully made, with our own quirks and ticks.
“Cuz there’s not only 12 people.” - Miss Mermaid
Humans like to classify to simplify. We draw boundaries because our brain can only handle that much complexity and uncertainty. Take the p level in statistics: why is 0.05 or whatever the correct amount of risk level? Who decided that? Technically there isn’t much of a difference between 0.049 and 0.051, but we just need some sort of benchmark to ground our decisions.
This possibly explains racial stereotypes too. They help our limited brain wrap around the sheer diversity in this world. But we need to be conscious that these limits are ours, not the world’s. The world exists outside of our attempts to constrain it!!
The world is beautiful.
Biscuit on the side
This week’s recommendation is Jay Foreman’s YouTube channel!
The channel used to be called Map Men but I think they recently renamed it. Basically two guys break down some of the weirdest things to do with geography: the history of London’s boroughs, how tectonic plate shifts will change countries 250 million years into the future and ridiculous time zones.
It’s hilarious and I always learn something cool at the end of each video. Bonus: their sponsored segments are funny too.
And because I’m a linguist, I’ll link this one on hard-to-pronounce place names here.
That’s all for today! Take care everyone and happy dining out from tomorrow!
So lucky to be a Hufflepuff. They have the best of everything and great values. Ravenclaws are dullards and they lack creativity or a sense of fun. Hufflepuffs include Pope Francis, Selena Gomez, Nigella Lawson, Warren Buffet. Can’t think of any Ravenclaws they’re all working for banks or as legal scholars.