“Tells stories and believes them.” That’s one statement I recall from my “Birkman Method” report, a psychological profile that ostensibly reported an individual’s personality in normal circumstances and under pressure. I don’t recall whether the statement applied to normal behavior or behavior under stress. It doesn’t matter, as I judged the statement to be something of an affront to legitimate psychology. I worked for Birkman & Associates at the time; my psychological testing was free to me, given in advance of my hiring in the pre-employment screening process.
I recall only part of another statement: “Has a greater than average desire to…” To what, I don’t remember.
My skepticism of psychological evaluations that take the form of paper and pencil or, more recently, online responses to questionnaires, has grown over time. While I wish there existed a tool that could reveal the intricacies of this thing we call our mind, I have doubts. On the other hand, I regularly see pop-psychology tests that do tend to reveal personality attributes…that could just as easily be revealed through a short conversation.
These are just random thoughts today. Tomorrow, my perspective might, and probably will, be different.
They are fun, though! 🙂