Looking back, high school was a blur of extracurricular activities that I didn’t even enjoy, embarrassing moments that seemed like the end of the world at the time and test anxiety over exams that don’t even compare to college. I had no clear vision of who I was in high school and who I would be in college. Even now, I don’t think I completely know who I am. Am I a writer? Yes, but I’m also a business major. Am I a businesswoman? Maybe. The questions are endless but the answer is simple.
It’s not black and white. There are no distinct The Breakfast Club style categories as we all get older. There’s a spectrum based on things we like, things we don’t, our quirks and idiosyncrasies, our parents and friends and, most importantly, how we think and how we feel.
To get more of an idea of who I was in this sense, I began taking personality tests, lots and lots of them. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper than backpacking through Europe and going down that route to find yourself. If any of you are in the same position of trying to figure out who you are and who you want to be then I highly recommend looking into some of these personality tests. Bonus: All the ones I included are free to take!
The True Colors Personality Test
This is the perfect introductory personality test. The True Colors personality test is one of the most basic personality tests and focuses primarily on strengths and weaknesses. Each person falls into one of the four colors: gold, green, blue, and orange.
You can take it here.
The Love Languages
This test explains how you like to connect with others. It gives you insight about what you need and want in a relationship and a better understanding of what others need and want too. Each person either needs words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time or physical touch.
You can take it here.
The Social Styles
Social styles, a concept I first learned in Professional Sales class, are the archetype of your personality style. If you have seen Sex and the City then you know you’re either Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte. Each of those characters represents one of the four common personalities and this personality test works in the same way.
Take it here.
Visual DNA
This test focuses more on how you see things in the world around you. Instead of answering tons and tons of written questions, you respond to pictures. This all translates into percentages of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. These combine to explain your outlook, character, self-control, composure, taste, sociability, action, attitude, process and resilience.
Take it here.
Pottermore
You probably took this already in middle school but Pottermore is more of a personality test than many muggles think. This Harry Potter inspired test gives insight into which house you would fall into and explains many of your strengths and weaknesses as well as needs and desires. Also, it’s a good way to procrastinate productively. In case you’re wondering, I’m a Hufflepuff which proves that Cedric Diggory is indeed my soulmate.
Take it here.
Myers-Briggs
This wouldn’t be an article about personality tests without including the cult favorite, Myers-Briggs. This test is the be-all, end-all personality test and explains that if you thought there were only two types of people in the world, you’re wrong. This test is much more thorough than other tests and divides people into 16 personalities based on four overlying personality traits: Extroversion or Introversion, Intuition or Sensing, Feeling or Thinking and Perceiving or Judging.
Take it here.
Even if it’s just learning that you prefer gifts to words or that you’re a total Charlotte, these should hopefully help you discover some more information about yourself.
All images courtesy of 16 Personalities.