The Flavors of Psychological Taxonomy (Ongoing List)
In the human experiment you are shot out of a womb like a bullet from a gun, aimed at a wall. There are so many things you may hit to slow that trajectory, if they don’t first move out of the way. There are so many things you couldn’t hit if you tried. And you, this organic projectile, are a simple wriggling organism barely aware of where you’re headed and completely oblivious to how long you may have, perhaps grappling with the notion that you may delay your arrival at the final destination, but still ultimately on certain course at a certain velocity unless, perhaps by screaming loudly enough, or by dumb luck, someone or something can be moved to deflect you, to change your trajectory. In any event, one day you will hit a solid wall and that will be the end of this momentum, perhaps before you have even thought to ask what the point is or what you might do in this mayfly hour. From whence did I come? How do I differ from the other projectiles in this missile rain?
We can hardly do anything about the momentum, and if there is to be any change of direction, there are strategies which may or may not work. Might as well look into them to consider the options, I’d say, although perhaps I am mistaken. It may be odd to conclude with the question, “Why not retreat inwardly and take some quizzes set forth by your fellow projectiles both in flight and spent?”
At any rate, these are my recommendations:
This Big 5 test is very flawed in that the questions are highly contextual. That said, I quite like the visual format, and when you add “most of the time” / “in most situations” to the questions, it seems to produce reasonably consistent, accurate numerical assessment.
The result explanation is rather superficial, horoscopy & useless, but the percentages and graphic presentation of the results are satisfying - I advise taking the test and then looking up an explanation of the results elsewhere.
MBTI options: The Global 5 (Big 5) is more respected by the psychology community, and offers a more accurate breakdown of “thinking” and “feeling” types (a rather muddy classification given its extreme dependency on context). However, the 16 archetypes offered by the Myers-Briggs system are handy in that they are easy to reference for research/exploration purposes and have formed the basis for a sprawling internet community of often like-minded individuals.
You have plenty of options from which to choose. When time presents itself, I will indicate number of questions for each & write detailed reviews of these options, but for now I will include some of what I believe and have been told are the most reliable and accurate free (the hell with anyone who tries to con you into paying) options:
16 Personalities test - ranked responses on 1-7 scale. One of my favorites.
25 Quiz (John’s Personality Test)
Enneagram Tri-types: I find the basic Enneagram inanely simplistic, offering fewer classifications of human psychological types than even astrology. However, it does produce consistent results - or at least in my case, the results have been reasonably consistent over the years - in that, in any given case I am classified as one of three types, and routinely score highest in those three types, with one being more routinely received as a verdict than the other two*. There isn’t a lot of documentation offered on Enneagram Tri-Type theory, but as I uncover some, I will publish it on this blog in an effort to make it more accessible to people.
The link I’ve provided does not assess tri-types officially, but it does provide ranked results, which allows you to discern for yourself what your tri-type might be. There are two tests offered by this link. I think the Classic asks better questions, but the second is more thorough and, for what it's worth, includes the instinctual subtype.
Spirit Animal: this test is hella legit.
Big 5 Word Pair (30 ranked 1-7): Choose a position on a spectrum between two options (as words).
Big 5 Word Test (65 ranked 1-5 questions): I’m including this one simply to acknowledge its existence and say that it is bogus. Inquisitiveness scores were incredibly low, accommodation scores deviated from standard by ~10%.
New Big 5 (55 ranked 1-5 questions): A basic, accurate Global 5/SLOAN test that gives you the benefit of a doubt for emotional stability. Results include % of each SLOAN trait, along with your SLOAN ‘type’ and a link to a possibly disparaging assessment of your character, if you’re an introvert. If you’re an INTJ, this may seem hilarious, but if you’re feeling psychological frail, tread with care.
Big 45 (225 ranked 1-5 questions): This is a long test. But it breaks the SLOAN traits (Social/Reserved, Limbic/Calm, Organized/Unstructured, Accommodating/Egocentric, Non-curious/Inquisitive) into ‘trait clusters’, measuring, with specificity, their manifestation. For example, Extroversion is comprised of: gregariousness, sociability, assertiveness, poise, leadership, provocativeness, self-disclosure, talkativeness, and group attachment; this test measures those traits and averages the percentages into an overarching ‘extroversion’ score as well.
Personal DNA: Simple, but possibly entertaining.
Holland Career Code (RIASEC): The results have changed for me over the years, but only with respect to my tertiary trait, which was always close. It has changed as a result to gaining more experience to inform my answers (i.e. having tried things that I didn’t believe would be enjoyable but turned out to be shockingly pleasant, and having tried other things with a positive expectation that was routinely disappointed)
Admittedly, I don’t know if this is the best version of the RIASEC, so if you have alternative, better options feel free to send me a note. This post is very slapdash at present.
