The History of Personality Testing

The quest to understand and categorize human personality has ancient roots. Hippocrates proposed the four temperaments theory in 400 BCE, suggesting that human behavior was influenced by four bodily fluids or "humors." However, modern personality assessment began in the early 20th century with the work of psychologists like Carl Jung, who explored the concepts of introversion and extraversion.

The first widely used personality test, the Woodworth Personal Data Sheet, was developed during World War I to screen recruits for potential psychological issues. In the 1920s, Gordon Allport began identifying personality traits in language, laying groundwork for trait theory. The 1940s saw the creation of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) based on Jung's theories, while Raymond Cattell's work in the 1950s identified 16 personality factors through statistical analysis.

The 1980s and 1990s brought consensus around the Five-Factor Model (Big Five), which emerged from decades of research as the most scientifically validated framework for understanding personality. The Enneagram, with roots in spiritual traditions, gained popularity as a psychological tool in the late 20th century. Today, personality testing has evolved into sophisticated digital assessments used in clinical settings, organizational development, career counseling, and personal growth.

Purpose and Benefits of Personality Tests

Why We Use Personality Assessments

Personality tests serve multiple purposes across different domains:

• Self-awareness: Tests provide insights into our natural tendencies, strengths, blind spots, and potential growth areas. This awareness helps us understand why we think, feel, and behave in certain ways.
• Career Development: Assessments can identify work environments, roles, and career paths where individuals are likely to thrive based on their natural traits and preferences.
• Team Building: Understanding personality differences helps teams leverage diverse strengths, improve communication, and reduce conflict.
• Personal Growth: Recognizing our patterns enables targeted development efforts that align with our unique personality structure.
• Relationship Enhancement: Insight into personality differences can improve communication and reduce friction in personal and professional relationships.

Benefits of Personality Assessment

When used properly, quality personality assessments offer several benefits:

• Common Language: Tests provide vocabulary and frameworks to discuss personality differences constructively.
• Validation: Many people find it affirming to see their experiences reflected in assessment results, which can validate their natural tendencies.
• Improved Decision-Making: Understanding personality patterns helps people make choices better aligned with their authentic selves.
• Enhanced Empathy: Learning about different personality types increases appreciation for diverse perspectives and approaches.
• Targeted Development: Rather than using one-size-fits-all approaches, personality insights allow for customized growth strategies.

Scientific Foundation and Limitations

It's important to recognize that personality tests vary greatly in their scientific validity. The most reliable assessments are:

• Based on peer-reviewed research
• Tested for reliability (consistency of results over time)
• Validated across diverse populations
• Regularly updated based on new findings

Even the best personality assessments have limitations. They provide probabilistic rather than deterministic insights, capture traits at a specific point in time, and should never be used to label or limit individuals. Personality exists on continuums rather than in rigid categories, and context significantly influences behavior.

The Big Five Personality Traits

The Five-Factor Model, commonly known as the Big Five, is the most scientifically validated framework for understanding personality. Unlike type-based systems, it measures each person on five independent dimensions, acknowledging that personality exists on a spectrum.

Overview of the Five Factors

Each of the Big Five traits represents a continuum between two extremes:

How Traits Interact

The power of the Big Five comes not just from understanding individual traits, but how they interact to create unique personality patterns. For example:

• High Openness combined with high Conscientiousness often indicates someone who is both creative and disciplined—able to generate innovative ideas and follow through on implementing them.
• High Extraversion with low Agreeableness might suggest someone who is socially dominant and assertive, perhaps even confrontational in pursuing their goals.
• High Conscientiousness with high Neuroticism could indicate someone who channels anxiety into meticulous preparation and planning.

Understanding these trait combinations provides a more nuanced picture than looking at each dimension in isolation.

Scientific Validation

The Big Five model has extensive empirical support, including:

• Cross-cultural validation across dozens of countries and languages
• Genetic studies showing heritability of traits
• Longitudinal research demonstrating relative stability over time
• Predictive validity for life outcomes like career success, relationship satisfaction, and health behaviors

This strong scientific foundation makes the Big Five particularly valuable for research and evidence-based applications.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, based on Carl Jung's theory of psychological types. While less supported by contemporary research than the Big Five, the MBTI remains extraordinarily popular for its accessible insights and practical applications.

The 16 Personality Types

The MBTI assesses preferences across four dichotomies, resulting in 16 possible personality types:

1. Energy source: Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
   Where you focus your attention and get your energy
2. Information gathering: Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)
   How you prefer to take in information
3. Decision-making: Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
   How you make decisions
4. Structure: Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)
   How you orient yourself to the external world

Each MBTI type is represented by a four-letter code (e.g., INFJ, ESTP) based on preferences in these four areas.

Cognitive Functions

Behind the four-letter types lies a system of eight cognitive functions that represent different ways of perceiving and judging. Each type has a unique stack of four primary functions:

• Extraverted Sensing (Se): Focus on immediate sensory experiences and opportunities for action
• Introverted Sensing (Si): Compare present experiences to past ones, preserving important details
• Extraverted Intuition (Ne): See patterns and possibilities in the external world
• Introverted Intuition (Ni): Develop complex insights and visions about how things will unfold
• Extraverted Thinking (Te): Organize and structure the external environment, make logical decisions
• Introverted Thinking (Ti): Analyze and create precise categories, seek internal logical consistency
• Extraverted Feeling (Fe): Harmonize with and respond to others' emotions, maintain social values
• Introverted Feeling (Fi): Stay true to personal values, evaluate situations based on authenticity

Understanding these functions adds depth beyond the 16 types, explaining why people of the same type can still express their personalities differently based on their cognitive development.

Applications and Limitations

The MBTI is widely used for:

• Team building and improving communication
• Career exploration and development
• Leadership training
• Self-understanding and personal growth

However, it has important limitations:

• Limited evidence for the theory of distinct types rather than traits on a continuum
• Lower test-retest reliability compared to trait-based assessments
• Tendency to create "Barnum effect" descriptions that could apply to many people
• Not designed to measure skills, abilities, or mental health conditions

The Enneagram System

The Enneagram is a personality typing system that describes nine distinct types, each driven by their own core motivations, fears, and desires. While not as empirically validated as the Big Five model, the Enneagram has gained significant popularity for its insights into psychological patterns and personal growth paths.

Origins and Development

The Enneagram has diverse roots that blend ancient wisdom traditions with modern psychology. Its symbol—a nine-pointed geometric figure—has connections to Sufi, Christian, and other spiritual traditions dating back centuries. The modern psychological application of the Enneagram emerged in the 20th century, primarily through the work of Oscar Ichazo, Claudio Naranjo, and later Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson, who developed nuanced descriptions of each type and integrated the system with contemporary psychological concepts.

The Nine Enneagram Types

Each Enneagram type represents a distinct worldview and coping strategy shaped by core motivations and fears:

The Enneagram Symbol

Complexity Beyond Basic Types

The Enneagram offers additional layers of insight beyond the nine basic types:

• Wings: Most people lean toward one of the adjacent types (called "wings") which influence how their core type is expressed.
• Levels of Development: Each type can operate at different levels of psychological health or development, from the highly integrated to the unhealthy.
• Growth and Stress Lines: The Enneagram maps how each type tends to behave differently under conditions of growth (security) versus stress (disintegration), taking on characteristics of other specific types.
• Instinctual Subtypes: Each type has three subtypes based on which basic instinct is dominant: self-preservation, social, or sexual (one-to-one).

Applications and Benefits

The Enneagram is applied in various contexts:

• Personal Development: Insight into core motivations and patterns, facilitating self-awareness and growth
• Relationships: Understanding different worldviews and communication styles between types
• Spiritual Growth: Identifying habitual patterns that prevent deeper awareness and presence
• Workplace Dynamics: Improving team communication, leadership development, and conflict resolution
• Therapy and Coaching: Providing frameworks for understanding clients' typical patterns and growth paths

Scientific Standing

The Enneagram occupies an interesting position in personality psychology:

• It has less empirical research support compared to frameworks like the Big Five
• Recent studies have begun to establish some validity for the Enneagram, showing internal consistency and some correlation with other established measures
• Its emphasis on motivations rather than just observable behaviors gives it a different focus than many scientifically-validated personality systems
• The Enneagram community often emphasizes experiential validation (does it provide useful insights?) over statistical validation

Comparing and Integrating Different Frameworks

Comparing the Three Systems

Aspect	Big Five	MBTI	Enneagram
Focus	Broad trait dimensions	Information processing and decision making	Core motivations, fears, and desires
Structure	5 continuous dimensions	16 types based on 4 dichotomies	9 types with wings and stress/growth patterns
Theoretical Base	Lexical analysis and factor analysis	Jungian psychological theory	Blend of spiritual traditions and psychology
Scientific Validation	Strong	Moderate	Limited but growing
Emphasis on Growth	Limited explicit growth framework	Moderate emphasis on development	Strong emphasis on development paths
Primary Use	Research, clinical assessment	Career guidance, team building	Personal development, spiritual growth, coaching

Complementary Insights

Rather than viewing these systems as competing, many practitioners find value in using them complementarily:

• The Big Five provides scientifically validated measurement of broad personality dimensions, useful for understanding stable traits across contexts.
• The MBTI offers an intuitive language for discussing cognitive preferences and information processing styles, which many find helpful for team dynamics and self-reflection.
• The Enneagram delves into underlying motivations and fears that drive behavior, offering unique insights into personal growth paths and habitual patterns.

Each system illuminates different aspects of personality:

• Big Five answers: What are your typical behaviors and preferences?
• MBTI answers: How do you process information and make decisions?
• Enneagram answers: Why do you think, feel, and act the way you do?

Choosing the Right Assessment

The best personality assessment depends on your specific goals:

• For scientific research: The Big Five is generally preferred
• For self-exploration: All three approaches can provide useful insights
• For team development: The MBTI and Enneagram offer accessible languages for productive conversations
• For spiritual/psychological growth: The Enneagram provides particularly rich material
• For career guidance: All frameworks offer relevant perspectives, though each with different emphasis

Regardless of which assessment you choose, remember that personality tests are tools for insight—not definitive labels. They provide a starting point for self-understanding, not a rigid classification that limits your potential or predetermines your path.