Behavior, Personality, and Character Assessments

 There is something exciting about having your personality or behavioral traits acknowledged through an assessment. Accurate or inaccurate, the results tend to make you feel celebrated. In the digital age, there are many tests available.  Whether you are looking to improve your working relationships or entertain yourself by determining which celebrity you identify with, there is no shortage of assessments to choose from.

For those looking to improve their relationships, the book People Styles at Work and Beyond presents Bolton’s Inventory, a method of categorizing people based on their unique behavioral styles.  Bolton’s theory states that once you know your behavioral style and the styles of those around you, communication and interactions can be improved by lessening interpersonal tension. The model suggests there are four behavioral styles: Analytical, Amiable, Driver, and Expressive (Grover, 2009).

·         Analytical:       Low Assertiveness, Low responsiveness

·         Amiable:          Low Assertiveness, High responsiveness

·         Driver:             High Assertiveness, Low responsiveness

·         Expressive:      High Assertiveness, High responsiveness

The Meyers – Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), often called 16 personalities, is a personality assessment that indicates a person’s personality type based upon whether they are:

·         Introverted or extroverted

·         Prone to making decisions based on data/information or their intuition

·         Thinkers or feelers

·         Judging or Perceiving

(Personality Types, 2011-2026). This assessment differs from Bolton’s Inventory in that it measures personality rather than behavior.  However, Bolton’s responsiveness spectrum shares similarities with MBTI’s thinker/feeler spectrum. Likewise, Bolton’s assertiveness spectrum shares similarities with MBTI’s introvert/extrovert spectrum. Both assessments also offer common areas in each categorization of strengths and weaknesses.

Personality tests explain why we behave the way we do, but do not attest to the behavior itself.  Bolton simplifies his categorization to repeated behaviors. For example, Bolton’s Inventory would classify me as an Amiable; one who is low in assertiveness and high in responsiveness. MBTI would classify me as an INFP; introverted, intuitive, feeler, perceiver.  These classifications are similar in high responsiveness or feeling, and low in assertiveness, which is due to being an introvert.

The Game of Thrones Character Type from BuzzFeed asks several questions regarding morality, honor, and lifestyle choices, then categorize a person as being one of the strong characters of the series such as Cercies, Denarious, Arya, or John Snow to name a few (Edds, 2025).  A fan of the series can then identify their traits with those of the character with whom they have already become familiar. Though not likely to appear in a workplace training, the assessment is good entertainment for fans of the series.

The assessment you chose should be based upon what you plan to do with your results, improving working relationships or good old-fashioned entertainment.  Choose wisely and celebrate you. 



References

Edds, R. (2025, 11 24). Which Game of Thrones Character are You? Retrieved from BuzzFeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/robinedds/which-game-of-thrones-character-are-you

Grover, B. &. (2009). People Styles at Work and Beyond. New York: American Management Association.

Personality Types. (2011-2026). Retrieved from 16 Personalities: https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types

 

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