am i really that selfish?

I’m reading Richard Wiseman’s book, Quirkology: the curious science of everyday lives, and in it he talks about the personality profiling work of Hans Eysenck a pioneer in the field of personality research. Through research and statistical analysis Eysenck determined that personality is composed of three main elements: Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Psychoticism. Most current researchers agree on the significance of the first two traits, but there is less consensus on the third (so he may be wrong about it’s central importance but it clearly plays some role in personality). Most people will score lower on Psychoticism. While Psychoticism implies more negative qualities than the other two traits (typically), a link has been found is several studies between higher creativity and higher scores on Psychoticism.

This morning while idly surfing the Net, I came across an Eysenck profile questionnaire. I couldn’t resist answering the 46 questions. I wasn’t surprised by the results. I gave the results a 4 out of 5 rating.  I don’t agree that I neglect my own individual interest and internally based identity.
Here’s how I scored:

Eysenck’s Test Results
Extraversion (84%) very high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.
Neuroticism (32%) moderately low which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.
Psychoticism (56%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly selfish, uncooperative, and difficult at the expense of the well being of others

Take Eysenck Personality Test (similar to EPQ-R)
personality tests by similarminds.com

3 Comments

  1. Lady Banana May 17, 2008 at 9:02 am

    Well, I couldn’t be much more different to you! lol

    Reply
  2. Daddy Papersurfer May 17, 2008 at 10:59 am

    I did that ‘thang’ as well – I don’t usually bother – ho hum. And I can’t remember my scores before you ask! but I scored the accuracy the same as you. Thanks for the visit – byeee

    Reply

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