People often take personality assessments looking for answers but, after getting their reports, will end up with more questions than they had going into them. They’re kind of funny that way; you answer a series of questions expecting clarity, and instead you end up with your curiosity kicked into high gear.
In all the years I’ve been doing this work, I’ve seen a bunch of the same questions come up again and again. Whether someone is learning about personality for the first time or experienced it before, these are the questions that seem to spark the most curiosity.
Can I Be More Than One Personality/Colour?
This is probably the question I hear most often.
The answer is both yes and no. Personality Dimensions® identifies the preferences that come most naturally to us, but that doesn’t mean we only use one colour. Every person has access to the strengths, behaviours, and characteristics associated with all four colours.
Think about it this way; life would be pretty challenging if Organized Golds could never be spontaneous or if Resourceful Oranges were completely incapable of planning ahead. We all draw on different aspects of our personality depending on the situation. This is your personality plaid. While you may have a dominant one at your core, your personality is a blend of experiences, skills, values, and preferences. The colours help us understand our tendencies, not limit our possibilities.
Why Do I Recognize Myself in All Four Personalities?
Closely related to the first question is that people often see themselves in every colour description. Most of us can think of times when we’ve been analytical, supportive, organized, or adaptable. Personality Dimensions® isn’t trying to identify behaviours that are unique to one group of people. Instead, it’s looking at the approaches and motivations that tend to come most naturally.
The important question isn’t, “Do I ever act this way?” It’s, “Which of these approaches feels most comfortable and requires the least effort?” That’s why the assessment always asks which one of the four options you see in yourself the most. Recognizing yourself in all four personalities doesn’t mean the assessment isn’t working. It usually means you’re a well-rounded human being.
Can My Personality Type Change?
This question often comes from people who feel very different today than they did ten, twenty, or more years ago. I can honestly say that I’ve changed a bit since I was a teenager, but some things are very much the same.
People change; we gain experience, develop new skills, take on new responsibilities, and encounter situations that challenge us to grow. These all influence who we are today, and who we are in the future.
What tends to remain more stable are our underlying preferences. An Inquiring Green can become an excellent public speaker, an Authentic Blue can become highly decisive, an Organized Gold can learn to thrive in uncertain situations, and a Resourceful Orange can develop strong organizational systems.
Growth doesn’t necessarily mean changing your personality. More often, it means expanding your abilities and becoming a more versatile version of yourself, but you still have the preferences you are most comfortable with.
Why Am I Different at Work Than I Am at Home?
Many people feel like they have one personality at work and another everywhere else. It just means that we’re good at adapting to our environment. The behaviours that make someone successful at work may not be the same behaviours they most comfortable with at home. A manager may need to be highly structured and decisive during the day, then become more relaxed and flexible with family and friends. Someone working in customer service may spend hours interacting with people, only to seek quiet time afterward.
This doesn’t mean your personality changes when you leave work at the end of the day. It means you’re responding to different expectations and responsibilities. Personality influences how we approach situations, but context influences how those preferences are expressed.
What If I Don’t Agree with My Assessment Results?
This is where the most interesting conversations begin. Sometimes people are focused on what they do rather than why they do it. Or they respond to what they think they should be, not how they actually are. Other times they just need more information before the results make sense. There are even times a result just doesn’t fit.
The important thing to remember is that personality assessments should start conversations, not end them. If your results don’t feel right, it’s worth exploring why. Which parts seem accurate? Which parts don’t? What feedback have you received from colleagues, friends, or family members? Are there behaviours you’ve learned that might be masking your natural preferences?
Disagreeing with your results doesn’t mean you’ve failed the assessment. It may simply mean there’s more to discover.
One of the reasons personality continues to fascinate people is that there are always more questions to ask. The more we learn about ourselves, the more curious we become about why we think, communicate, and interact the way we do. After all, personality assessments don’t create curiosity; they’re just a tool. They give us a place to start exploring it. You are still the expert on you.
Brad Whitehorn – BA, CCDP is a lifelong Introvert, and the Associate Director at CLSR Inc. He was thrown into the career development field headfirst after completing a Communications degree in 2005, and hasn’t looked back! Since then, Brad has worked on the development, implementation and certification for various career and personality assessments (including Personality Dimensions®), making sure that Career Development Practitioners and HR Professionals get the right tools to do their best work. Brad is also on the board of directors for the Career Professionals of Canada, and an advisory committee member with the Career Development Professionals of Ontario.
