How to Identify Personality Types
- 1). Take a personality test or ask if the person in whose personality you're interested has taken one. The DISC Personality Assessment evaluates dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness. The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator provides 16 possible results that encompass qualities such as decision-making and emotional energy.
- 2). Consult the classic Greek temperaments. If you are vivacious and live in the moment, you're likely sanguine. Choleric individuals are stubborn and pragmatic. Perfectionism and great sensitivity characterize melancholics. And phlegmatic people live slowly, enjoying a balanced style of living.
- 3). Evaluate the characteristics of yourself or someone else with Carl Jung's pair of dimensions. The famed psychologist inaugurated the idea of personality typing. He posited that people could be captured by a comparison of sensing and intuition and also a consideration of thinking versus feeling.
Sensing types prefer factual knowledge and attend to problems immediately at hand; intuitive types focus on the future and use theories and hunches. Thinkers tend to be objective and cold and led by rationality. Feelers demonstrate empathy and make decisions based on gut feelings. - 4). Assess a personality for extroverted or introverted tendencies. Extroverts are fueled by external forces: They enjoy being encircled by plentiful people, enjoy group dynamics and are not troubled by distractions or interruptions. Introverts look inward for strength. Quiet is essential for them to concentrate, and one-on-one conversations are preferable to them.
- 5). Rank these shapes in the order of your preference: cube, pyramid, ball and wavy line. Those who first choose the cube are "systems" people: expert analyzers who fear the spontaneous. Placing the pyramid second can indicate someone who thrives on success. If the wavy line was a third choice, you may be dealing with a person who loves ideas but lacks resolve. People who live to please others will leave the ball for last.
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