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NERIS Type Explorer

The NERIS Type Explorer is a free personality test that is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Big Five personality traits models of personality psychology. This test can be taken on 16Personalities.com which is a webpage owned by the UK based company NERIS Analytics Limited started in 2011.

Concept

The questionnaire

• The 16Personalities test is based on the MBTI. This test is based on the theory that was created by Carl Jung. It puts the 4 functions of sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking against the 4 categories of introversion/Extraversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perception. This creates a total of 16 possible personality categories. These distinctions are also used in different models and theories of personality psychology such as Socionics and the Keisey Temperament Sorter.
• The online self-administering test is done in the form of a Likert scale with 3 options to choose from on each end of the spectrum and a neutral 7th option in the middle. This is done to calculate a clearer trait group to which you belong. The model that was chosen by NERIS is a trait-based model rather than a category based model. This is because "Instead of creating an arbitrary number of categories and attempting to fit people within them, a trait-based model simply studies the degree to which people exhibit certain traits"

Five personality aspects

The outcome of the test is based on five personality aspects/scales. Four aspects/scales overlap with the original Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, namely introversion vs extraversion, intuition vs sensing thinking vs feeling and judging vs perceiving. The NERIS Type Explorer adds the aspect turbulent vs assertive. This aspect affects the other scales. An assertive personality is defined as confident, standing up for your own or other people’s rights. A turbulent personality is defined as being full of change, hard-working, goal oriented.

Type groups

These personality aspects/ traits then form personality types consisting of two layers, the inner layer which defines roles and the other layer which defines strategies.

There are four roles and four strategies result in the 16 personality types which are also known as the Keirsey temperaments. The possible roles according to the NERIS Type Explorer are analysts (Intuitive and thinking), diplomats (intuititive and feeling), sentinels (sensing and judging) and explorers (sensing and perceiving).

Based on the aspects introversion vs extraversion and turbulent vs assertive, the sixteen personality types are divided into four strategies. Confident Individualism (introverted assertive types), People Mastery (extraverted assertive types), Constant Improvement (introverted turbulent types) and Social Engagement (extraverted turbulent types).

Personality Types

Analysts

• Architect (INTJ)

This type is characterised as analytical, detail oriented, strategic, rational and tend to question things.

• Logician (INTP)

This type is characterised as being inventive and creative, loving patterns and theories, afraid of failure.

• Commander (ENTJ)

This type is characterised as charismatic and confident, authoritarian, rational, determined, unemotional, they enjoy challenges.

• Debater (ENTP)

This type is characterised as loving knowledge, questioning things and loving debating.

Diplomats

• Advocate (INFJ)

This type is characterised by their strong sense of idealism and morality and their love for helping others.

• Mediator (INFP)

This type is characterised by looking for the good in everyone and being driven by their inner morals.

• Protagonist (ENFJ)

This type is characterized by their benevolence and their strong ideals.

• Campaigner (ENFP)

This type is characterized by their hopeful and energetic nature.

Senteniels

• Logistician (ISTJ)

This type is characterized by their rationality and methodological approach to life.

• Defender (ISFJ)

This type is characterized by their efficiency and their attention to detail.

• Executive (ESTJ)

This type is characterized by their thankfulness and their ability to stabilize others.

• Consul (ESFJ)

This type is characterized by their social nature and ability to offer guidance to others.

Explorers

• Virtuoso (ISTP)

This type is characterized by their bold and practical approach to new situations.

• Adventurer (ISFP)

This type is characterized by their charm and willingness to explore.

• Entrepreneur (ESTP)

This type is characterized by their lively and energetic nature meanwhile maintaining being perceptive.

• Entertainer (ESFP)

This type is characterized by their social and adventurous nature.

Marketing

Itself being a consumer services company, the company NERIS Analytics Limited is responsible for promoting the test 16personalities.com, with their headquarter in London, United Kingdom, additionally being registered in England and Wales. 

The company itself was incorporated into the business market on August 12th, 2013 - since having been recognized as a so called “micro company”.

The website offers a premium profile and an online academy for further insights, which can be purchased. NERIS Analytics Limited state that their products are meant “for personal use only and are not intended for use in any business, employment or recruitment context”.

The website itself does not contain any promotion for third parties.

The self-promotion on the 16personalities.com website and on a job ad website states that the "16personality test" is a free, online personality test, revealing “accurate and concrete descriptions of the test taker”, which are “based on the latest psychometric research and combines highly accurate testing techniques with time-tested concepts”. As well as that the personalty types are applicable in domains as work and career, romance, friendship, family, life purpose, personal growth and daily interactions.

16personalities.com as an employer offers “abundance of freelance” as well as “remote positions that do not require a physical presence or travel”, for example “telecommunicating arrangements for applicants throughout the United States and the world”. Ideal applicants for jobs at 16personalities.com preferably have an interest “in psychology, pay close attention to detail, and work comfortably with large amounts of data”.

Website Design

The first thing seen once the 16 Personalities website is opened is not a description of the personality test, but rather a few instructions on how to answer the test and approximately the time it will take to finish. This strikes up curiosity, and encourages the user to answer the questions, which start off as entertaining and what one would call “shallow”, then become more personal and inquisitive, making the test even more compelling.

After the user receives their results, a quote that highlights a vital part of their personality will be presented. Next, the user is provided with a brief introduction about their personality type that mainly focuses on the positives, feeding the user's ego, and encouraging them to keep on reading. A certain attraction are the subtitles used to start a new section under each heading that is provided to tell them more about themselves; they are usually phrases that are designed to appeal to the specific personality type. The website is designed in such a way that unconsciously drags the user through all the sections describing their personality, starting from the wording of the descriptions, the arrows at the bottom of each page for easier navigation, to the simple list of famous people that possess the same personality type and qualities as the user to ignite motivation and inspiration. This, in turn, ignites positive feelings towards the website from the user, leading them to inform friends and family about the test, and therefore popularising it.

Critique

Validity, accuracy and reliability

The validity and accuracy of personality is often questioned due to different reasons. On the one hand,the categories in those tests are rather rough and show tendencies, not actual personalty types. Moreover, people might be forced into those rough categories, since there are not enough nuances to specify answers. Since each person must be fitted into the few preexisting categories, it will inevitably suit some people better than others. The concept of the test relies on the idea that a person is assigned to one of two variations of a personality trait, depending on which one they represent more in their completion of the test. Therefore, a person who answers just over half of the questions according to one side of a dichotomy will receive the same result as someone who clearly showed that personality trait in every answer. This stands in contrast to most psychological personality assessments, which are based on a format that instead places the person along a spectrum. It has been shown in research that this continuous approach is closer to reality. Another factor that limits the validity and accuracy is, that those tests rely on self-report. How people understand the questions and how truthful they answer them is therefore highly variable.

Especially the MBTI, which the NERIS Type Explorer is partly based on, has been harshly critiqued but it is not clear how much this weakens the NERIS test itself, considering that it is rather a reinvention than a copy.

As there is no independent research on the NERIS Type Explorer in particular available yet, one has to rely on the self-published reliability and validity article.

Appears like MBTI at first sight

The user Sienna Voglewede criticizes in an online article that the NERIS Type Explorer is an oversimplification of the Myers-Briggs indicator, as it disregards certain concepts of the theory, like the ‘cognitive functions’ portion. The framework for NERIS Type Explorer has been altered, however, there is no clear distinction on what has been changed and to what extent it influences the outcomes presented in the MBTI. What is more, the distinction between them might be challenging, because the difference is not immediately apparent. Therefore, some users might be deceived into thinking that the theories behind the two tests are the same. Another article mentions, that because the framework of the of the NERIS Type Explorer is a reinvention, it is not clear yet, to what extent the results are consistent with those from the MBTI or other tests based on the theory.

Free speech

Voglewede also criticizes that "discussion of any other personality theory including MBTI, enneagram, Big 5, and others is strictly forbidden in the discussion portion of their site" and that "the mention MBTI or any of its principals automatically flag messages for review". He believes that the reason for this is to keep users naive of other personality test theories, although it should be said, that under the theory section of their page, these influences are to some extent explained.