If you consider the last question bizarre, how about the ?Dead Russian composer personality test.? They are everywhere. I have not been immune to personality tests myself, and have been diagnosed as a romantic, a questioner, Comfort Colada cocktail, a ?girl next door? and I am supposedly predisposed to sickeningly sweet scented perfumes. I have not taken the panty test, with fear of being labelled a pair of bland cream white granny bloomers.
Apart from frivolous fun, The Sunday Standard asked motivational author, Maggie Mabechu, if personality tests, which are popular with women?s magazines, offer a sensible opportunity to make common different personality types.
?As a teacher trainer,? Mabechu began, ?I have used personalities types to explain learning and teaching styles. Many brilliant introvert students have been seen to be dim, because they are taught by teachers whose teaching styles are incompatible with the student?s own learning style.
?Though I am not aware of their popularity, it?s a good thing that young women?s magazine carry these tests; girls can address their inner-self insecurities in the privacy of their homes, and get their, ?So this is me?? moment.
?Since we live in a society of conformity, they probably will figure out a way of fitting in having knowledge of their personality type.
?However, I believe that if they partook in compatibility personality tests with the concerned partners, the tests then bring tangible results which can be achieved in the relationships. What would happen instead is having women who are self aware and better empowered than their male counterparts.?
Personality tests have also been adopted by the American business community. Forbes.com reports that companies give interviewees personality tests, as part of the hiring process.
?I have actually worked with a team of four individuals, in four different instances. Our group dynamics must have been good because we worked brilliantly together. Maybe I too should adopt the personality test in future,? Mabechu concluded with a laugh.
?There are many facets in the human personality,? says 27-year-old Tebogo Tsetseng (not his real name). ?Different personality traits become apparent in different contexts. People I interact with at church and the bar would have different accounts of what kind of person I am.?
?A personality cannot be put in a box, for instance. We all have a compulsion to murder,? he said ?and under certain conditions, we would kill.?
?Personality tests are okay for a simplistic understanding of complex human behaviour, but not absolute.?
