Personality Types

This is a page on Personality Types, the different ones you might encounter, what they are and what they mean.

So what is a Personality Type?
A personality type is a system by which you classify someone according to personality. The system depends on which test you do, and how accurate the test is. Some are much more accurate than others (for example MBTI would be more accurate than Hogwarts houses).

What point does it serve?
While it might not serve a huge point in people's lives, personality types (especially what type they are) plays a big role in what they enjoy and who they are, since personality is different in all humans.

It may be a serious test, designed by psychologists and the like, or it might just be for fun! Whatever the case, it helps to learn more about yourself, who you are and your relations to those around and how others perceive you (in a way you may not perceive yourself)

What are the different Personality Types/Tests?
There are many many different personality types, tests and quizzes. I've listed some of the most well-known:

-MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator)

Created by Carl-Jung. By far the most well-known and accurate, MBTI uses a system of 16 different groups all with cognitive functions. The groups are divided into four letters, based on Extraversion/Introversion; Sensing/Intuition; Feeling/Thinking and Judging/Perceiving. Extraverts prefer to interact with people rather than on their own and gain energy from others. Sensors prefer to see the details and the present. Intuitors would rather see the bigger picture and the future possibilties. Feelers are receptive to emotions, and prefer to feel rather than use logic. Thinkers prefer to see the logic behind a situation and order. Judgers tend to have plans and think ahead, or as Perceivers like to keep options open. So for example we can have ESTP, INFJ, ENFP, ISTP, etc...

-Enneagram 

Created by Don Riso and Russ Hudson. Enneagram is made up of 9 Types: Type 1: The Reformer, Type 2: The Helper, Type 3: The Achiever, Type 4: The Individualist, Type 5: The Investigator, Type 6: The Loyalist, Type 7: The Enthusiast, Type 8: The Challenger and Type 9: The Peacemaker. Based around this is a star shaped figure with different "wings", so all the types are connected to the highest/lowest next to itself. The "wing" is the hidden side of yourself (example 4w5, 3w2, 9w1, etc...). To see how Enneagram works click Here.

-Socionics 

"Socionics, in psychology and sociology, is a theory of information processing and personality type, distinguished by its information model of the psyche (called "Model A") and a model of interpersonal relations." Wikipedia. For those that don't understand the jargon, basically it means that it's a personality test based on psyche and on people's interpersonal skills. It seems awfully complicated stuff, but basically it's a mixture of Carl-Jung MBTI and interpretation combined with neat squares, triangles and circles. It's closely linked to MBTI.

The types are so: logical sensory extrovert (ESTj), logical intuitive extrovert (ENTj), ethical sensory extrovert (ESFj), ethical intuitive extrovert (ENFj), Sensory logical extrovert (ESTp), Sensory ethical extrovert (ESFp), Intuitive logical extrovert (ENTp), Intuitive ethical extrovert (ENFp), Logical Sensory introvert (ISTj), Logical intuitive introvert (INTj), Ethical sensory introvert (ISFj), Ethical intuitive introvert (INFj), Sensory logical introvert (ISTp), Sensory Ethical introvert (ISFp), Intuitive logical introvert (INTp), Intuitive ethical introvert (INFp).

And now for the less serious, fun, quirky and often well-meaningly inaccurate tests:

-Hogwarts Houses 

Based on the ever popular book series Harry Potter written by J.K Rowling, this test aims to place you within a "house", which has certain attributes. There are four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindors are generally considered the good guys and Slytherin the bad, though there can be cases where that's not the case. They each have animals that represent them, lion for Gryffindor, raven for Ravenclaw, badger for Hufflepuff and snake for Slytherin.

~Gryffindor values courage, bravery, daring, chivalry and nerve.

~Ravenclaw values wit, intelligence and knowledge.

~Hufflepuff values hard work, dedication, fair play, loyalty and patience.

~Slytherin values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness.

-Dungeons and Dragons Alignment

This is a personality test based on the game Dungeons and Dragons. It focuses primarily on motives and character identity, rather than personality in its entirety. The alignments are "lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, neutral, chaotic neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil." D&D wikia.

Good vs. Evil: 

Good characters protect innocents, evil characters harm them/destroy them or wish to disrupt innocent characters.

Law vs. Chaos: 

Lawful characters obey the law, tell the truth, respect authority, honour tradition and judge those who do not. Chaotic characters follow their own conscience, resent being told what to do, honour freedom and favour new ideas over tradition. Chaotic does not imply evil or wishing to cause harm, simply a higher value for freedom and new ideas than tradition.

Neutral: 

Neutral is a character that neither resides with any of the motives in particular. They are at neither extreme and can use both sides of an attribute (for example a completely neutral person would be able to use all four [good, evil, law and chaos] equally). The majority of neutral people have a preference for one motive rather than the other, but are still neutral (eg. neutral good, chaotic neutral, etc...).

-Sloan

While considered fairly inaccurate and not too viable, this is still a neat test. Also known as the "Big Five" or "Big Fat Five" test, it's similar to MBTI. The functions are as follows:

Social vs. Reserved

Much like Extraversion vs. Introversion, social types feel at ease with others and enjoy others company. Reserved types are uncomfortable in social situations or simply not interested.

Limbic vs. Calm

Limbic types are moody and emotionally unstable compared to calm types, who maintain level emotions. This means that you can have a spontaneous, fun-loving calm type, who does not necessarily act calm in the literal sense.

Organised vs. Unstructured

Organised types like order and are focused. Unstructured types are scattered.

Accomodating vs. Egocentric 

Accomodating people focus themselves around others, egocentric types have little interest in others and their pursuits and prefer to live for themselves.

Non-curious vs. Inquisitve

Non-curious people are not naturally curious about what is around them and are less intellectually driven (this does not mean you are a nerd, by the way, it just means you enjoy learning new things). Inquisitve people are naturally curious and always want to learn new things.

But don't take it too seriously...
Personality tests, quizzes and types are fun, no doubt, but don't take it to heart and remember that no one type is better than the other [even though yeah Type 7 enneagrams are awesome like yours truly]. Nah I'm just joking guys.