Brainbench Personality Assessment

I just completed the Brainbench Personality Assessment. Both Kevin and Christopher tried this, so I decided to give it a whirl. You can try it by clicking the BrainBench “explore” button for individual use and filling out the free registration form — its fun, and it looks like BrainBench has some other nice stuff, so its worth the hassel. Anyway more comments and my results follow.

For the most part, the results seem — at least, I think — alright… nothing that seems outright unreasonable, except for one little detail. What detail is that? Well, it suggested that I'm liberal minded, a puzzling thing for someone who is constantly looking forward to the latest edition of The St. Charles County Republican or the GOP's High Tide publications. Well, then again it might have figured me against other people with similar answers on non-political topics… after all very few of the questions could be considered strongly political.

Hmm… after doing this, I wonder if this isn't a “light” version of a Personality Inventory such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)? As far as I know, I'm neither psychologically unstable nor a pychiatrist, so I've never taken the MMPI. However, I remember reading a few sample questions from it, so I think it might be similar. Of course, I doubt Brainbench is worried nearly as much with accuracy or diagonsis of psychological illness. Did I mention that I doubt they are worried with diagnosis? Oh, I forgot to mention that I wonder if they are worried about diagnosis…

Dear Timothy Butler:

Here are your Brainbench Personality Assessment Results.
Please review these results carefully and refer to the
interpretation notes at the bottom.

PART 1 — PERSONALITY EVALUATION:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Trait       |<--|---|---|---- Range ----|---|---|--->|     Trait
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introverted        |..................X.....................|  Extraverted
Candid             |......................................X.|  Considerate
Impulsive          |..............X.........................|  Cautious
Excitable          |..........X.............................|  Relaxed
Practical          |..........................X.............|  Imaginative
Concrete           |......................X.................|  Abstract
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   |<--|---|---|---- Range ----|---|---|--->|          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your Social Boldness: Introverted VS Extraverted
——————————————————————————————
You are slightly introverted. Do you ever say to people,
“I'm really an introvert” and then they look at you funny?
That's because you can be both Extraverted and introverted,
but in social situations people see you as an Extravert.
Your enthusiastic and self-confident personality, plus your
ease at talking to strangers gives the appearance that you
are outgoing, even though you may attribute it to just
being a friendly person. You find yourself at the center of
attention, even though you may not actively seek that
position. You are such a warm person that people like to
follow you. Which is good, since you have no problem
accepting your role as a leader when it is given to you.
With your ability to flow easily from shy to outgoing, you
may tend to easily flow from exciting adventures to
relaxing times at home. This makes you a fun person to be
around, because you do not always have to be on the go, yet
you know there is more to life than reading and watching TV.

Your Agreeableness: Candid VS Considerate
——————————————————————————————
You are very considerate. You are a popular person, aren't
you? Of course you are. You truly value harmony in dealing
with others. People recognize your friendly, generous, and
helpful personality. Your easy-going, agreeable nature
makes you such a joy to be around. This is especially true
in meetings or general conversations. The topic may become
heated, but you are considerate of other's feelings and you
will find a happy medium in order to placate those around
you. This is because you have an optimistic view of human
nature and you realize that if you trust people with their
decisions that they are not trying to hurt you or take
advantage of you. This special and rare quality is also
seen in your altruism. You enjoy helping others. To you it
is not a sacrifice; to you it is fulfilling to help others
in need.

Your Self-Control: Impulsive VS Cautious
——————————————————————————————
You are moderately impulsive. At times you can be
impulsive, but not to the point where you are jeopardizing
work or relationships. You know when to follow rules, but
you also know when to bend rules that are not set in stone.
If your home or work space gets a little messy, you do not
get upset or feel compelled to tidy up. You do not have to
have perfect order in your life to feel good about yourself
or your environment. You tend to be more on the fun side of
spontaneity, and enjoy being flexible with your plans and
your life. In general, you prefer to make short-term goals
rather than long-term goals.

Your Anxiety Level: Excitable VS Relaxed
——————————————————————————————
You are moderately excitable. In trying situations, you
feel somewhat stressed and frustrated. At times you are
able to overcome these feelings, but other times you feel
overwhelmed. This could run the gamut of just being in a
bad mood to experiencing anxiety, anger, or depression. In
general, you prefer a stress-free existence, so that the
possibility of negative emotions would not be a factor. You
tend to be somewhat self-conscious in social situations,
and are worried that people may judge or criticize you. You
may react emotionally to people or circumstances that you
find threatening, because you want to protect yourself.
Every so often you cave into urges or cravings. Sometimes
you feel a little guilty about it, other times you are just
fine with your fun streak.

Your Openness to Change: Practical VS Imaginative
——————————————————————————————
You are moderately imaginative. You are willing to try new
things - and you are good at it! Your creativity, openness
to new experiences, and broadmindedness allow you to
proceed into the unknown with confidence. You enjoy your
individuality. You do not want to be one of the masses.
Your tendency to be nonconforming - in a good way - ensures
that you will never be considered average. Utilizing your
brain is important to you. This is evident in the
activities you seek. You are able to tune into your
feelings and are able to accurately express how you are
thinking and feeling. You appreciate beauty, whether it is
in art or nature, and you like to be aesthetically engaged.
You tend to be more liberal-minded and able to think on a
broader scale.

The way you Think/Reason: Concrete VS Abstract
——————————————————————————————
You are slightly abstract in your thinking. Your thinking
is neither simple nor complex, to others you appear to be a
well-educated person but not an intellectual. You tend to
be intellectually curious and have the uncanny abilities to
distinguish imaginative, creative people from
down-to-earth, conventional people.

PART 2: OCCUPATIONAL PREFERENCE EVALUATION:

Social people seem to satisfy their needs in teaching or
helping situations. They are drawn more to seek close
interpersonal relationships and are less apt to engage in
intellectual of extensive physical activity. The S type
generally likes to help, teach, and counsel people more
than engage in mechanical or technical activity. The S
type usually likes to be around other people, working in
groups and sharing responsibilities. They are good
communicators and are interested in how people get along,
and like to help other people with their problems. They
like nursing, or giving first aid and providing
information. They generally avoid using machines, tools,
or animals to achieve a goal. They see themselves as
helpful, friendly, and trustworthy.

The adjectives most typically associated with the Social
occupational category are:
——————————————————————————————
convincing cooperative
easy-going friendly
generous helpful
honest idealistic
insightful kind
outgoing patient
responsible social
sympathetic tactful
trustworthy understanding
warm

PART 3: BRAINBENCH TEST RECOMMENDATIONS

The categories of Brainbench Certification tests we
recommend based on your personality and occupational
category are:
——————————————————————————————

Computer Software -> Internet Software:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=2&cat2=19

Computer Software -> Office Software:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=2&cat2=24

Financial -> Financial Software:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=4&cat2=17

Health Care:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcat.xml?cat1=6

Languages and Communication -> Communications:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=8&cat2=7

Languages and Communication -> Essential Skills:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=8&cat2=14

Management -> Sales and Marketing:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=5&cat2=27

Office Skills -> Administrative Skills:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=1&cat2=3

Office Skills -> Customer Service and Help Desk:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/subcatresults.xml?cat1=1&cat2=8

PART 4: INTERPRETATION NOTES

(1) The report sent to your computer screen upon the
completion of this assessment is only a temporary web page.
When you exit your web browser you will not be able to
return to this URL to re-access your report. A copy of the
report is emailed directly to you when you complete the
assessment.

(2) Personality traits describe, relative to other people,
the frequency or intensity of a person's feelings,
thoughts, or behaviors. Possession of a trait is therefore
a matter of degree. We might describe two individuals as
extraverts, but still see one as more extraverted than the
other. This report uses expressions such as “extravert” or
“high in extraversion” to describe someone who is likely to
be seen by others as relatively extraverted.

(3) Please keep in mind that scores on a personality
assessment are neither good nor bad. As with any
personality inventory, scores and descriptions can only
approximate an individual's actual personality. Questions
about the accuracy of your results are best resolved by
reviewing and discussing your report with people who know
you well.