My age is 65 based on my musical tastes, my energy color is lavender, and I was a flamingo in my past life. We find social media quizzes intriguing and fun, but how accurate are they really?![]()
Social media quizzes are everywhere
First of all, I'm age 65 because I picked the Beatles one time over Beyoncé? That hurts because I'm not even close to that age yet. I see social media quizzes online everywhere. They are fun to do and fun to share. Often, we take them to learn results we didn't even know we needed. Have you ever taken a quick quiz on Facebook or Buzzfeed to determine the "real you?" I found a test that told me to choose an abstract image to determine my "Dominant Personality Trait." There was another one telling me the results would reveal my outlook on life.
One reason there are so many of them out there is because they are easy to create and interesting to read the results. Many people create the quizzes for engaging audiences and simply for entertainment. There is also a business purpose in which companies use them to generate leads and connect with people. Personality tests and quizzes promising insight about yourself are online and accessible, but how accurate are they?
Getting results we want or results of who we truly are?
How does picking a color or a pattern determine how kind I am to others? After taking a few, you come to realize that yellow is going to be optimistic. Old songs and bands are going to age you musically. Slang words and sayings define your generation. Let's be honest. We've all tried to answer these social media quizzes in ways to generate a desired result. If you know what the assessment is looking for then it is easy to manipulate the answers
There is a big difference between taking these assessments and taking one that truly measures who "you are." Often, these quizzes focus on who we consciously want to be or feel we want to be. We see more of our conscious self image.
It is more complex to design an assessment to accurately measure your hard wired natural style. The natural style is the one that is most comfortable to us and how we prefer to do things. It's also how we tend to react to things and the behavioral style that most likely shows up under pressure. It doesn't mean that an accurate assessment of natural style requires a lot of questions and time, but it takes more development and consistent interpretation of results. For example, creating a tool to determine what stimuli (words) can cause the desired style of person to respond in a desired way.
Determining your dominant personality trait is not that easy
Obviously, enjoy and have fun with the social media quizzes. I have to find out what Harry Potter spell I need in my life right now. How about knowing your "true age?" or what your "spirit animal" is? Common sense will remind us to use them in the context of how they were created.
When we want to really find out more about ourselves then it is important to use an accurate and valid behavioral test or DISC assessment. Tools that give us incorrect or incomplete information about ourselves can lead to making the wrong decisions. Let's say I took a quiz that told me I am a fierce lion that is dominant and in charge. I put myself in the role of lion. Under high stress and work demands it turns out I really more of a happy, fun-loving, pod-pleasing dolphin. I may have set myself up for more hurdles and problems than if I was truly aware I was a dolphin. Finding the right tool to determine your true behavioral style or DISC profile is critical to your success and development.
By the way, listening to what I say may be good advice since my dominant personality trait is "wisdom." At least, that's what my social media test told me.
