Personality Tests
Online Tools

There are many "personality tests" online, some of them much better than most for introspective work. No such test is truly definitive, of course, however well crafted it might be. Those presented in the following list are among the most useful free (and some fee-based) instruments currently online.

• Thomson-Maidenbaum Personality Inventory
  The TMPI is an MBTI variant created by Lenore Thomson, author of Personality Type: An Owner's Manual (Boston: Shambhala, 1998), in which the test appears at pp.14-20, and Jungian analyst Aryeh Maidenbaum PhD. Thomson's book is an excellent resource, with detailed discussion of the dominant and secondary functions.
• Personality Patterns
  Personality Patterns is based on a novel algorithm that scores unique personality traits rather than rough "buckets" of personality types. The algorithm uses 45 different personality traits, each scored on a separate scale, resulting in extremely unique depictions of one’s personality, graphically visualized. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete.
• AdvisorTeam Temperament Sorter II^TM
  Keirsey model: Artisan, Guardian, Rational and Idealist temperaments
• Typefocus^TM Personality Profile
  A Myers-Briggs variant with 66 questions.
• Fudjack/Dinkelaker Functional Preferences Instrument
  An experimental 33-question instrument to identify "functional preference order" in determining the Jung/MBTI type. Does not distinguish between "introvert" and "extravert".
  
  See also:
  A Javascript Tool For Exploring Typological Space
  The Dimensions of Human Space
• Jung Typology Test
  72-question instrument, rates I-E, N-S, T-F and J-P preferences by percentile; no interpretation.
• The IPIP NEO
  Long (300-question) and short (120-question) versions of this instrument rate personality on five domains [Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness to Experience] and thirty subdomains. Results are well described.
• OD-Online Profiler
  Instrument describes personality on five scales: Work [Easygoing v. Industrious] (Organization), Social [Private v. Outgoing] (Sociability), Tact Critical v. Agreeable] (Empathy), Stress [Resilient v. Reactive] (Anxiety) and Interest [Practical v. Inquisitive] (Creativity). Free samle with basic interpretation shows comparison with norm of US population. Cost for full development report is $14.95 USD.
• PersonalityLab.org
  Take any of these personality tests to find out more about yourself and those around you. All of these questionnaires have been developed by professional researchers. Results are free and provided instantly.
• How Does Your Mind Work? — EQSQ Tests
  Psychological tests developed by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Sally Wheelwright, and their team at the University of Cambridge, England, can give you insight into the way your brain functions. Specifically, you can discover if you are more prone to empathize or systemize. Understanding how your mind works best naturally could enable you to make better study and career choices throughout life. This site also provides a brief but useful explication of EQSQ Theory.
  • The Empathizing Quotient (EQ) Test
  • The Systemizing Quotient (SQ) Test

  And see:

  • Glenn Rowe's Male vs female brains
    Simon Baron-Cohen's recent book The Essential Difference: Men, Women and the Extreme Male Brain proposes that "The female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems." The book contains a couple of tests that calculate your "empathy quotient" and your "systemizing quotient". There is also a test that measures your "autism quotient", and a fascinating test that measures how good you are at discerning someone's mood from their eyes.
    • Systemizing quotient test
    • Empathy quotient test
    • Autism Spectrum quotient test
    • Mind in the eyes test

Fee-based tests and evaluation services

• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®
• Career/LifeSkills Resources Inc.
• Nelson Assessment