Most of us have taken a personality test at one point or another. My first real experience with one was the myers-briggs in high school psychology. If you don’t know, this one has 16 available ‘types’. Mine was INFJ – Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging. When I look back on getting that result, I remember identifying with it. I felt good – they certainly got some things right about me, and it helped me to rationalize certain behavior patterns. However, the deeper I look at it, I realize that it wasn’t necessarily the accuracy that made me enjoy it – it was the answer to a question.
One of the prime contemplations, or maybe even THE prime contemplation for seekers is the eternal question of “who am I?”. The personality test gave an answer to that. However, now that I have spent many years inquiring into the nature of that question, I see something very wrong with the way in which personality tests are accepted by mainstream society.
Apart from the obvious shortcomings of such a small range of results (16 in the case of myers-briggs), here is the point – personality tests are susceptible to societal conditioning. As I got older, I realized that it wasn’t my authentic essence that was being analyzed by the personality test. Rather, it was the conditioned mind of a confused 16 year old in one of the most convoluted ages of human history. I think many of you could relate to that.
While there is no possible way to explain every possibility here, due to the fact that every person is unique and will react differently to each situation, I think there are a couple major circumstances that we can look at in order to identify just how people get misread by these personality tests. First, we must look at the school system, as it is the main constant conditioning system. Parents are the most impactful in many cases, but all parents are different. Anyways, in the school system, it is my opinion that only a select few students really fit that system. For all the other kids who aren’t meant to be doing academic work, there is a pressure put onto them and this pressure can result in a myriad of conditions, the primary ones being depression and anxiety. Through the development of these conditions, the eventual answers on personality tests are bound to be changed. The possible areas of conditioning for YOU are a topic of contemplation – only you can really answer those, although others might be able to help.
At this point, many of us might be considering the idea of nature vs. nurture, thinking that perhaps we are meant to be shaped by our environment and that we should not be against societal conditioning when it comes to our personality. I take the view that we all do have an authentic essence given to us through the universe.
I wish to start this section by accounting for some of the resistances I know many people have against astrology and spiritual analysis of human essence. Let us look at the claim that “statistical analysis shows that astrology is BS”. Not so fast. First, there are studies which see correlation, and in many that do not, if we simply look back at the context in which I am writing this article we understand that societal conditioning is a prime director of how people respond to personality test measures. So if we cross that to the study of astrology, it is likely to me that most people don’t actually live by their zodiac. But enough of that. You want statistics. Maybe that is the only way in which you find truth. If so, I advise other methods, but I will oblige your desire for now. I suggest the book “Cosmic Influences on Human Behavior: The Planetary Factors in Personality”. It has the most convincing data methods which should satisfy any scientifically minded person. A quicker, more accessible study, would be “Statistical analysis of the birth charts of serial killers” by Jan Ruis, PhD. You can find this online. Even for people who already believe in astrology, I think it is important to have these resources as they will help you pass your message to others who are skeptical.
So when I finally began to listen to the unconditioned, natural systems of the universe and get rid of the societal conditioning around me, I found that I was much different and much deeper than just INFJ. I don’t even think about building my life around those traits anymore. For example, I found that the reason I was feeling depleted was not that I was an introvert, but that I was around the wrong people and situations! When I am ‘in self’ rather than ‘in not self’, the energy reserves available to me are everywhere and virtually unlimited. I now love being around others and GAIN energy from that! But I am not here to explain ALL of the benefits I am experienced – I am here to tell you it might be worth thinking about some of these things, and experimenting with the methods that I put forward here. You can do it all for free! And I gain NOTHING from it! Other than the satisfaction in knowing that maybe, just maybe, I have helped one person out there:) Start here (as I did) by getting a free chart at mybodygraph.com.
Love,
Ryan