Personality tests can be useful, entertaining, rigorous, oversimplified, or completely wrong for the job you are asking them to do. The difference usually starts with one question: what are you actually trying to learn?
A research-oriented trait measure, a workplace communication framework, a type-based self-reflection tool, and a clinical assessment are not interchangeable. This guide compares nine well-known approaches so you can choose the one that fits your goal instead of treating every personality result as the same kind of truth.
What Are the Main Types of Personality Tests?
The main types of personality tests use trait, type, behavioral, temperament, workplace, or clinical approaches. Popular examples include the Big Five, HEXACO, MBTI, 16Personalities, DISC, Enneagram, Hogan Personality Inventory, Keirsey Temperament Sorter, and MMPI-3. Each measures something different, so the best test depends on why you are taking it.
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management notes that personality measures may assess motivations, preferences, interests, emotional makeup, and interaction style. It also distinguishes ordinary workplace personality measures from clinical instruments designed to assess psychiatric conditions. [1]
The 9 Personality Tests at a Glance
Assessment | Model | What it mainly describes | Best fit | Key caution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Big Five | Trait-based | Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability/neuroticism | Broad personality traits, research, workplace assessment | Scores are continua, not fixed ‘types’ |
2. HEXACO | Trait-based | Six dimensions including Honesty-Humility | Research-oriented personality profile | Less familiar to casual users than Big Five |
3. MBTI | Type/preference-based | Four preference pairs forming 16 types | Development, reflection, communication language | Official publisher says not to use it for hiring or selection |
4. 16Personalities | Trait-based type framework | Five spectrums expressed as memorable type codes | Accessible self-reflection | Not the official MBTI assessment |
5. DISC | Behavioral | D, I, S and C behavioral tendencies | Communication, teamwork, leadership development | Not a clinical, aptitude, or intelligence test |
6. Enneagram | Type/motivation framework | Nine personality types and motivational patterns | Reflective development and interpersonal discussion | Research evidence is mixed |
7. Hogan Personality Inventory | Workplace trait assessment | Normal personality relevant to work behavior | Selection and leadership development when properly validated | Professional commercial assessment |
8. Keirsey Temperament Sorter | Temperament/type-based | Four temperaments and 16 role types | Temperament-oriented self-reflection | Should not be treated as equivalent to MBTI |
9. MMPI-3 | Clinical assessment | Psychopathology, symptoms, behavioral and interpersonal scales | Clinical, forensic, medical and public-safety assessment | Professional clinical instrument, not a casual workplace quiz |
Which Personality Test Should You Take?
Choose the assessment by the decision you need to make. Do not begin with the brand name. Begin with the question.
If your main goal is… | Best starting point | Why |
|---|---|---|
A research-oriented description of broad personality traits | Big Five | It uses continuous trait dimensions that are widely used in personality research and workplace assessment. |
A six-trait alternative that adds Honesty-Humility | HEXACO | It extends trait-based personality description with a distinct sixth dimension. |
A memorable type language for personal or team development | MBTI | It organizes preferences into 16 types and is designed for development rather than selection. |
An accessible free type-style self-reflection experience | 16Personalities | Its NERIS framework uses five trait spectrums but presents results in memorable type codes. |
Better communication and workplace behavior | DISC | It focuses directly on observable behavioral tendencies and how people approach communication, pace, people, and standards. |
Exploring motives and recurring interpersonal patterns | Enneagram | Its nine-type model is often used for reflective development, though the evidence base is less settled. |
Professional workplace selection or leadership assessment | Hogan | The HPI was built around normal personality and occupational performance. |
A temperament-based 16-type framework | Keirsey | It groups 16 role types into four broader temperaments. |
Clinical psychological evaluation | MMPI-3 | It is designed for professional mental health, medical, forensic and public-safety settings. |
The most important rule |
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1. Big Five Personality Test
The Big Five, also called the Five-Factor Model, describes personality across five broad dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism or its opposite, emotional stability. Instead of putting you into one fixed category, it places you somewhere along each trait continuum.
For people asking which personality model has a strong mainstream research foundation, the Big Five is usually the most useful place to begin. OPM identifies these five traits as the personality factors most frequently assessed in work situations, while also stressing that the traits most relevant to performance depend on the job. [1]
PLI has a dedicated explainer: What Is the Big Five Personality Test?.
2. HEXACO Personality Inventory
HEXACO is another trait-based model. Its six dimensions are Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience. The official HEXACO-PI-R is available in 60-item and 100-item research versions and can be completed as self-report or observer report. [3]
The most visible difference from the Big Five is Honesty-Humility. If that additional dimension is central to what you want to explore, HEXACO may be a better conceptual fit than a five-factor assessment.
3. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The official MBTI assessment organizes personality preferences across four pairs: Extraversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, and Judging-Perceiving. The combinations produce 16 possible types such as INTP, ENFJ, or ESTJ.
Its strongest use is development and shared language. The Myers-Briggs Company explicitly says the MBTI should never be used for recruitment or selection because it measures preferences rather than skills or abilities and was not designed to predict job performance. [2]
For PLI’s full type navigation, see 16 Personalities and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
4. 16Personalities / NERIS Type Explorer
16Personalities looks familiar to MBTI users because it uses four-letter type codes, but it is not the official MBTI assessment. Its publisher describes the NERIS model as five independent trait spectrums influenced by the Big Five, with an additional Identity dimension that produces Assertive (-A) and Turbulent (-T) variants. [4]
That distinction matters. If someone tells you they are an ‘INTJ-T from 16Personalities,’ they are reporting a NERIS result, not an official MBTI result. The two frameworks may use similar-looking labels, but they should not be treated as interchangeable.
5. DISC Assessment
DISC is best treated as a behavioral framework rather than a clinical personality diagnosis. PLI’s current model describes four behavioral styles: Dominant (D), Inspiring (I), Supportive (S), and Conscientious (C). A person’s result can show one or several significant styles, creating a practical picture of how they may approach pace, people, challenge, stability, evidence, and communication.
DISC is especially useful when the question is practical: How should I communicate with this person? What might they need from a manager? Why do two teammates approach the same task differently? How can I adapt without pretending to become someone else?
DISC boundary |
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Take PLI’s Free DISC Assessment or read What Is DISC?.
6. Enneagram Personality Test
The Enneagram organizes people into nine interconnected types and is often used to explore motives, fears, coping patterns, and interpersonal tendencies. Its appeal is that it asks not only what you do, but why you may repeatedly do it.
The evidence base deserves more caution than popular descriptions sometimes suggest. A 2021 systematic review of 104 independent samples found mixed evidence for reliability and validity. Some findings aligned with theory and personal-growth use, but support for a clean nine-factor structure and secondary concepts such as wings was limited. [5]
For a deeper explanation, see PLI’s Guide to the Enneagram Personality Test.
7. Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)
The Hogan Personality Inventory is a professional workplace assessment based on the Five-Factor Model. Hogan describes the HPI as a measure of normal personality designed to help organizations understand how people typically relate to others and approach work when they are functioning at their best. [6]
This is a different use case from a casual online quiz. Hogan is commonly positioned for employee selection, leadership development, succession planning, and talent management. If an organization is making high-stakes people decisions, a professionally developed assessment with job-relevant validation is a more appropriate category than a consumer type quiz.
8. Keirsey Temperament Sorter
The Keirsey model groups people into four broad temperaments: Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, and Rational. Each temperament is then divided into four role types, creating 16 types in total. [7]
Because its 16 role codes can resemble MBTI-style type language, Keirsey is often encountered by people searching for tests similar to Myers-Briggs. It is better understood as its own temperament framework rather than as a substitute version of the official MBTI instrument.
9. MMPI-3
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 belongs in a completely different category from casual self-discovery tests. The University of Minnesota describes the MMPI-3 as a 335-item professional assessment used in mental health, medical, forensic, and public-safety settings. It contains validity scales plus clinical, behavioral, interpersonal, and personality-psychopathology scales. [8]
This is why a list of personality tests must distinguish clinical instruments from workplace and self-reflection tools. OPM also identifies the MMPI as a medical-type personality instrument rather than an ordinary work-related personality measure. [1]
Do not self-select a clinical test for workplace development |
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What Is the Most Accurate Personality Test?
There is no single most accurate personality test for every question. For broad trait measurement, Big Five-based instruments have a strong research foundation. For workplace selection, accuracy depends on whether the assessment has been validated for the job and decision. For clinical evaluation, specialized instruments such as the MMPI serve a different purpose entirely.
A better way to judge an assessment is to ask four questions:
- What exactly does the test claim to measure?
- Is there evidence that its scores are reliable and valid for that purpose?
- Does the output use continuous traits, broad types, behaviors, motives, or clinical scales?
- Are you using the result for reflection, development, selection, diagnosis, or another decision?
The more important the decision, the less you should rely on a single self-report result. OPM notes that personality measures can contribute to employment assessment, but other methods such as work samples and structured interviews can offer stronger validity for many decisions. [1]
Personality Tests for Work: What Employers and Managers Should Know
Personality assessments can be useful at work, but ‘useful for development’ and ‘valid for hiring’ are not the same standard.
Use case | Better fit | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
Communication and team development | DISC, MBTI, selected workplace tools | Treating style as competence or destiny |
Leadership development | DISC, MBTI, Hogan, Big Five-based tools | Assuming one profile equals leadership potential |
Selection | Job-relevant validated tools such as appropriate Hogan/FFM measures plus other selection methods | Using a consumer quiz or MBTI as a screening test |
Career reflection | Big Five, MBTI, DISC, interest/values tools | Letting one result dictate a career choice |
Clinical evaluation | Qualified professional + clinical instrument such as MMPI-3 when appropriate | Using workplace frameworks to diagnose mental health |
The Myers-Briggs Company states that using MBTI for recruitment or selection is inappropriate. OPM similarly advises that employment personality measures should be work-related and meet applicable technical standards. In the United States, clinical personality tests that reveal psychiatric conditions can raise additional legal requirements. [2] [1]
What Personality Tests Are Similar to Myers-Briggs?
If you like the memorable type language of Myers-Briggs, 16Personalities and Keirsey may feel familiar because both organize results into named type patterns. They are not official MBTI instruments. If you want an alternative with more emphasis on continuous trait measurement, Big Five and HEXACO are better comparisons.
If you like MBTI because of… | Try… | Difference |
|---|---|---|
Four-letter type language | 16Personalities | Uses five trait spectrums and adds Assertive/Turbulent identity |
Temperament categories | Keirsey | Groups 16 role types into four temperaments |
Self-reflection without rigid categories | Big Five | Uses continuous trait scores |
Trait research with a sixth factor | HEXACO | Adds Honesty-Humility |
Workplace communication application | DISC | Focuses on behavioral tendencies rather than MBTI preference pairs |
Not Every Self-Assessment Is a Personality Test
The legacy version of this PLI article mixed personality tests with emotional-intelligence, visual, color, and strengths quizzes. Some of those tools may still be useful for reflection, but they answer different questions.
Tool category | What it is trying to assess | Why the distinction matters |
|---|---|---|
Emotional intelligence assessment | Recognition, understanding or management of emotion | Emotional intelligence is not the same construct as personality |
Strengths assessment | Recurring talents or strengths | Strengths are not identical to broad personality traits |
Values assessment | What a person prioritizes or finds meaningful | Values can influence behavior without being a personality model |
Interest inventory | Activities or domains a person is drawn toward | Interests are useful in career decisions but are not personality alone |
Entertainment quiz | Engagement or self-reflection | Fun output should not be mistaken for psychometric evidence |
Why this matters |
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How to Use a Personality Test Result Without Letting It Box You In
- Treat the result as a hypothesis about patterns, not a permanent identity.
- Look for examples from real behavior that support or contradict the profile.
- Separate preferences from skills. You can learn behaviors that do not come naturally.
- Use the result to improve a specific conversation, habit, decision, or relationship.
- Retest or seek a more appropriate assessment if the result will influence a high-stakes decision.
- Do not use a personality label to excuse poor behavior or limit someone else’s opportunities.
The most useful question after any assessment is not ‘What type am I?’ It is ‘What can I now notice or do differently because I understand this pattern?’
Frequently Asked Questions About Personality Tests
What are the most common types of personality tests?
Common personality assessments include trait models such as Big Five and HEXACO, type frameworks such as MBTI and Keirsey, behavioral frameworks such as DISC, motivation-oriented systems such as the Enneagram, workplace inventories such as Hogan, and clinical instruments such as the MMPI. They measure different constructs and should not be treated as interchangeable.
What personality test should I take first?
For broad research-oriented personality traits, start with a Big Five measure. For workplace communication, DISC is a practical starting point. If you prefer memorable type language for development, MBTI or 16Personalities may be more engaging. For high-stakes employment or clinical decisions, use a professionally appropriate instrument rather than a casual online quiz.
Are personality tests scientifically accurate?
Some are supported by much stronger psychometric evidence than others. Accuracy also depends on what the instrument claims to measure and how the result is used. Self-report tests can be affected by response style, context, and interpretation, so no result should be treated as a complete description of a person.
Is DISC a personality test?
People often call DISC a personality test, but PLI treats it more precisely as a behavioral framework. It describes tendencies in how people approach communication, pace, people, challenge, stability, and standards. It is not a clinical diagnosis, intelligence test, aptitude test, or fixed identity.
Is 16Personalities the same as MBTI?
No. 16Personalities uses familiar four-letter codes, but its NERIS model is built around five trait spectrums and adds the Assertive/Turbulent dimension. Official MBTI uses four preference pairs and is a separate instrument. A 16Personalities result should therefore not be presented as an official MBTI result. [4]
Can employers use personality tests for hiring?
Some professionally developed personality assessments can contribute to hiring when they are job-relevant and validated for the intended decision. Others should not be used that way. The Myers-Briggs Company explicitly says MBTI is not a recruitment or selection tool, and clinical instruments raise additional legal and ethical concerns. [2] [1]
Choose the Question Before You Choose the Test
Personality assessment is most useful when the instrument fits the question. If you want a broad trait profile, use a trait model. If you want a shared language for development, use a development framework. If you want better workplace communication, choose a behavioral tool. If the decision is clinical or high stakes, use an instrument designed and validated for that purpose.
The goal is not to collect labels. It is to understand people more accurately and make better choices with that information.
A practical next step |
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Related Readings
- 16 Personalities and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
- A Guide to the Enneagram Personality Test
- What Is the Big Five Personality Test?
- What Is DISC? The Complete Guide
Sources and References
1. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Personality Tests
2. The Myers-Briggs Company, MBTI Assessment and MBTI Facts
3. HEXACO-PI-R, official inventory website
4. 16Personalities, NERIS Framework
5. Hook et al. (2021), systematic review of the Enneagram, Journal of Clinical Psychology
6. Hogan Assessments, Hogan Personality Inventory
7. Keirsey, Temperament Overview
8. University of Minnesota Press, MMPI-3
Editorial Basis and Consolidation Sources
- PLI Ahrefs General Competitor Frameworks dossier, refreshed August 21 and live-validated August 23, 2026.
- SEO Consolidation Report – COMPETITORS – COMPARISON (supersedes G01-G03).
- Legacy PLI article: 9 Personality Tests You Should Take.
- Legacy PLI 16 Personalities / MBTI hub.
- Legacy PLI Enneagram guide.
- Legacy PLI Big Five guide.
- Current Ahrefs keyword and SERP validation on August 25, 2026.
- Current authoritative external-source verification for MBTI, 16Personalities, HEXACO, Hogan, Keirsey, MMPI-3 and workplace personality-assessment guidance.
Editorial note: this rebuild preserves the legacy page’s cross-assessment purpose but corrects category confusion. Emotional-intelligence, strengths, visual and color quizzes are no longer presented as equivalent personality instruments. MBTI and 16Personalities are explicitly separated. The Enneagram evidence is presented with appropriate caution. Clinical assessment is separated from workplace and self-development use.
