Realistic Personality Type

Realistic persons are attracted to outdoor, mechanical and physical activities, hobbies, and occupations. They like to work with things, objects, and animals rather than with ideas, data, and people. They tend to have mechanical and athletic abilities and are usually strong and physically coordinated. They like to construct, shape, and restructure things around them and to repair and mend things. They like to use equipment and machinery and to see tangible results from their efforts. Although they are persistent and industrious builders, they are less creative and original. Instead, they prefer to use familiar methods and to follow established patterns.

They tend to think in terms of absolutes and to have a low tolerance for ambiguity. They have a straightforward and uncomplicated view of life and prefer not to deal with abstract, theoretical, and philosophical issues and problems. They are materialistic yet thrifty and have traditional and conservative values and attitudes.

They often find it difficult to give emotional expression to their feelings and tend to be regarded as shy, modest, but frank.

Investigative Personality Type

Investigative persons are curious and inquisitive. They have a need to understand, explain, and predict the things that go on around them. They like to solve problems and typically have strong mathematical abilities. They are scholarly and scientific in their attempts to understand things and tend to be pessimistic and critical when others suggest non-scientific, simplistic, or supernatural explanations. They tend to become engrossed in whatever they are doing and may appear to be oblivious to everything else around them. They are independent and like to work alone. They prefer neither to supervise others nor to be supervised.

They are theoretical and analytical in outlook and find abstract and ambiguous problems and situations challenging. They are original and creative and often find it difficult to accept traditional attitudes and values. They avoid highly structured situations with externally imposed rules, but are themselves internally well-disciplined, precise, and systematic in thought and action. They have confidence in their intellectual abilities, but often feel inadequate in social situations. They lack leadership and persuasive skills and tend to be reserved and formal in interpersonal relationships. They find it difficult to express themselves emotionally and are not considered to be friendly types.

Artistic Personality Type

Artistic persons are very creative, original, and individualistic. They like to be different and to stand out from the crowd. They like to express their personalities by creating new and different things with written words; with music; with materials, through painting, carving, sculpturing, and engraving. They may like the art of physical expression, as in acting and dancing. They often want attention and praise for their artistic endeavors, but are sensitive to criticism. They tend to be uninhibited and nonconforming in dress, speech, and action. They prefer to work without supervision.

They are impulsive and idealistic in outlook. They place great value on beauty and esthetic qualities and tend to be emotional in the expression of their feelings. They prefer abstract tasks and unstructured situations. They find it difficult to function effectively in highly ordered and systematic situations.

Although seeking acceptance and approval from others, they often find the demands of close interpersonal relationships too stressful and avoid them. They compensate for their resulting feelings of estrangement or alienation by relating to others primarily through the indirect medium of their artistic expressions.

Social Personality Type

Social persons are friendly and outgoing. They are cooperative and enjoy working with and being around other people. They are understanding and insightful concerning the feelings and problems of others. They like to be helpful to others by serving in facilitative roles such as those of teachers, mediators, advisers, counselors, etc. They have social skills, express themselves well, and are persuasive in interpersonal relationships. They like attention and enjoy being at or near the center of the group.

They are idealistic, sensitive, and conscientious in their outlook on life and in their dealings with others. They like to deal with philosophical issues such as the nature and purpose of life, religion, morality, etc. They dislike working with machines, tools, and data and at highly organized, routine, and repetitive tasks.

They see themselves as having social and educational skills, but as lacking in mechanical and scientific abilities. They get along well with others and find it natural to express their emotions. They are tactful in relating to others and are considered to be kind, supportive, and caring.

Enterprising Personality Type

Enterprising persons are self-confident, outgoing, and optimistic. They like to organize, direct, and control the activities of groups. They are ambitious and like to be in positions of authority. They place a high value on status, power, money, and material possessions. They like to feel that they are in control of situations and are responsible for making things happen. They are energetic and enthusiastic in initiating and supervising the activities in which they engage. They like to influence the opinions and actions of others and to hold positions of leadership.

They are adventurous and impulsive. They are assertive and verbally persuasive in bringing others around to their point of view. They enjoy social gatherings and like to associate with well-known and influential people. They like to travel and explore and often have exciting and expensive hobbies.

They see themselves as popular and as having leadership and speaking abilities. They tend to dislike activities requiring scientific abilities and systematic and theoretical thinking. They avoid activities that require attention to detail and adherence to a set routine.

Conventional Personality Type

Conventional persons are well-organized, persistent, and practical in their approach to life. They enjoy clerical and computational activities performed according to set procedures. They are dependable, efficient, and conscientious in accomplishing the tasks in which they engage. They are comfortable working with information and numbers because they have the clerical and mathematical abilities to carry out things in detail.

They enjoy the security of belonging to groups and organizations and make good team members. They are status-conscious but usually do not aspire to positions of highest authority and leadership. They are most comfortable working in situations and at tasks in which they know what is expected of them.

They tend to be conservative and traditional in values and attitudes. They usually conform to expected standards and follow the lead of those in positions of authority, with whom they identify, and are viewed as efficient and conscientious. They like to work indoors in pleasant surroundings and place value on material comforts and possessions.

They are self-controlled and low-key in the expression of their feelings. They avoid intense personal relationships in favor of more casual ones. They are most comfortable in familiar situations and in the company of persons they know well. They like for things to go as planned and prefer not to have their routines changed or upset.