So you’re in a workplace, and you have this colleague who is always making people laugh, another who is deep and keeps everything in order, another who doesn’t like people’s wahala, and another who is very annoying bossy type who likes to order everyone around. It’s not their fault that they are this way. These are different types of personalities that everyone is born with.
We all have distinct personality types that give us unique characteristics. This is why it is essential to understand them so we can know how to build interpersonal relationships with others. If you’re curious to know more, then keep reading.
What are the four types of personalities?
Before discussing them, note that just one person does not strictly characterise personality types. This means each person has some traits of all four personality types. However, one type always stands out, which is used to characterise the individual. That being said, here are four personality types according to Hippocrates:
Choleric
These are the pepper body types which is why we’re mentioning them first to avoid their wahala. A choleric personality type is passionate, outspoken, competitive, determined, strong-willed, and adventurous. He or she is goal-oriented and adventurous. They will rather start a project and not finish than not start at all. Cholerics are bossy and like to dominate everything and everyone. They either make great leaders or they are real psychos. You see that colleague that always likes to order people around, that’s a choleric right there. A choleric person is usually extroverted.
Sanguine
A sanguine is a fun personality. He or she is a poster child of an extrovert. They are lively, playful, imaginative, talkative, and sociable. They are also carefree, optimistic, adventurous, and not afraid of risks. There’s no dull moment with a sanguine. Everyone wants to be friends with them because they make people feel good. However, sanguines always come off as unserious people due to their playfulness. They also get bored easily and might not be reliable friends. In simple terms, a sanguine can make you their best friend in the world today, and tomorrow they dump you for someone else. They can’t do without entertainment. That colleague that always makes you laugh is sanguine.
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Melancholic
A melancholic is deep, detailed, respectful, tidy, careful, and fond of traditions. They are mostly introverted but can be sociable and helpful as well. A melancholic is not really adventurous and likes to take risks like the previous two personalities. They’re interested in accuracy, rationality, and logic. Melancholics don’t like to associate with people who are full of hype since they desire facts, accuracy, and logic.
Emotions are not part of their characteristics as they believe in being objective in everything they do. In other words, a melancholic is a thinker and perfectionist. They’re careful, resourceful, and, above all, excellent thinkers who will look at all aspects of an issue before making a decision which they will back up with facts. A melancholic can be quite controlling too.
Phlegmatic
A phlegmatic is thoughtful, attentive, controlled, and diplomatic. He or she generally avoids conflicts and likes to help people. They seek security and longevity on the job and are very happy doing repetitive tasks day in and day out. Phlegmatic don’t like taking risks and would rather stick with what they know best instead of making a change.
This is why they are exceptionally skilled in what they do because they have had a lot of time to perfect their skills. Like the melancholic, they are very organised, good listeners, supportive and dependable. Phlegmatic seek the respect, sincere admiration, and acceptance of others. However, they are easily used in their quest to have a sense of security.
Types of personality test
A personality test is a tool used to gain insight into who people are, along with what motivates them. There are several types used in psychology. Here are the top 10:
1. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Also called MBTI, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a tool often used by companies in hiring workers. With the test, employers can draft questions that determine where an applicant falls within four key groupings: extraversion vs. introversion, judging vs. perceiving, intuition vs. sensing, and thinking vs. feeling. The test has 93 questions in all and if answered can help employers group each test-taker into one of 16 personality types.
2. HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised
The HEXACO Personality Inventory was invented more than two decades ago to assess the various dimensions of an individual’s personality and how they apply their own theoretical interpretations to various situations. Here, six key personality dimensions are considered: honesty/humility emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. In the revised version, there are three assessment length options: the full length (200 questions), half-length (100 questions), and the HEXACO 60 (60 questions) that you can choose from.
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3. HIGH5 Test
HIGH5 is the free strengths test that helps you find out what you are naturally good at. The main objective is to fix one’s weaknesses which can help to avoid failure, but to achieve success, happiness, and fulfillment – one needs to maximize their strengths. HIGH5 does not assign you to a specific group or type. Instead, it identifies your unique strengths sequence. You have to answer 100 questions in 20 minutes and identify your top HIGH5 free of charge.
4. 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire
Raymond B. Cattell, Maurice Tatsuoka, and Herbert Eber published the first version of the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire in 1949. The 16PF has been revised over the years. The test helps measure behaviours in individuals and has many applications, including career development and employee progression. The personality types it measures include dominance, rule-consciousness, sensitivity, emotional stability, perfectionism, self-reliance, and openness to change.
5. SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire
The SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire, also called OPQ32, gives insight into an individual’s personality traits and behaviour and how they may influence work performance. There are 104 questions that measure 32 key characteristics, which are categorised into three main areas – emotions, thinking style and feelings, and relationships with people. Each question comes with multiple statements, where a taker selects the one that describes them most and the one that describes them least. The result is a customized report for each taker, which describes their strengths and weaknesses in detail, with a graphical summary that is detailed to compare takers to one another.
6. DISC personality test
DISC is based on Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Compliance. The test has 28 statements each with four options for the test-taker to rate how they identify with the statement, which will result in 12 personality types.
7. Eysenck Personality Inventory
With Eysenck Personality Inventory, an individual’s personality is assessed based on neuroticism vs. stability and extroversion vs. introversion. There are three main score results rated as “E” (extroversion level), “N” (neuroticism level), and “lie.” The “lie” measures the test-taker’s honesty in the assessment based on a desire for better scores. There are 100 questions but the shortened version has 57 yes/no questions.
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8. Caliper Profile
The Caliper Profile measures the personality traits of an applicant and how they impact their performance at work. The test is often used in employment screenings. Here, the applicant will answer questions in various formats, which include true or false, multiple-choice, and degree of agreement scale. The Caliper Profile looks at both the potentially negative and positive qualities of a candidate and provides an insight into how they will perform their given roles should they be hired. This is why the test is often customised to target specific behaviours that are useful for a particular job.
9. Revised NEO Personality Inventory
The Revised NEO Personality Inventory was developed by Costa and McCrae in the 1970s and later finalized in 2005. The personality test measures the five main traits outlined in the five-factor personality model: neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion.
Each of those five traits is broken down into further subcategories some of which include vulnerability to stress, anxiety, depression, impulsiveness, and self-consciousness. Other subcategories are but are not limited to warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking, and positive emotion. Revised NEO Personality Inventory can be used for counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, and doctors. All 240 items take about 30-40 minutes to complete.
10. Truity
Truity was developed in 2012 and has a library of scientifically validated personality tests to help people understand themselves and those around them. The website, Truity.com has over two million tests taken every month. Founder Molly Owens regularly appears in the media to discuss how the personality test can help in the workplace. The tests include Enneagram (9 personality types), Typefinder (16 personality types), Big Five Assessment, Career Profiler, and Workplace DISC Test.
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