Why We Can't Stop Taking Personality Tests, According to the Experts
You're on Hinge when a profile catches your eye. You scroll down and one of their prompt answers reads, “Classic ESTP. I'll talk you into a spontaneous road trip by the second date.” Your pulse picks up. You've always gone for energetic, flirtatious people, and anyone who puts their type on a dating profile clearly cares about this stuff as much as you do. You send a like before you can talk yourself out of it. You have a good feeling about this one.
Over on Slack, your new manager has sent through some edits. You notice her bio says Enneagram Type One. That explains the thoroughness, you think. As a Type Nine, you take it in stride, reply with a thumbs-up and promise version two by lunch.
Somewhere between the dating apps and the Slack channels, our personality types became part of how we introduce ourselves. It's a language many of us speak fluently, and we trade acronyms with ease. Some of us know our friends’ Myers-Briggs types better than their birthdays. But why are we so hooked on personality tests, and why do we care so much about other people's results? We asked four clinicians to explain the pull.
Why We’re Hooked on Personality Types
If you can recite your four-letter type and your Enneagram number without thinking, this one's for you. Personality tests are fun, and they’re also one of the ways we make sense of who we are. “We're always trying to make sense of ourselves, others, and the world around us,” says Julie Landry, PsyD, ABPP, board-certified clinical psychologist and co-founder of NeuroSpark Health. “Personality tests are appealing because they offer a simple explanation for things that might otherwise feel complicated or hard to understand.”
They help explain our own behavior
Sometimes our own behavior is a mystery even to us. Maybe you keep stalling on making a relationship official, despite being head over heels in love with your partner. Maybe you overthink situations even where nothing has gone wrong.
Knowing your type and traits can shed light on patterns like these. “When our own behavior feels confusing, personality tests can offer a clear explanation to reduce that uncertainty,” says Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD, a clinical psychologist, professor of psychology, and author of The Personality Edit. That insight won't necessarily change the behavior, at least not straight away, but it can help you see why you keep repeating something that isn't serving you. And if a habit has always felt random, or left you wondering what's wrong with you, it can be comforting to realize it has roots in your personality.
They make us feel seen
Ever read a type description and thought, “Ugh, that's so me!” and felt a sense of something clicking into place? Sharone Weltfreid, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist says, “It can feel powerful when a description captures something we have sensed for a long time but never quite had the words for.” Psychology has a name for this—self-verification theory.
Developed by social psychologist William Swann, self-verification theory suggests that we like feedback that matches how we already see ourselves, even the not-so-flattering bits. So if you’ve always known you’re a little stubborn, having a test call you out can be weirdly satisfying.
And if your results sing your praises? That's a bonus. Psychologists call this self-enhancement, our drive to feel good about ourselves, and a glowing result gives our self-esteem a welcome boost.
We're curious about ourselves
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but we humans can't resist it. Even the most nonchalant among us occasionally wonder how we come across to the outside world. “Most people have curiosity about how they or others think, act, or behave," says Kat Grassetti, LCSW, co-founder and clinical director at Monima Wellness Center in San Diego. A personality test scratches that itch, she says, by handing us a snapshot of ourselves that we rarely get to see from the outside.
They help us work out where we fit
Self-knowledge has practical uses too, from dating to the workplace. “Someone might use a personality framework to think about what kinds of work, relationships, environments, or ways of living might suit them,” says Dr. Weltfreid. “In that sense, the appeal is not only 'Who am I?' but also 'Where do I fit, and what might feel right for me?'”
Why We Love Sharing Our Results
Imagine sitting down to explain exactly what kind of person you are. What you like, what you do, what you can’t stand. How you take criticism, why you reply to texts three days late, your stance on pineapple on pizza. You could probably fill a slide deck. Few people in your life have the time, or the attention span, to sit through it, and that is exactly where personality types come in. “A personality label can become a kind of shorthand for identity,” says Dr. Weltfreid. “Saying ‘I’m an INFJ’ or ‘I’m an Enneagram 4’ can quickly communicate something about how a person sees themselves and how they want to be understood by others.”
Now, we’re not suggesting that a type label can reveal everything about who you are. But as opening lines go, it’s an efficient one. It’s also a quick way to find out who’s on your wavelength because we all want to belong.
In a landmark 1995 paper, psychologists Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary argued that the need to belong is a fundamental human motivation. One widely held explanation is evolutionary: for our ancestors, acceptance by the group was bound up with survival. If your community didn’t like you, they could cast you out and you would likely starve, or be attacked by a wild animal.
The lions are gone, but the pull toward people like us remains.
“If I identify as an INFJ, suddenly I have a whole community of people who experience the world the way I do,” explains Dr. Sauer-Zavala. “Even silly tests like 'What Taylor Swift Song Are You?' can produce this effect. When I shared that I'm Bejeweled with a friend, she leaned in conspiratorially and whispered 'me too.'”
Taking the Test Again (and Again)
We all have that one friend who takes the obsession further than the rest of us. One result is never enough, so they take the test again, then another test, and the results keep landing in the group chat. Whether it’s because they are second-guessing their type or they just love a quiz (who doesn’t?), they just can’t get enough of personality tests. What gives?
“I think we like those personality quizzes because they give us immediate feedback about one of our favorite topics—ourselves,” says Dr. Landry. “There's also the anticipation each time we take one. Will it reveal something new? Will it find something the last test didn't?”
Dr. Weltfreid sees another motive, which is checking whether the result holds up over time. “If they retake the same test, they may be looking for consistency and wondering whether they'll arrive at the same result even if their mood, circumstances, or interpretation of a question shifts,” she explains. And if the same result keeps coming back, that's a good sign. Psychologists call it test-retest reliability, and it's one of the marks of a well-built assessment.
How to Get the Most from a Personality Test
Ready to dive in and take a test? A few pointers before you start.
Don’t overthink it
Spending 10 minutes thinking about each question means you’ll take hours to do a standard personality test, with little to show for the extra deliberation. It’s also not the point. When you’re taking a test, you need to go with your gut. Your first answer is usually the most honest reflection of how you tend to behave.
Notice what fits, and what doesn't
Let's be honest, no test is going to get you 100% right, and Dr. Weltfreid is quick to acknowledge it. Her advice? Take stock: “Because no single test can fully capture a person, it can be useful to step back and reflect on what resonates, what doesn't, and how any of it shows up in one's life.”
So take a closer look at your results. When something rings true, think about where it shows up in your day-to-day life. Does that line about avoiding conflict explain why you still haven't mentioned the dishes to your roommate? Or is your love of a plan the reason a surprise party makes you twitchy? (No judgment.)
And if something doesn't sound like you at all? Don't shrug it off. You might have answered as the person you'd like to be (psychologists call it social desirability bias, and we've all done it). Or maybe that trait only comes out in certain situations. Plenty of people are the life of the party with friends and the quiet one in meetings. Either way, it's telling you something.
Work with your type
A good personality report gives you the full picture of your type, warts and all. It's tempting to zero in on the less flattering parts and treat them as a list of things to fix, but Dr. Weltfreid suggests a gentler approach. “Personality frameworks can be useful when they encourage curiosity rather than certainty,” she explains. “It can help someone work with their tendencies rather than assuming they need to be different.”
Those less flattering traits often have an upside. Your love of a plan might leave you flustered when things go off script, but it also makes you the friend everyone trusts to organize the group trip. Your bluntness might ruffle a few feathers, but it also makes you the one people call when they need an honest opinion. So before you set out to change them, take a look at what they're already doing for you.
Leave room to grow
There's one trap to watch out for. Once you know your type, it's easy to start hiding behind it. “I can't do small talk, I'm an introvert!” “Sorry I bailed, I'm a Seven, I get bored easily!” Sound familiar?
“A framework is most helpful when it expands someone's understanding of themselves while still leaving room for growth, flexibility, and change," says Dr. Weltfreid. So treat your results as a starting point, and leave yourself room to surprise people, yourself included. Your type makes a great introduction. The rest of the story is yours to write.
