We are who our personality test says we are

I’m a Green, the personality test tells me. Or an Investigator, says another. Or even better: Melancholy. 

Melancholy is the least flattering but perhaps the easiest to understand. I don’t get very excited about things, or at least I don’t show it. At times you may think I’m bored when actually I’m extremely happy... or hopping mad. 

As a Green Melancholy, I like to analyze things – to death. It makes me a great critic but not a great leader. I won’t lead a revolution, but I will critique it. 

I can also be very indecisive. Give me a month to make a decision so I’m sure of my choice. Even after I’ve made my choice, however, I may second guess myself. I hold on to receipts waaaay too long, and leave the tags on clothing until I absolutely have to cut them off. 

I didn’t know it, but I’m also a know-it-all. That’s what my results tell me. I didn’t realize how annoying this could be until I sat down with a bunch of people with the same personality. They kept trying to tell me they knew better, but they didn’t. 

I often find myself arguing with my 12-year-old daughter, who’s a similar personality. As an all-knowing Green parent, I calmly argue my point until she understands that I’m right and she’s wrong. Our stubbornness can lead to some strange arguments, over things like particle theory. (Her science teacher, God bless her, doesn’t know the first thing about how particles react to heat.) We argue about stupid little things that most extroverts could care less about.  

I don’t understand extroverts, but I’ve come to accept they’re necessary in our society. Without them, we wouldn’t have parties or any fun at social functions. Typically, extroverts are like an open book and, sometimes, a long novel. It only takes you a minute to fully understand who they are, what they like and dislike, and what they had for breakfast. 

A true introvert can take years to know and understand. We had one such co-worker who rarely came out of his office. To this day, we’re still not sure what he worked on. It was only during his retirement party (a subdued affair) when we started to get to know the guy. Who knew he was actually a trained architect? It made us wonder even more what kind of work he did. 

Another aspect of personality is whether you are task- or people-oriented. To be clear, introverts can be just as people-oriented as extroverts. They tend to be those laid-back individuals who like to just hang out. I’m not one of those, as I don’t know how to just hang and can’t be out for too long. 

If we were to meet up, I would prefer a purpose to our meeting. Let’s get something done, or at least talk about something that could be of benefit to us. While I can tolerate some idle chit-chat, I don’t want to hear everything you did yesterday – where you ate lunch, what you did after lunch, and who you met on the street. 

The problem is, as a task-oriented individual I thrive on accomplishing things, no matter how insignificant. Even if I dust off my night stand before I go to bed, at least I did something.  

This personality trait has its downfalls. When I have nothing to do, I lose self-esteem fast. And at times I forget that I need to build relationships by talking to people (sadly, even family members) and to simply hang out.  

Otherwise I start to feel down. Sometimes even depressed. 

Woe is me... Melancholy.