Life

10 Personality Quizzes That Can Actually Help Change Your Life

by Alli Hoff Kosik

It seems like it should be pretty easy to understand yourself, but it's not. In order to truly see who you are, you probably rely on your confidantes for real talk, your journal for some good old self-reflection, or maybe even a self-help book here and there. If you're struggling to grasp your evolving personality, there are certainly no shortage of tools available to help you figure it out — even these online personality quizzes can help change your life — of course, should that be something you're trying to do.

I would never argue that an online personality quiz can take the place of a qualified counselor or life coach if you feel like you're dealing with bigger challenges, but if all you're looking for is one small step in the right direction, it can't hurt to check one of these out. Any piece of information you can get about your core personality is bound to be helpful in the all-too-vague process of "figuring it out" (whatever "it" is), so quiz away! Plus, these quizzes can be so fun. Grab yourself a drink, a cozy spot, and your device of choice, because it's time for some digital age self discovery.

TestColor

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What's more straightforward than simply choosing a color that best matches your emotions related to a question? Uh, pretty much nothing. TestColor contends that "classic personality traits based on a series of questions suffer from the social desirability basis. Basically, this means that you're never going to be able to respond to a question in words fully removed from how you think someone else might perceive your responses. Enter colors. You can take a free personality test on TestColors to find out what the hues you choose say about who you are.

Enneagram Test

The Enneagram is a system that describes nine distinct personality types, each described by a number. Learning to understand the Enneagram as it relate to you allows you to identify your basic personality type within this framework, as well as your "wing," which can complement and/or contradict your basic type. Reaching a deep understanding of the Enneagram requires a lot of reading and maybe even talking with an expert, but it's worth learning about if you have an interest in psychology.

"Who Am I?" Visual DNA Test

Like TestColor, the "Who Am I?" visual DNA test relies on visuals instead of words to help you get to the bottom of your oh-so-complicated personality. You'll respond to a series of questions by choosing a relevant photograph, which admittedly feels a lot easier than picking from a multiple choice list or rating your agreement with a statement on a scale of one to ten.

What Percent Mean Girl Are You?

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If you end up with a high Mean Girl percentage based on the results of this test, I'd say you have more of your life to get together than you might even realize. No judgment if it takes seeing yourself reflected in Regina George for you to make changes.

See My Personality

If the part of your personality that still confounds you is your brain or if you feel like what you really need in order to get your life together is a better sense of how the wheels are turning in your noggin, See My Personality might be the right assessment for you. It's a free online IQ test that uses brain teasers developed by Ph.D researchers, and it even offers a breakdown between the left and right sides of your brain. There's a lot of controversy about whether or not these kinds of IQ tests are "valid," so keep that in mind and try to keep your emotions in check when you get the results. The site also offers a more general personality test.

Skills You Need

Feeling like a lot of your communication attempts are a total miss? Check out the interpersonal skills test on Skills You Need. The questionnaire touches on listening, verbal communication, emotional intelligence, and teamwork, so your results will give you a clear picture of how you might be able to do better in your relationships with other people. Interpersonal skills really are the ones you need.

Here's How Much You Need A Vacation

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It's not a personality quiz per se, but maybe the thing that's really missing in your life these days is a little down time. This Livingly quiz will prompt you to share the details of your daily routine and will come back with an assessment of just how badly you need a vacation. I have a feeling the answer is "a lot," but this low stakes quiz will let you know for sure if a reset is just the thing you need.

Pottermore Sorting Hat Quiz

Discovering that he was a Gryffindor was a major turning point in Harry Potter's life, an experience that most young Hogwarts wizards can probably relate to. You might not be a witch or wizard yourself (I know, I know — you're still waiting for your letter), but you can still be sorted if you think it will offer a much-needed magical window to your soul. Join Pottermore so you can take the official Pottermore Sorting Hat Quiz.

Create Your Ideal BFF

With this quiz, Livingly gives you a chance to build your most ideal bestie based on a series of questions. Depending on your answers, you'll get some helpful insight into your best qualities. I'm not advocating that you spend too much time patting yourself on the back, but an outsider's perspective could be refreshing for you! Also, this one just sounds really fun.

Dr. Phil's Personality Quiz

I'm personally a Dr. Phil devotee, so even though PsychCentral cautions that this alleged online version of the TV personality's personality assessment questions has yet to be authenticated, I'm not above giving it a try. Dr. Phil helps people figure out their lives every day — and on TV! — so I feel confident that any quiz based on his approach (even loosely) is bound to be beneficial.

This post was originally published on June 5, 2018. It was updated on June 4, 2019.