Who Are You?

Characters and Personality Types

Every human being is unique. Each of us has a unique DNA, a unique experience of life, and a unique outlook on the future. Nonetheless, as a species — Homo sapiens, we all share some traits at different degrees: we tend to over-generalize, we procrastinate, we are curious, etc. Moreover, if we scan the history of human societies, we notice some patterns in the characters: the leader, the soldier, the scientist, the rebel, the traitor, the altruist, etc. We don’t find it difficult to compare one or more characters of a story to other characters in other stories…

The studies of human behavior and personality have gained increased attention in the last two centuries. They have evolved from weak pseudoscience theories, such as phrenology and physiognomy, to an established branch of psychology (stronger pseudoscience theories). It may not be attracting the brightest minds, nevertheless, some results are relevant. And I must admit it, the personality tests below are really fun!

Biogenic, Sociogenic, and Idiogenic selves

The book “Who are you, really?”, by Brian Little, provides insights into the personality traits based on the latest psychological studies. The good news is: you are not destined to have a certain character, you can change your personality traits. How? By pursuing your personal projects, you define who you are. In other words, well-doing can change your character and has an impact on your well-being. More details below.

The author argues that everyone has three ‘selves’:

• The biogenic self: your genes define some of the traits of your character. This is the fixed part of your personality.
• The sociogenic self: other traits of your personality are imposed by your social context and the culture you grew in; people who are important to you, your family, friends, and colleagues.
• The idiogenic self: what you decide to do, your projects and plans, are the last layer of your character. Studies have shown that what you do can even have an impact on the manifestation of your genes, and, in a sense, influence your genome at least temporally.

Fortunately, your genes and social context are not the only determinants of your personality. Your idiogenic self is your hero.

Personality Types Models

There exist several models to model the major personality traits. The widely known one is OCEON, or the Big-Five. Other personality models are MBTI, FIRO-B, SDI, and DISC. These models are used today in the corporate world (in hiring and management), and they are part of some management programs. The models are based on psychological research studies (whatever this means) and are formulated as introspective self-report questionnaires that can be found online.

MBTI — Myer Briggs Type Indicator

The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality assessment model that was constructed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It is based on the conceptual theory proposed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. The personality traits are grouped into four categories:

• Introversion / Extraversion: What is your source of energy? From inside yourself (I) or from people (E).
• Sensing / INtuition: How do you perceive the world? As facts and details (S) or as possibilities and big picture (N).
• Thinking / Feeling: How do you make decisions? Using analytical thinking (T), or feelings and empathy (F).
• Judging / Perception: How do you organize your life? To-do lists and instructions (J) or flexibility and improvisation (P).

This produces 16 personality types as shown in the figure below. An individual can fall into one type, or between 2 or more types, depending on its score.

FIRO-B

FIRO-B stands for Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation — Behavior. Introduced by William Schutz in 1958, this theory explains the interpersonal interactions of a local group of people. It models the personalities of individuals based on 3 fundamental needs: Inclusion, Control, and Affection. These needs are either expressed (initiated and practiced by the individual) and/or wanted (the individual is waiting for them).

The resulting scores of the FIRO-B test are filled in the matrix below. The totals of the columns and rows are then used to assess the personality traits of the individual along the 3 dimensions: Inclusion, Control, and Affection.

SDI — what is your color?

The Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) is a personality test that is based on the work of Elias H. Porter. The personality traits are grouped into 3 categories (colors): blue, the altruistic, green, the analytical, and red, the competitive. Each individual has its own spectrum of colors. One advantage of this test is the spectrum of traits is visualized as shown in the figure below. Another advantage of this test is that it considers 2 situations: 1) when things are going well and 2) in case of conflict. The behavior of an individual may not be the same in both situations.

DISC- what is your bird?

DISC is the acronym for Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. It is a behavior model that was created by the industrial psychologist Walter Clarke in 1956, based on the work of psychologist William Moulton Marston.

In his book Emotions of Normal People, published in 1928, Marston argued that human behavior falls in the aforementioned 4 types, as shown in the figure below. Note that, in its popular and simple version, DISC is sometimes called DOPE, for Dove, Owl, Peacock, and Eagle. These birds are used to illustrate each personality type.

OCEAN — the big five

This model is also called the Big Five Personality Traits. It reduces the number of traits (factors) to 5 groups. These 5 traits are represented by the acronym OCEAN, for Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. The following figure shows how people can be positioned across the spectrum of each trait.

Acting out of character

In some circumstances, you feel obliged to act out of character. Your dream job may require you to step out of your inherent introvert character and act like an extrovert. You might need to impress someone by being highly organized, which is not easy for you naturally. If you feel that you are treated unfairly, you may behave disagreeably, even though you are a very agreeable person. etc.

These situations might be exhausting to you, and you’ll feel the need to return to your niche at the end of the day. Remember that, in the long run, your idiogenic self will help in such situations.