Personality can be tricky. There are hundreds of tests and analyses designed to piece out the individual characteristics and behavior patterns that make us who we are. Discovering the intricacies of personality has fascinated scientists and individuals for hundreds of years, and in some ways, we are nowhere near knowing exactly why we are the way we are.
Thankfully we do have ways of knowing what influences peoples’ actions and behaviors. Empirical evidence about the human brain connected with first-hand observations and assumptions have allowed us to compile information about personality and temperament. Scientists and researchers like Carl Jung, Myers-Briggs and others have used this knowledge to create tests to label personality types for a mass audience.
Labelling temperament
Creating personality tests and labelling temperaments for a broad audience can be challenging. Most tests are designed with the empirical data backing them up in mind; they make the assumption that personality is something genetic, that we are born with. In many ways this is indeed true- we are a product of our DNA. In other ways, our surroundings, or our environment, influences our personalities. Factors like cultural tradition, family, and religion can also affect how a person thinks and behaves.
Planning for all these eventualities explains some of the differences and abundance in personality tests and temperament analyses that exist today. Each of these tests were created for a purpose based on a preferred psychological theory, of which there are many to choose from.
Some tests were set up to assist with personnel hire for companies. Human Resources departments are looking for the right people to place in the jobs where they will be the most effective. Certain personality types are suited for different kinds of work; for instance, an extremely detail-oriented person may find themselves quickly frustrated in a job where projects are open-ended and their role isn’t clearly defined. Likewise, highly creative and artistically strong individuals might have trouble adapting to a job that is rigid, not allowing them to utilize their creative thinking skills to do their job well.
Practical application
Understanding the strengths and unique qualities of different personality types isn’t just the arena of company hiring squads. Psychologists use their knowledge of human temperaments to assist with therapy to tailor what they know about their patient to make treatment plans more effective. Personality types are important when training sports teams, when teaching students in classrooms, and when traveling the world and engaging with new people.
Jung opened up an entirely new world with his discoveries, and discoveries into the psychology of personality and the self are still being made today. Insights Discovery is based squarely on Jung’s theories, and as such is an invaluable tool in helping people understand themselves and others. Schedule me, Scott Schwefel, as your keynote speaker, and I will come to your group and address the differences in personalities in a truthful, fun, and easy-to-understand way. Follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to share my blogs with the color energies you work with!