Working at PeopleMaps (the people behind PartnerMaps), we take personality profiling for granted. We use it for professional and personal circumstances - and we’re always talking about it.

It’s pretty clear that lots of people don’t understand psychological profiling at all, however. Sure, there’s a plethora of sites offering ‘personality tests’ but many of them don’t have any roots in professional psychology.

So then, is it any surprise that many people misunderstand the concept of a personality profile, and what it might tell them?

In response, I have asked Anne Ellis,PeopleMaps’ director of psychology, some questions about what profiling is - what it will tell you and how it can help you with relationships. Part one deals with apparently ‘negative’ personality aspects.

Q: Will my personality profile tell me things I don’t want to hear?

A: Personality profiling is a method of identifying personality characteristics that we each have. Some characteristics are obvious - and others are denied. Those that are uncomfortable may not be acknowledged and are most likely to be the ones denied. A professional profile will deal with your complete personality - we’re not all Saints! - and give feedback on how you best deal with both comfortable and less comfortable aspects.

Q: What is the best way to test whether my profile is accurate?

A: The test for most people is to ask someone close, someone who knows you pretty well, if they agree with your profile. Check with them if they can see any of the characteristics you don’t see - and if so, to provide an example. In most cases, they will be able to.

Q: Can you provide an example of uncomfortable behaviour?

Some people will be happy with a profile that says they are ‘direct, strong and purposeful’, yet they might take issue with a comment they perceive as a negative aspect, for instance, if the profile also warns them about ‘intimidating others’ due to their ‘direct, confrontational approach’.

“All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions.” Leonardo da Vinci

If asked to analyse themselves further, they will probably be able to recognise situations where they came over too strongly with someone who had a more timid nature - although they might just think they were being straight to the point: it’s all in the perception.

Most people are happy to embrace the positive aspects of their personality. What we must take into account is that most positives have a negative counterpart. It is in recognising and acknowledging that positive behaviour can be drift into negative behaviour depending on the circumstance, that people will begin to get a real understanding of self - and truly benefit from profiling.

Q: Personality questionnaire - how is it measured?

A: The PartnerMaps report profile is the feedback generated from the online personality questionnaire

The results come from measuring the respondent’s answers on bi-polar scales that are in themselves opposites. If for example attitudes of extraversion or introversion were measured on the scale and someone came close to the middle, then this would imply they were not extreme in their behaviour: however they would have a natural preference for one behaviour over the other most of the time - it depends how far along a scale people travel.

Of course this also means that in different circumstances they could display one type of behaviour more than the other. For example, If they thought of themselves as more introverted and then considered a group meeting where they appeared to be obviously more overt than the rest of the group, this could be because the others were simply further along the introverted scale than them - and they would therefore appear more extraverted.

This means that different circumstances and people impact on behaviour - and also on relationships.

Part 2 will consider relationship and personality type…