How to Find Your Personality Type: 4 Ways

By Virko Kask, founder of Typeza

A clay figure at a signpost with four blank arrows, thinking which way to go

Knowing your personality type helps only if it is the right one. With the wrong type, you start treating a weak side as a strong one and leaning on it every day, which leads to stress, disappointment and strained relationships.

Socionics names four ways to find your personality type:

A specialist who types you in conversation.
A test.
Talking it over with people close to you.
Observing yourself.

Each has its limits, so they work best together.

1. A specialist

In socionics, an open conversation with an experienced specialist counts as the most reliable method. The questions are ordinary ones, asked in a relaxed way: how your school years were, how your last holiday went. What the specialist listens to is how you answer. Every word and phrase carries meaning, and people of different types speak differently. Sensing types, for example, use a different vocabulary from intuitive types. The consultants who worked with the founder of socionics used a similar method, paying attention to how a person reasons and talks, where they are strong and where they are vulnerable.

Everything depends on the specialist. A real one:

Has learned to diagnose types, ideally at a recognised school.
Has practised for at least two years.
Has typed at least 100 people.

There are still few such specialists, especially in the English-speaking world.

2. A test

A test is the easiest place to start, but its result depends on how you see yourself, and that picture is not always you. Without noticing, you may answer in the voice of a parent or teacher who told you how to behave, or as the person you would like to be, a little better or stronger than you are. Masks, covered below, affect test answers too.

Many tests also end up measuring what you have learned rather than the nature you were born with. People tend to take a test like an exam and show the skills they have picked up over the years. Those skills are real, but they sit on top of your type and can hide it.

Treat a test result as one possible answer and a starting point. Read the description of the type it gives you, and of any type that came close, and compare them with how you actually live.

3. Talking it over with people close to you

Friends who know something about the types can tell you how you come across to others, which is hard to see from the inside. You can also try things out together and look at how each of you behaves. A conversation like this rarely settles your type on its own, though, unless someone in it knows the theory well.

4. Observing yourself

Watch how you actually behave in real situations, rather than imagining how you would. Notice it without judging, as in "in that situation, I do this". For example:

When you meet new people, do you start talking right away or keep quietly to the side at first?
In a new situation, do you act at once or look around first?
When you want something to stop, what do you say? "It's useless", "There's no time" or "It's good enough already"? The words you reach for say a lot about which side of you leads.

It also helps to compare yourself with others in similar situations: how they act, which words they use, how well they argue their case, what they feel. This matters most for your weak sides. Where you are strong, you can easily judge how strong others are. Where you are weak, you cannot see the whole scale, so you may think you are good at something you are not. The more people you compare yourself with, the clearer your strong and weak sides become.

To know what to look for, you need some theory. Typeza's pages on the four base traits and the eight information aspects are a good place to start.

This method takes patience. Every situation you notice and think over makes the result more accurate, and you have your whole life for it.

Watch out for masks

A mask is when you act like another type, often without noticing, to make a good impression or get something done. Worn briefly, masks help. Worn for years, they cause trouble at work and in relationships, and they show up in test answers and can point you to the wrong type.

A specialist can see past them. On your own, look back at your childhood: between about six and ten, your character has formed but masks have not yet taken hold. Personality masks covers when masks help, when they hurt and how to find your own.

Better open than wrong

If you are torn between two types, there is no rush. It is better to leave your type open for a while than to settle on the wrong one. Keep reading, observing and comparing, and the picture gets clearer with time.

Finding your type on Typeza

You can start with the free personality test. When your answers sit close to a line, it shows which types were in the running, so you can read those profiles before you settle on one.

The AI interview is closer to the conversation method: you answer eight questions out loud, in your own words, and AI analyses the answers across all 15 traits.

Once you know your type, you can see how you relate to the people around you. Send the free compatibility test to someone close, and when they have taken it, you will see which of the 16 relationship types the two of you make.

Questions people ask

How do I know my personality type?

Combine several ways: take a test, read the descriptions of the types it points to, observe how you actually behave and compare yourself with others. In socionics, the most reliable method is an open conversation with an experienced specialist.

How accurate are personality tests?

A test reflects how you see yourself, which is not always who you are, and it can also pick up learned skills and masks. Treat the result as a starting point and check it against the type descriptions and your own behaviour.

What if my test result doesn't feel right?

Read the descriptions of the types that came close and compare them with how you behave in real situations. It is better to leave your type open for a while than to settle on the wrong one.

What is a mask in socionics?

Acting like another type, often without noticing, to make a good impression or reach a goal. Masks can help in the short term, but worn for long they cause trouble and can lead to the wrong type on a test.

How do I find a good socionics specialist?

Look for someone who has learned to diagnose types, has practised for at least two years and has typed at least 100 people.