E X P L O R E T H E S E L I F E C H A L L E N G E S . . . |
KNOW YOUR OWN MIND
Free In-Depth Personality Test
By Peter Shepherd
Skip the talk - get on with the test!
Introduction
How you see yourself and how others see you may be quite different. It is hard to be objective about oneself - after all, one is being oneself and therefore there is no distance from which to view. The following Questionnaire is intended to provide this objectivity. It is based on tried and tested principles, the result of research by renowned Professor of human psychology, Hans Eysenck, and described in his popular book 'Know Your Own Personality' published first in 1972. He had a clear understanding of how introversion and extraversion, combined with the degree of emotional stability and self-determinism, determine the personality traits that result in much of an individual's behavior. A description of his theory of personality traits and the theory of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) is given on our page describing the work of Prof. Eysenck.Eysenck, however, as a behavioral psychologist believed that personality, like intelligence, is determined to a large extent by a person's genes and is unchangeable beyond an effort to cover up negative traits through learned behavior. On the contrary, I have found that while one's genetic constitution is a significant factor (particularly affecting the balance of neurotransmitter chemicals in the brain) and environmental factors (such as upbringing, education, cultural conditioning and even the quality of nutrition) are equally significant, in practice a tremendous amount can be done by the individual to restructure their own personality and even to improve intelligence. A lot can be done to improve brain chemistry and nutritional deficiencies too! Exactly how such personal development can be achieved is described in "Transforming the Mind".
Of most significance in the development of personality is an individual's experience, both pleasurable and painful, in this lifetime, from birth onwards. And also, I have found, the experience which is brought into this life from the prior existence of the individual's spiritual essence. These experiences result in both positive and negative learning: the acquisition of skills and understanding, and the acquisition of fixed ideas and conditioning. This learning can be revised!
So the results of this Questionnaire should be seen as an instructive guide to your present psychological makeup and an indication of areas of your life that you may choose to transform by applying appropriate techniques of personal development.
The Questionnaire is grouped into Categories, each with a number of psychological Traits. Each Trait is presented on a separate page. Each page also contains an Analysis of the resulting scores. Needless to say, the validity of the analysis will depend on how candidly you filled in the Questionnaire!
The Questionnaire will automatically add up your score entries and then when you go to the next Trait, a section at the bottom will keep a record of your scores to date, and this can later be printed out. If you wish to use a manual-scoring version of the Questionnaire, please click here. This alternative version is also available for download in PDF format, ideal for printing and working off-line. Since it does not use JavaScript, it is suitable for use with an older browser.
The basis of the questionnaire is the long-established Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, used worldwide by the psychiatric profession. The idea is to test against cultural stereotypes, that is the "norm", the way a statistical majority of people actually are in Western society. The "norm" is not necessarily an enlightened point of view, it simply represents what a typical person's responses are likely to be. It doesn't mean the normal responses are 'right' or 'correct'. High or low positions on a scale may represent neurosis if your answers represent compulsions, obsessions or inhibitions, and you may want to become more free in that area. But if they represent conscious choices in the way you play the game of life, then of course, that's fine! A person relatively free from cultural conditioning in an area of life is unlikely to be the same as the 'normal person' who tends to be riddled with such conditioning.
Normally answers are not available to the person doing the test. I have made them accessible so one can be aware of the test's shortcomings, and also hopefully in the process become more aware of one's own fixed or limited beliefs, as well as fears and neuroses - as well as how one is likely to compare to the average guy down the street.
The idea is to expose fixed and conditioned ways of thinking, feeling and behaving, not to indicate that any particular way is right or better than another. The questions can expose ways in which you are a stereotyped product of your culture, more liberated than the norm or more neurotic than the norm, or just different - the interpretation is up to you, the more honest the better!
When you have completed scoring the questionnaire, a picture will emerge from the high or low scoring traits - it is up to you to make what you will of this picture, perhaps learn some lessons, decide to do something about what you find, or be happy you are the way you are. Some notes on how to interpret your results are included below. I hope you enjoy participating in the questionnaire and that you will explore these issues further in Transforming the Mind, maybe go on to resolve some of them with Start a New Life!, then hopefully move on to The Insight Project for a complete resolution of all the factors that inhibit personal freedom and conscious awareness.
BEGIN THE QUESTIONNAIRE...
With The Whole Person HandbookBy Peter Shepherd & Wallace HueyThis is the ultimate FREE E-BOOK that will empower you to:
- Find out which life challenges most need your attention
- Guide you to the best free Tools for Transformation
- Give you amazing insights into your life
- Let you see if you need professional support to master a particular life challenge
- Guide you to the best professional support where needed
The Trans4mind Buddy Service
- Choose the kind of buddy you want.
- Feel supported and excited when you find a buddy with the same life challenges as you have!
- Communicate by private email initially and then by Skype, instant messaging or telephone when you feel secure.
- Share what you are learning on the Trans4mind site, from Cultivate Life! ezine, and from The Whole Person Handbook.
- A safe and secure service - completely free of charge!
We guarantee you will be inspired
every time you dip into this
abundance of wisdom...“I Want to Hand You the Key
to a Fascinating World!”
—Peter ShepherdHave you ever gone into an intriguing personal development bookstore and browsed the shelves? Do you remember the anticipation you felt as you realized this was the place where a new discovery was about to take place? Then your eyes lit on something special and you came out with an unexpected gem of a book!We want to give you the key to your very own personal development bookstore! As proud owner you will be able to enter, browse the shelves and pick that ideal book for leisurely contemplation, any time you choose. Only this time, because you own the store, every book you choose comes free of charge!500 quality eBooks + audios + videos View Contents"Just a short note of thanks for the CDs. I've only had them for several days now but I already feel they are perhaps the most interesting compilation I have yet seen. Worth far more than the price of admission. The browser linked structure works well and makes it easy to manage such a large storehouse of information. It is rarely that I find something I like as much as this or that I feel strongly enough to write a note like this."
CD 1. “Ground Floor”
Down to earth...Trans4mind Exclusives
Physical Health
Mental Health
Personal Development
Interviews
CD 2. “First Floor”
In the sky...Philosophy & Psychology
Spiritual & Esoteric
New Age & Psychic
Yoga & Buddhism
Audio & Video
full refund within 60 days
--P.W. (Minnesota, USA)
What is 'Nonviolent Communication'?
For centuries our culture has taught us to think and speak in ways that can actually perpetuate conflict, internal pain and even violence. Nonviolent Communication partners practical skills with a powerful consciousness and vocabulary to help you get what you want peacefully.
Watch this short video (10:36) and learn how NVC can revolutionize your conversations and your relationships:
Get the Flash Player to see this video.Imagine... What if you could defuse tension and create accord in even the most volatile situations - just by changing the way you spoke? Over the past 35 years, Marshall Rosenberg has done just that, peacefully resolving conflicts in families, schools, businesses, and governments in 30 countries on 5 continents. With Nonviolent Communication, this renowned peacemaker presents his complete system for speaking our deepest truths ... addressing our unrecognized needs and emotions ... and honoring those same concerns in others.
Are you hungry for skills to improve the quality of your relationships? To help you ask for what you want? To simply be able to communicate more effectively?
Discover how the language you use can strengthen your relationships ... build trust ... prevent conflicts ... help you assert yourself in difficult moments ... and heal pain.
Create More Satisfying Relationships with NVC
Get Started Now -- for FREE and with NO obligation...Free NVC Communication Skills Class
You can also enter the Questionnaire on a particular page, as below:
Category A - INTROVERSION/EXTRAVERSION
- Page 1 - ACTIVITY
- Page 2 - SOCIABILITY
- Page 3 - RISK-TAKING
- Page 4 - IMPULSIVENESS
- Page 5 - EXPRESSIVENESS
- Page 6 - REFLECTIVENESS
- Page 7 - RESPONSIBILITY
Category B - EMOTIONAL STABILITY
- Page 8 - SELF-ESTEEM
- Page 9 - HAPPINESS
- Page 10 - ANXIETY
- Page 11 - OBSESSIVENESS
- Page 12 - INDEPENDENCE
- Page 13 - HYPOCHONDRIA
- Page 14 - GUILT
Category C - MASTERY/SYMPATHY
- Page 15 - AGGRESSIVENESS
- Page 16 - ASSERTIVENESS
- Page 17 - AMBITION
- Page 18 - MANIPULATION
- Page 19 - SENSATION-SEEKING
- Page 20 - DOGMATISM
- Page 21 - MASCULINITY/FEMININITY
Category D - SEXUALITY
- Page 22 - SEXUAL LIBIDO
- Page 23 - SEXUAL SATISFACTION
- Page 24 - SEXUAL PERMISSIVENESS
- Page 25 - SEXUAL STEREOTYPE
Category E - SOCIAL & POLITICAL ATTITUDES
Daring to be Yourself
The aim of this book is to help you achieve a 'wide-awake' state of consciousness, with integrated use of left and right brain abilities, forming the bedrock for breakthroughs in personal consciousness and spiritual insight. The practice is based on the premise that we have learned disabilities that set boundaries to our action and knowing. But no one need accept that they must remain as they were shaped by their hereditary body-mind and by the conditioning of their childhood and culture.
This 264-page paperback book is like a "best of" the trans4mind site - that you can read snuggled up on the sofa, away from the computer! But much more than that, it's also an incredibly powerful program for personal growth. Remove the barriers to self-knowledge and reveal your full potential with this step-by-step approach.
Our Blog features excerpts from the book plus current news, views and links."I realize many people use praise in ways that sound frivolous...but I must tell you that your book has changed my life AND I mean that in all ways. I found the entire work wonderfully upbeat, readable and valuable! It really was quite a wakeup call. In the midst of my "trials and tribulations" I had failed to be "me." Anyway, this "talk with you" really did change my life. Thank you! I needed this kind of "kick in the pants." It worked. WOW! You made a huge difference in my world."–Becky, USA
Interpretation of overall results
It may be that you score higher than the norm in some extravert traits and at the same time higher in some introvert traits. That's to be expected; many people are ambivert - in some circumstances extraverted and in others introverted, depending on their needs and corresponding fears, and other factors like conditioning. But one moves into the type of person that may be described as "extravert" or "introvert" if that way of being becomes dominant. At what level does one consider it to be dominant?
Extraversion is dominant if there are high levels of activity, sociability, risk-taking, expressiveness, and can become neurotically so if there are also high levels of impulsiveness, lack of reflection and lack of responsibility, or if risk-taking is very high.
Introversion is dominant if there are high levels of responsibility, high reflection, low impulsiveness, low risk-taking, and can become problematic if there are low levels of activity, sociability and expressiveness, or if impulsiveness and risk-taking are very low.
I offer here a brief outline of how to interpret the scores in response to a reader's question:
"I'm currently at college studying Sports Science. As I have a real interest in psychology, I am doing a research project on personality and playing positions in netball teams. In order to gather my relevant information from each netball player I shall be using Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire. I have one main problem, I do not know how to interpret the results."
These are the qualities of people who are extraverted but a bit on the unstable side:
Active, optimistic, impulsive, changeable, excitable
And more unstable: aggressive, restless, touchyThese are the qualities of people who are extraverted but also more stable than normal:
Sociable, outgoing, talkative, responsive, easygoing, lively, carefree, leaderThese are the qualities of people who are introverted but a bit on the unstable side:
Quiet, unsociable, reserved, pessimistic, sober, rigid, anxious, moodyThese are the qualities of people who are introverted but also more stable than usual:
Passive, careful, thoughtful, peaceful, controlled, reliable, even-tempered, calmExtraversion tends to go with: more active, sociable, risk-taking, impulsive, expressive, tending to lack reflection and tending towards irresponsibility.
Emotional instability tends to go with: less self-esteem, unhappiness, anxiety, obsessiveness, less self-directed (autonomy), may be hypochondriac, tendency to dwell on guilt and so on.
These dimensions are dealt with on the EPI (Eysenck Personality Inventory). The EPQ (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire) includes the dimension or temperament of 'tough-mindedness' (somewhat independent of the two previous temperaments of extraversion and emotional stability) which has these qualities:
Aggressiveness, assertiveness, achievement orientation, manipulation, sensation-seeking, dogmatism, masculinity.Of course people don't fit into little pigeon holes quite like that. In some areas of life, a person may be shy and introverted (where fears and past bad experiences cause barriers) and in other areas the person may be more confident and outgoing (where maybe the person has done better in the past, perhaps connected with talents in that area or support). Or a person might be quite stable normally but in some circumstances his or her 'buttons' easily get pushed and the person may get uncharacteristically distressed or angry.
My online book 'Transforming the Mind' talks about this in terms of 'reversal theory' which you may be interested in - but that would complicate the issue too much for your purposes here. Just bear in mind that in the context of playing netball a person may have a rather different personality than in other areas of her life.
I marked the qualities in bold above that seem to me most desirable for a participant in a netball team. In general, emotional stability is the biggest plus as all the emotionally unstable qualities are not much help in the team. Extraverted and moderately unstable is OK nevertheless.
Regarding positions, as you say, the forward positions probably are best filled with the more extravert persons (who will take risks and look for chances) and the defensive positions with the more introvert (who will stay calm and take the defensive duties seriously) but also reasonably tough-minded.
A person is better to edge on the side of tough-minded, but not too much as that temperament edges into psychoticism (you don't want psychos on your team!) - but you don't want weak-willed people either, when the going gets difficult. (There's more information about the EPQ here.)
IQ Test
Check out our collection of PhD certified IQ Test and Aptitude Tests. We also have loads
of other Ph.D certified Personality and Self Development tests which you would love.
Trans4mind
New approaches for optimal health of body, mind and spirit.
This site contains the online book Transforming the Mind
& extensive resources to assist with your personal growth
