A person’s personality is popularly defined as a set of their habitual behaviors, cognition, and emotional patterns that stem from biological and environmental influence. There exists some measures – derived from the psychological study of characterizing traits – to test and categorize an individual’s personality into groups or types. Possessing the same personality type as another person does not imply we are just like them in every regard but it does point out similar traits and even values. Keeping in mind that we can live a perfectly normal life without having taken a personality test, here are some ways in which they can help us.
1. A Personality Test Helps Us Understand Ourselves Better
Personality tests help us understand ourselves and also help us feel understood. Understanding ourselves is important for a large number of reasons. It primarily helps us make better decisions as there are lesser conflicts in our minds about who we are and what we want from life. It also helps us set boundaries and protect ourselves from the things we know we cannot handle. Apart from helping one understand oneself, personality tests also help an individual feel understood. Reading descriptions of your personality type and realizing that there are others who share the same values and traits as you can be quite comforting and reassuring.
2. It Helps Us Understand The People Around Us
Personality tests don’t just help us understand ourselves but also helps us understand the people around us. Discovering what our friends’ and family’s personality types are can help us understand why they may have reacted in a certain way during a certain situation. Understanding people helps us form better relationships with them. It also helps us accept and acknowledge traits and personalities that are different from our own. Understanding other people’s personality type can also help us find individuals who we are more likely to get along with.
3. It Makes Us More Aware Of Our Strengths And Weaknesses
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway
Nobody’s perfect. Every individual has their unique set of strengths that they should be proud of and weaknesses that they should be aware of and try to overcome. Taking a personality test might help us realize some of the strengths that we perhaps weren’t previously aware of and can give us the opportunity to discover our weaknesses and work on them. Understanding our strengths and weaknesses can help us in both our professional and personal lives.
4. It Helps Us Decide What Subjects To Major In At University
Many of us get confused when it comes to picking out a field of study to major in. Understanding our personality type and the skills we possess may help us arrive at a more calculated and satisfying choice. It is essential to note that an interest in the chosen major is also vital. Studies have found that students who choose a field that interests them are more likely to be satisfied and perform better than those who don’t.
5. It Helps Us Choose A Career Path That Is Best Suited To Us
Personality tests may also help us decide which career path to set ourselves on. Our personality may indicate to us some of our core strengths like that of empathy or intuitive thinking which may be more suited to certain professional fields than others. It may also reveal to us what career choices we should try and avoid. Many offices and corporations make use of personality tests to identify if potential employees are a right fit for the job at hand.
