People think differently, behave differently, and even act differently, but after a personality test, things get different. Looking closely, you would tell that everyone is unique. And this is where personality comes in.
In a quest to find out more about who you are, a lot of personality tests are seen online with the breakdown of human science.
With these personality tests, you can be able to find your trait and know what makes you who you are.
Let’s look at the overview of what this article is about
What is Personality?
This is a behavioural characteristic that distinguishes one from another.
Personality has to do with thinking, feeling, acting.
It deals with one’s attitude or mood and it’s mostly expressed through interaction with other individuals.
It also includes both acquired and inherent characters that different individuals and this can be observed in people’s relations with their environment
To know your traits, most people go or research on a free personality test to know what they are made of.
Let’s have a look at what personality traits are
What is a personality test?
Some “personologists” claim that to understand the differences among individuals, you have to first know their personality traits.
If you are observant, one thing that should come to your mind whenever you are in a new environment is how you are different from others.
You could be quiet, while others are outgoing and social. Some could be anxious, worry a lot, talk too much, etc. When you use the words quiet, outgoing, anxious to describe someone, you are referring to their personality traits.
Some psychologists believe there are several limited dimensions and each individual falls under each of these dimensions. Which means they could be high or low on any specific trait.
Dimensions like Extraversion, conscientiousness or agreeableness.
Personality traits are characteristics of emotional patterns, and behavioural acts rather than isolation occurrences. Anyone can have a bad day and get snappy with remarks to people around. When this happens in isolation, it doesn’t mean it’s a personality trait.
But when this snappy type of communication happens often, it shows it’s the personality trait of the person.
We have both positive and negative personality traits.
Positive traits:
This personality trait manifest in so many ways. When your regular behaviour exhibits the same positive attributes over and over again. It however becomes a definition of your character.
Examples of positive traits include:
Honesty, Confidence, courage, determination, drive, persistence, Loyalty, trustworthiness, fearlessness, creativity, innovation, etc.
Negative traits:
There are good personality traits as well as bad traits. Truth be told, not everyone is as good as they seem. Chances are that both you and the people you come across each day have at least few negative traits.
Examples of negative personality traits
Inability to show empathy with others, easily angered, untruthful, lazy, unfriendly, rude, quarrelsome, arrogant, stingy, malicious acts, etc.
The combination of these personality traits (positive and negative) work together to determine how you present yourself to the world.
Different Personality Traits
There are five (5) parameters or dimensions of personal characters. They are called the big five factors or the five-factor model (FFM).
This model was proposed by Costa and McCrae and it often describes various behaviours or characters and an individual personality.
Below are five (5) personality characters, individuals
• Openness:
Individuals who are active and lively are those who are open to experience.
They follow their inner feelings. Open individuals are willing to learn new things, new skill sets, and experiences.
They are broad-minded and score high on this trait as compared to those who score low on the same dimension.
These individuals are conservative and reluctant to change.
• Conscientiousness:
Individuals in this personality trait just like the name implies act according to their conscience.
Such persons are self-disciplined and they think twice before embarking on anything. They are never in a haste to perform anything.
In the long run, individuals with this personality trait tend to become perfectionists. They strive very hard to accomplish tasks within a time frame.
Not to forget, individuals in this personality trait who score high here are self-disciplined and goal-oriented.
While individuals who score less are not goal-oriented.
• Extraversion and introversion:
These terms were made popular by Carl Jung.
Extraversion is a personality trait whereby the individual is concerned about social life. They love interacting and connecting with people around them. You can say, “they are talkative”
They love social gatherings and love to be the centre of attention. You can’t find them alone. They love to meet people, partying and going out.
They dislike staying alone as they easily get bored.
Introversion is a trait of personality trait whereby the individual only thinks of their life and nothing else. They dislike going out or partying. They were often careless of what happens around them.
They have few friends and speak less and enjoy their company. They also have few friends they trust.
• Agreeableness:
People who score high on this personality trait are always willing to help others as well as putting up a smile when a problem arises.
Individuals with this trait find it easy to accommodate others. They are friendly, kind-hearted, and accommodating.
Those who score low on this trait find it hard to accommodate, unfriendly, and find it hard to adjust with others.
• Neuroticism:
Individuals with this personality trait always look at the negative side of life. They are open to negative thoughts like envy, anger, guilt, etc. They always look depressed and find it hard to enjoy life.
Ways to determine personality types through tests
It’s not an easy task trying to find out about personality types. There are various ways to access personality styles and each assessment measuring some specific variables.
• The DISC theory of personality: It groups people into 4 main personality profile
√ Dominance
√ Influence
√ Steadfastness
√ Conscientiousness
• Myers Brigg personality test states there are 16 different personality types.
To know your personality trait, you can take a few free personality traits assessments. But know that there is no right way to measuring personality.
However big five personality test is a scientifically reliable model to measure personality.
It is used by psychologists, counsellors and other professionals to conduct a personality test.
Most employers use this personality test when hiring staff. It actually helps them know if you possess the wanted traits they seek.
Conclusion
Knowing that we as individuals differ from one another will enable you to know how to interact with people as well as accommodate them.
Knowing your personality traits is a great way to discovering yourself.
Exhibit more positive traits and adapt away from negativity. It will also be easier for you to push forward positive behaviours in the limelight.
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