3 warnings signs to consider before using a personality test

The most popular personality tests falsely assume that people can be classified into personality types—a theoretical framework that has been thoroughly discredited. These tests—the Myers-Briggs, the DiSC, the Color Test, and the Enneagram—all attempt to categorize people into contrived types.

Asking someone if they’re an introvert or an extrovert isn’t the right way to approach personality. People don’t fit into neat boxes; they can’t be classified into “entirely introverted” or “entirely extraverted.”

People can vary in degrees from low to high on a given trait. Currently, the most scientifically supported theory is the Big 5, which identifies the degree to which someone is open to new experiences, conscientious, extraverted, agreeable, and emotionally stable.

But even most Big 5 tests still use a traditional Likert-type scale, which asks participants to rate themselves “on a scale of 1 to 5.” Scientists have been aware for decades that this measurement method is fraught with biases.