Who are we? Moving Beyond Personality Tests

Most of us are familiar with personality tests. From the Myers-Briggs, Enneagram, to the Big Five, we are captivated by the window into our unique make-up. The allure of self-discovery and our innate curiosity about behaviour is nothing new: we can trace the origins of the oldest form of personality test to the Ancient Greeks and the physician Hippocrates who slotted human beings into four distinct temperaments. 

The global personality assessment market is currently booming, and by 2028, expected to grow from US $7,421.59 million in 2021 to US $16,461.43 million. Recruiters and HR professionals are increasingly turning to personality assessments as a tool to aid candidate screening and hiring, and foster team building. In an era defined by remote work, these assessments also prove useful in shedding light on candidates’ communication and leadership styles and modes of learning without the need for face-to-face interactions.  

Yet, amidst the growing adoption and application of personality tests, there are two challenges that emerge. First, the traditional, repetitive format of multiple choice questions in personality assessment can breed ennui. In an organisational setting, this may open the door to candidates moulding themselves to fit the desired organisational profile. Instead, we must innovate and seek out more creative approaches to measure behaviour while maintaining scientific rigour and credibility. 

Another challenge is that we tend to latch onto the labels that traditional personality assessments generate, in a similar way to a horoscope. This can lead to an oversimplification of our personality and behaviour. For example, psychologists have highlighted the perils of the Myers-Briggs, citing its lack of scientific validity and credibility. While our personality is made up of stable traits, recent studies in the science of personality show that we also have the potential to change these traits, and that our personality can fluctuate in different contexts and roles. For instance, we may adopt or accentuate the traits of assertiveness and extraversion in a leadership role, a contrast to our natural introversion when we are at home with our close friends or partners.

As a researcher and lecturer immersed in the field of personality science, I was keen to address these challenges. To this end, I designed “Who are you?: A science-based personality game” published by Hachette UK. Departing from the traditional test format, “Who are you?” consists of one hundred scenario-based prompt cards, inviting players to navigate real-life situations at work (e.g. managing a project with a tough deadline) to daily life (e.g. being overheard at a restaurant). Players are invited to reflect how they would behave in each of these scenarios, uncovering insights into their behavioural patterns and motivations along the way. By blending scientific rigour with playful exploration, the game celebrates the fluidity and complexity of human personality, with a scorebook that generates personality scores in different contexts, such as work vs. our relationships. Designed to be versatile, players can play the “Work” cards with colleagues, the “Relationship” cards with a partner or potential date, and the “Self” cards alone. Or they can be jumbled up for an interesting game. 

Available on Amazon India now, “Who Are You” hopes to be a step forward in revealing the beautiful complexities of who we are and what makes us tick.