Top 7 Personality Assessments Compared: An In-Depth Guide!

Imagine guiding a client who, despite their best efforts, feels trapped in a career dead-end. You’ve exhausted traditional coaching techniques, yet their progress remains stagnant.

What if the missing piece isn’t about their skills, but about their unique personality?

Personality assessments offer a powerful tool for unlocking hidden potential. By diving deeper into your clients’ motivations, behaviors, and strengths, you can craft personalized coaching strategies that truly resonate. This approach not only boosts their chances of career advancement but also fosters a sense of fulfillment and purpose.

But how can you effectively use personality assessments in your coaching practice? In this guide, we’ll explore the most popular personality assessments, discuss practical strategies for incorporating assessments into your coaching sessions, and provide examples of how this approach can help you transform lives.

Importance of Personality Assessments

Enhanced Self-Awareness

Personality assessments provide individuals with insights into their traits, behaviors, and tendencies, fostering greater self-understanding.

Example: A business executive takes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and discovers she’s an ENTJ (Extraverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging). This insight helps her recognize why she thrives in leadership roles and prefers strategic planning over detailed execution. As her coach, you can use this information to help her leverage her strengths and address potential blind spots, such as being overly directive with team members who have different working styles.

Improved Communication

Understanding personality differences can lead to more effective communication strategies, reducing misunderstandings and conflicts. This benefit extends beyond just understanding oneself to understanding others and how to interact with them more effectively.

For coaches, this is crucial because it:

• Helps clients recognize and appreciate different communication styles
• Provides strategies for adapting one’s communication to be more effective with others
• Can significantly improve personal and professional relationships
• Aids in conflict resolution by providing insight into the root causes of misunderstandings
• Enhances teamwork and collaboration in professional settings

By helping clients improve their communication skills based on personality insights, coaches can facilitate better relationships, more effective leadership, and improved overall life satisfaction for their clients.

Team Dynamics Enhancement

Personality assessments can provide valuable insights into how team members may interact, collaborate, and potentially clash. By understanding these dynamics, coaches can proactively foster effective team building. This is particularly beneficial in organizational and leadership coaching contexts. Coaches can leverage personality assessments to help leaders recognize and utilize the diverse strengths within their teams and optimize task allocation.

Career Development and Job Fit

Assessment reports can provide insights into suitable career paths and work environments, aiding in career planning and job selection.

Example: A client unsure about their career path takes the Predictive Index assessment. The results indicate high extraversion and high dominance, suggesting they might excel in roles involving leadership, sales, or public speaking. As their career coach, you can use this information to explore suitable career options, such as sales management or public relations, that align with their personality strengths.

Personal Growth and Development

Personality assessments can pinpoint areas of strength and growth, providing a roadmap for targeted personal development. This benefit is central to many coaching engagements.

For coaches, this enables them to:

• Create more focused and effective personal development plans
• Help clients leverage their strengths while addressing areas for growth
• Provide a framework for setting meaningful personal goals
• Increase clients’ motivation for change by connecting development areas to personality traits
• Tailor coaching approaches to each client’s unique personality profile

By using personality assessments to inform personal growth strategies, coaches can help clients achieve more significant and lasting positive changes.

Leadership Development

Personality assessments can highlight leadership strengths and areas for growth, informing targeted leadership development plans. This benefit is crucial for executive coaches and those working with aspiring or current leaders.

This allows coaches to:

• Help leaders understand how their personality impacts their leadership style
• Guide leaders in building more diverse and complementary teams
• Assist in creating authentic leadership brands that leverage personality strengths

As a result, coaches can help leaders become more self-aware, effective, and impactful in their roles.

Example: An aspiring leader takes the PrinciplesYou assessment and scores high on ‘Conceptual Thinking’ but low on ‘Detail Orientation.’ As their leadership coach, you can help them leverage their big-picture thinking in strategic planning while also developing systems to ensure they don’t overlook important details. You might recommend they pair with a detail-oriented team member on crucial projects to complement their leadership style.

Limitations and Criticisms of Personality Tests

While personality assessments offer numerous benefits, it’s crucial for coaches to be aware of their limitations and criticisms to use them responsibly and effectively. Understanding these challenges will help you provide more nuanced and valuable guidance to your clients.

Oversimplification

Personality is complex and multifaceted, yet many tests attempt to categorize individuals into a limited number of types or traits. This oversimplification can lead to stereotyping and may not capture the full richness of an individual’s personality. As a coach, encourage your clients to view test results as a starting point for exploration rather than a definitive label. Use the results to spark discussions about the nuances of their personality that may not be captured by the assessment.

Self-Reporting Bias

Most personality assessments rely on self-reporting, which introduces a significant limitation. Responses can be influenced by various factors, including the individual’s current mood, self-perception, and desire to present themselves in a certain light (social desirability bias).

To mitigate this, consider using multiple assessment methods and cross-reference the results with observed behaviors. Encourage clients to reflect on how accurately they believe the results represent them and discuss any discrepancies.

Context Dependency and Static Nature

Human behavior can vary significantly across different contexts, a nuance that many assessments fail to capture. Additionally, personality tests often present traits as fixed, despite research showing that personality can change over time and with intentional effort.

As a coach, it’s important to:

• Help clients understand how their personality traits might manifest differently in various situations
• Frame results as a current snapshot, emphasizing the potential for growth and development
• Encourage clients to periodically reassess and reflect on how their personality may have evolved

Cultural Considerations

Many popular personality assessments were developed in Western contexts, which can lead to cultural bias. These tests may not accurately reflect cultural nuances worldwide. As a coach working with diverse clients, be mindful of cultural factors and consider using culturally adapted versions of assessments when available.

Furthermore, the scientific validity of personality tests varies widely. Some popular assessments lack strong scientific validation or reliability. To ensure you’re providing the most valuable insights to your clients, prioritize well-validated assessments and stay informed about the latest research in personality psychology.

Misuse and Overreliance

As a coach, your role is to help clients use personality assessment results as a tool for self-reflection and growth, not as a limiting factor. Encourage a balanced perspective that acknowledges both the insights and the limitations of these assessments.

By being aware of these limitations and criticisms, you can use personality assessments more effectively in your coaching practice, providing clients with valuable insights while avoiding potential pitfalls.

The Top 7 Personality Assessments

Assessment	Purpose	Cost	Scientific Validity & Reliability*	Time to Complete
PrinciplesYou	Self-discovery	Free	High	25-40 minutes
Hogan Assessment	Predicting workplace behavior	$1,650-$2,750	High	15-40 minutes
MBTI	Understanding personality types	Free + Paid ($59.95)	Low	20-30 minutes
StrengthsFinder	Identifying strengths, talent development	$59.99	High	30-45 minutes
DiSC Assessment	Understanding behavioral styles	$150	Moderate	15-20 minutes
Predictive Index	Predicting workplace performance	Free + Custom Pricing for Companies	Unknown	10-15 minutes
Enneagram	Understanding spiritual growth	Free + Paid ($20/test)	Moderate	30-60 minutes

*”In personality assessment, “scientific validity” refers to how accurately a test measures the intended personality traits, meaning it truly captures what it claims to measure, while “reliability” indicates the consistency of results when the same person takes the test multiple times, showing stability over time; essentially, a valid test measures what it’s supposed to measure, while a reliable test produces consistent results across administrations.” Source: Britannica

PrinciplesYou

PrinciplesYou is a relatively new entrant in the field of personality assessment tools, developed by Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, in collaboration with expert psychologists Dr. Adam Grant and Dr. Brian Little.

Launched in 2021, this personality assessment tool aims to provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of individual personalities, going beyond traditional types of personality tests.

The assessment is rooted in the belief that understanding oneself and others is crucial for personal and professional success.

It draws on decades of research in personality psychology and incorporates modern data science techniques to offer a comprehensive view of an individual’s personality.

PrinciplesYou explores various dimensions of personality through a series of questions designed to uncover core drivers, preferences, and tendencies. Some key features include:

1. Comprehensive Assessment: The test examines a wide range of aspects of personality, including thinking style, decision-making approach, interpersonal tendencies, and motivational drivers.
2. Archetype Identification: Rather than placing individuals into rigid categories, PrinciplesYou identifies a unique blend of archetypes that best describe a person’s personality.
3. Strengths and Challenges: The assessment highlights both strengths and potential blind spots, providing a balanced view of an individual’s personality.
4. Contextual Insights: PrinciplesYou considers how personality traits might manifest in different contexts, such as work environments or personal relationships.
5. Scientific Rigor: The methodology is grounded in the Big Five model of personality, a widely accepted framework in personality psychology, while also incorporating additional dimensions for a more comprehensive view.

How PrinciplesYou Differs from Traditional Assessments

PrinciplesYou sets itself apart from other types of personality tests in several ways:

1. Nuanced Profiling: Unlike tests that categorize individuals into a limited number of types, PrinciplesYou provides a more nuanced profile that acknowledges the complexity of human personality.
2. Dynamic Interpretation: The assessment recognizes that personality traits can manifest differently in various contexts, offering a more dynamic interpretation than many traditional tools.
3. Focus on Application: PrinciplesYou places a strong emphasis on how personality insights can be applied in real-world situations, particularly in professional contexts.
4. Continuous Refinement: The platform uses machine learning to continually refine its algorithms, potentially improving accuracy over time.
5. Holistic Approach: By combining insights from different schools of personality psychology, PrinciplesYou offers a more holistic view of personality than many single-theory based assessments.

Hogan Assessment

The Hogan Assessment is a well-respected suite of personality inventories widely used in organizational settings for personnel selection, leadership development, and talent management. Developed by Robert and Joyce Hogan, these assessments are known for their scientific rigor and practical application in predicting job performance and leadership potential.

The Three Hogan Inventories

The Hogan Assessment consists of three distinct inventories, each designed to measure different aspects of personality and behavior:

1. Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)

The HPI is a measure of normal personality, based on the Five-Factor Model of personality. It assesses how people behave in everyday situations, particularly in work contexts. The HPI includes seven primary scales:

• Adjustment
• Ambition
• Sociability
• Interpersonal Sensitivity
• Prudence
• Inquisitive
• Learning Approach

The HPI is particularly useful for predicting how well an individual will fit into a particular role or organizational culture. For instance, high scores on Interpersonal Sensitivity might indicate strong potential for customer service roles.

2. Hogan Development Survey (HDS)

The HDS focuses on the “dark side” of personality – those qualities that may emerge during times of stress or pressure and can derail careers. It identifies 11 potential derailment factors:

• Excitable
• Skeptical
• Cautious
• Reserved
• Leisurely
• Bold
• Mischievous
• Colorful
• Imaginative
• Diligent
• Dutiful

This inventory is crucial for leadership development, as it helps individuals recognize and manage potentially problematic behaviors.

3. Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory (MVPI)

The MVPI assesses an individual’s core values, goals, and interests. It includes 10 scales:

• Recognition
• Power
• Hedonism
• Altruistic
• Affiliation
• Tradition
• Security
• Commerce
• Aesthetics
• Science

This inventory is particularly useful for assessing person-organization fit and understanding what motivates an individual in their work.

The Hogan Assessment, grounded in extensive research and normed on a vast sample, has demonstrated strong predictive power for job performance across industries and cultures.

Its criterion-related validity, cross-cultural applicability, and resistance to faking contribute to its reliability.

Studies, such as a meta-analysis on the Hogan Personality Inventory, have consistently shown its effectiveness in predicting job performance, especially in sales and managerial roles.

Practical Applications

1. Personnel Selection: Used to identify candidates whose personalities align with job requirements and organizational culture.
2. Leadership Development: Helps leaders understand their strengths, potential derailers, and motivational drivers.
3. Team Building: Provides insights into team dynamics and potential areas of conflict or synergy.
4. Succession Planning: Assists in identifying high-potential employees and areas for development.
5. Organizational Culture: Helps assess and shape organizational culture by understanding the collective personality of the workforce.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), often referred to as the Myers-Briggs test or Myers-Briggs assessment, is one of the most widely recognized personality tests in the world.

Developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers, this psychological assessment tool is based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types.

The standard Myers-Briggs personality test consists of 93 forced-choice questions, designed to identify a person’s preferences in four key areas. These preferences combine to form one of 16 distinct personality types.

The Four Dimensions:

1. Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): How individuals direct and receive their energy
2. Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): How individuals perceive and process information
3. Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): How individuals make decisions
4. Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P): How individuals organize their lives and interact with the external world

The 16 Personality Types Explained

	ST	SF	NF	NT
IJ	ISTJ	ISFJ	INFJ	INTJ
	The Inspector	The Protector	The Counselor	The Mastermind
	Practical,	Caring,	Insightful,	Strategic,
	Responsible,	Loyal,	Creative,	Innovative,
	Detail-oriented	Traditional	Idealistic	Independent
IP	ISTP	ISFP	INFP	INTP
	The Craftsman	The Composer	The Healer	The Architect
	Versatile,	Flexible,	Idealistic,	Logical,
	Practical,	Artistic,	Compassionate	Innovative,
	Action-oriented	Sensitive	Adaptable	Analytical
EP	ESTP	ESFP	ENFP	ENTP
	The Dynamo	The Performer	The Champion	The Visionary
	Energetic,	Outgoing,	Enthusiastic,	Inventive,
	Pragmatic,	Fun-loving,	Creative,	Enthusiastic,
	Spontaneous	Spontaneous	Sociable	Versatile
EJ	ESTJ	ESFJ	ENFJ	ENTJ
	The Supervisor	The Provider	The Teacher	The Commander
	Efficient	Warmhearted	Charismatic	Strategic
	Logical	Conscientious	Idealistic	Logical
	Decisive	Cooperative	Diplomatic	Decisive

The MBTI is widely used in career counseling, team building, and personal development, with proponents citing improved self-awareness and interpersonal relationships as key benefits.

However, it faces criticism from some psychologists for its lack of measurement for emotional stability and potential oversimplification of complex personality traits.

Despite these concerns, many still find value in the MBTI as a self-reflection tool. The Myers & Briggs Foundation continues to conduct research to refine and validate the assessment, emphasizing that it should be used to provide insights rather than to limit individual potential.

Predictive Index

The Predictive Index (PI) is a scientifically validated suite of online assessments designed to measure behavioral and cognitive traits.

Developed in the 1950s by Arnold S. Rosenberg, the PI has evolved to become a comprehensive tool for individual development and organizational success in professional life.

The Science Behind Behavioral and Cognitive Assessments:

The PI is grounded in the principles of psychometrics, the scientific study of psychological measurement. It uses two primary assessments:

1. The PI Behavioral Assessment: This online personality assessment measures an individual’s natural drives and motivations. It is based on the theory that workplace behaviors are driven by four primary factors.
2. The PI Cognitive Assessment: This measures an individual’s capacity to learn, adapt, and grasp new concepts in a professional setting.

These online assessments provide insights into how individuals are likely to behave in various work situations, making them valuable tools for hiring, team building, and leadership development.

Four Primary Factors

The PI Behavioral Assessment focuses on four primary factors that shape workplace behavior:

1. Dominance: The drive to exert influence on people or events.
   • High dominance: Assertive, self-confident, independent
   • Low dominance: Cooperative, agreeable, accommodating
2. Extraversion: The drive for social interaction with others.
   • High extraversion: Outgoing, persuasive, socially poised
   • Low extraversion: Serious, introspective, task-oriented
3. Patience: The drive for consistency and stability.
   • High patience: Steady, calm, methodical
   • Low patience: Fast-paced, intense, variety-seeking
4. Formality: The drive to conform to rules and structure.
   • High formality: Precise, self-disciplined, thorough
   • Low formality: Informal, flexible, uninhibited

While the Predictive Index has gained popularity in many professional settings, it’s important to note that, like all personality assessments, it should be used as part of a holistic approach to talent management and individual development.

It provides valuable insights but should not be the sole factor in making important personnel decisions.

DiSC Assessment

The DiSC Assessment is a widely used personal assessment tool designed to improve work productivity, teamwork, and communication. Developed from the work of psychologist William Moulton Marston in the 1920s, DiSC has evolved into a practical and accessible model for understanding behavior styles in various professional contexts.

The Four DiSC Styles

The DiSC model categorizes individuals into four primary behavioral styles:

1. Dominance (D):
   • Characteristics: Direct, results-oriented, strong-willed, and forceful
   • Strengths in the workplace: Leadership, problem-solving, and taking initiative
   • Potential challenges: May be perceived as aggressive or insensitive
2. Influence (I):
   • Characteristics: Outgoing, enthusiastic, optimistic, and lively
   • Strengths in the workplace: Communication, networking, and motivation
   • Potential challenges: May struggle with attention to detail or following through
3. Steadiness (S):
   • Characteristics: Even-tempered, accommodating, patient, and humble
   • Strengths in the workplace: Cooperation, loyalty, and supporting others
   • Potential challenges: May resist change or avoid conflict
4. Conscientiousness (C):
   • Characteristics: Analytical, reserved, precise, and systematic
   • Strengths in the workplace: Accuracy, maintaining high standards, and critical thinking
   • Potential challenges: May be overly critical or struggle with spontaneity

Understanding these styles can significantly enhance team development by improving communication and collaboration among team members with different behavioral tendencies.

Simplicity and Accessibility of the Model

Unlike some more complex personality models, DiSC is easy to understand and apply in various professional settings. This simplicity makes it a popular choice for:

1. Employee Development: Organizations use DiSC to help employees understand their own behavioral style and how to interact effectively with others. This can lead to improved social skills and more productive work relationships.
2. Career Assessment: Coaches can use DiSC insights to identify career paths that align with their client’s natural behavioral tendencies.
3. Conflict Resolution: Understanding different DiSC styles can help in navigating and resolving workplace conflicts more effectively.

The accessibility of DiSC extends to its implementation. The assessment is typically administered online and takes about 15-20 minutes to complete.

Results are presented in a clear, graphical format that’s easy to interpret, often accompanied by detailed reports tailored to specific workplace applications.

DiSC offers valuable insights into behavioral tendencies and preferences, but it doesn’t measure abilities or performance directly.

StrengthsFinder (CliftonStrengths)

For coaches seeking to unlock their clients’ potential, the StrengthsFinder assessment, now known as CliftonStrengths, offers a powerful tool rooted in positive psychology.

Developed by Don Clifton and the Gallup organization, this approach focuses on identifying and leveraging an individual’s inherent talents rather than trying to fix weaknesses.

Positive Psychology Approach

CliftonStrengths embodies the core principles of positive psychology, a field that emphasizes human potential, virtues, and strengths. This approach aligns well with coaching philosophies that aim to:

1. Boost client confidence by highlighting their natural abilities
2. Increase engagement by aligning roles and tasks with innate talents
3. Improve performance by building on existing strengths
4. Enhance team dynamics by appreciating diverse talents

For coaches, this strengths-based methodology provides a framework to help clients achieve personal and professional growth by capitalizing on what they naturally do best.

The 34 Talent Themes and Four Domains

CliftonStrengths identifies 34 talent themes, each representing a naturally recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior. These themes are grouped into four domains:

1. Executing: Themes that help individuals make things happen Examples: Achiever, Arranger, Consistency, Deliberative
2. Influencing: Themes that help individuals take charge, speak up, and make sure others are heard Examples: Command, Communication, Competition, Self-Assurance
3. Relationship Building: Themes that help individuals build strong relationships Examples: Adaptability, Connectedness, Empathy, Harmony
4. Strategic Thinking: Themes that help individuals absorb and analyze information Examples: Analytical, Context, Futuristic, Strategic

Coaches can use these themes and domains to:

• Help clients understand their unique talent profile
• Guide career decisions and role alignment
• Improve team composition and collaboration
• Develop strategies for personal and professional growth

The CliftonStrengths assessment typically provides individuals with their top 5 themes, though full 34-theme reports are available. As a coach, you can help clients interpret these results and develop action plans to maximize their potential.

Enneagram

The Enneagram is a powerful tool for personal and professional development that has gained significant popularity among coaches. This complex system of personality typing offers deep insights into human motivation, behavior, and potential for growth.

The Nine Personality Types

The Enneagram describes nine distinct personality types, each with its own core motivations, fears, and desires:

Type	Core Motivation/Desire
Reformer	Perfection
Helper	Intimacy
Achiever	Recognition
Individualist	Authenticity
Investigator	Competence
Loyalist	Loyalty
Enthusiast	Pleasure
Challenger	Power
Peacemaker	Unity

One of the Enneagram’s unique features is the interconnection between these types. Each type is connected to two others:

• The “wing”: Adjacent types that may influence an individual’s personality
• The “stress” and “growth” points: Types that an individual may move towards under different conditions

As a coach, understanding these interconnections can help you guide clients through personal growth and stress management strategies tailored to their type. By incorporating the Enneagram into your coaching toolkit, you can offer clients a profound framework for self-understanding and personal development. Its blend of spiritual insight and psychological depth provides a unique perspective that can enrich your coaching practice and help clients achieve meaningful, lasting growth.

Wrapping Up

Personality assessments can be valuable tools for self-reflection and personal growth when used thoughtfully. While they offer insights into our tendencies and preferences, it’s crucial to remember that human personality is complex and dynamic.

These assessments should be viewed as starting points for exploration rather than rigid definitions of who we are.

By approaching them with an open mind and a healthy dose of skepticism, we can use the information they provide to better understand ourselves and others, improve our relationships, and make more informed decisions in our personal and professional lives.

Ultimately, the true value of personality assessments lies not in their results, but in the self-awareness and personal growth they can inspire.