Personality Test Unveils My Mind, Relationships & Career Path - Essay Sample

Introduction

Oddly enough I felt like the personality test accurately described not only me but also the authors of the given articles. The first test (MBTI test) measured mind, energy, nature, tactics, and identity. I feel like this quiz asked questions and gave results that I'd similarly get from personality theory. This quiz allowed me to read about my personality, strengths & weaknesses, romantic relationships, friendships, parenthood, career paths, workplace habits, and school life. The article describing this test described everything in great detail and allowed you to read about the other personalities as well. I feel like people would pay to take this quiz and learn about themselves. In my personal opinion, most personality tests do not provide any new information to you about yourself. It was hard for me to truly think of a reason why they'd be beneficial. Honestly, I thought about it for a while and finally found a reason I think they'd benefit anything. Let's pretend that I am a boss and I'm hiring for a position that needs an extrovert. You could have all the applicants take a personality test and pick the most likely to succeed in the position. This would save you time and it would allow you to pick someone more built for the position.

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As I came up with this idea, I quickly thought of some downsides of these personality tests which were not discussed in detail. For instance, the Buzzfeed personality quiz I took asked if my mood changes quickly. I think that asking these types of questions could be discriminatory towards people who have mental disabilities, allowing the company to get sued. If you were to use a personality quiz for a job interview requirement just triple check your questions to make sure they're appropriate. I decided to take two quizzes and give them equal chances. Some quizzes weren't as accurate. The quiz by Psych Central only helps pass time, honestly, that's all they're good for. The personality quiz I took told me who I was going to the mall with. They asked me four or five questions and gave me the result of some famous guy. It just asked me where I would shop and what I would eat. This test did not accurately describe me or ask questions that would lead me to believe they understood my true personality.

According to research, "Results suggest that faking on personality measures is not a significant problem in real-world selection settings." (Hogan, 2007). Research studies found that applicants who did not receive a job reapplied months later, faking to improve had no real impact on the majority of those who reapplied. A personal perspective of faking would show positive outcomes for those seeking to improve their likeability in a potential dating or professional advancement scenario. With there not being concentrate evidence to show whether or not faking makes a significant difference in personality assessments, one certain thing, faking is taking place and can obscure the decisions people make. My personal view on whether personality tests such as Playbuzz should be used in dating leans towards no. I feel there is too much a person can change about themselves and their intentions when relying solely on these types of tests to select a potential partner. Self-presentation theory, which is, "Individuals manage impressions by changing their appearance and manner by the person with whom they are interacting", making people appear more physically or financially desirable to others.

Another aspect to be concerned with is those who lie about what their intentions for being on the site are. Are they looking for friends, casual chatting, long term relationships or one-night stands? How do you sort out those who are genuine from those that are faking? There isn't going to be a full-proof way to assess these types of things, and it's my opinion to expect nothing and make the determination for yourself. Simply relying on a personality test could lead to possible deception, voiding the purpose of online dating altogether. There is no single way in which to validate the value, relevance or applicability of personality tests when making real-life decisions. Of the several different tests above mentioned used to assess personality, it appears that none is full proof or without its limitations. However, one way that can strengthen the reliability of personality tests is to combine methods and create a more complete picture of one's personality. Self-reporting combined with informant ratings could give a better overall picture of our personality and fill in gaps where the other method might fall short (Jin, 2015).

Scholarly articles indeed depict that birds of a feather do in fact flock together. When the researchers assessed marital quality and happiness, they found that personality similarity was related to marital satisfaction. Initially, people are more attracted to others who have similar attitudes, values, and beliefs because these are highly valued characteristics that form the base of a relationship. Later when personalities are fully known to the other, couples are more accurately able to understand their partner, and personality similarities in a committed relationship involve regular interaction and require a lot of coordination in dealing with daily tasks, issues and problems of daily living. Personality differences when carrying out these daily tasks causes more conflict.

References

Hogan, J., Barrett, P., & Hogan, R. (2007). Personality measurement, faking, and employment selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 1270-1285

Jin, S. V., & Martin, C. (2015). 'A Match Made...Online?' The Effects of User-Generated Online Dater Profile Types (Free-Spirited Versus Uptight) on Other Users' Perception of Trustworthiness, Interpersonal Attraction, and Personality. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 18(6), 320-327. doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0564