The Characteristics of Myself Through Assessments

Running Head: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF MYSELF

The Characteristics of Myself Through Assessments
Jason Pinkerton
University of Illinois at Springfield
October 3, 2010

Abstract

Several weeks ago we were assigned to complete several different self assessment forms to figure out different aspects about yourself and what types of personalities you are considered. Some of the questions were no brainers such as the decision making styles while others I had to sit down and think about how I act in questions about my locus of control. There are hundreds of self assessments out there I have just never taken the time until the assignment was assigned to actually put time aside to fill them out. Some of the assessments are hard to understand and I agreed more of less to the questions because they were hard to understand but on the rest of the assessments I thought they were extremely informational. I think it was neat to learn what type of personality I am considered to have by answering just a few questions. There are hundreds of self assessments out there but the ones I filled out dealt with decision making styles, personality factors, and some self monitoring tendencies. These assessments gave me valuable information about my personality which told me a lot about myself. These assessments told me a wide variety of information about myself that has some differences than the way I look at myself. These assessments give out very informative feedback on the characteristics of individuals. The big five personality told a lot about the aspects of the different types of personalities. ‘There has been much research on how people describe others, and five major dimensions of human personality have been found. They are often referred to as the OCEAN model of personality, because of the acronym from the names of the five dimensions.” (Oliver, J. D. 2000). The author is stating how people judge others and the dimensions people refer others too. After taking this assessment I scored low on experience and intellect, therefore I am not original or creative I am more conventional and down to earth. This topic relates to what everyone tells me also. I am a down to earth easy going person that isn’t bothered by much and tend to hang out with the same sort of crowds. Down to earth individuals are the best people to become friends with. When it came to the topic of conscientiousness where high scores tend to be reliable, well organized, and self-disciplined while the lower scores tend to be more disorganized and undependable I was in the middle. I guess this means I have organization and discipline in me but also can be a little disorganized. I don’t agree with this one as much because I consider myself extremely disciplined and on the higher end of the organized side. I have to be organized or I am so confused. When it comes to extraversion I agree with some of the aspects that came out but others I highly disagree on. My scores were low which means I am not as friendly which I disagree on because many people tell me they have never seen me mad and I am friends with everyone. The part I do agree on somewhat is being quite but only to a certain extent. I am quiet around a group of people I am not to familiar with but when it comes to my friends I am very sociable. When it comes to appreciating and valuing diversity I scored a 36 out of 50 which means I have a basic understanding of the importance of valuing diversity and exhibit some behaviors that support that understanding. Some of those behaviors include me not being stereotypical. Someone being blonde is just a figure of speech which doesn’t mean your dumb its just a term people use that I have no impact on. I am attentive when someone is talking, I don’t just ignore them I am always listening even if I know what they are going to say. The listening skills assessment was probably the most entertaining and enjoyable assessment I completed. It was fun because I could relate to almost every single question and put myself in that situation. For example, one question asked, “When someone is telling you something you are not interested in you reply with responses such as uh huh or yea.” I just thought about this question and realized I am put in this spot or see somebody do this in a everyday sequence. Another example is when a teacher starts talking about something that is irrelevant and boring your mind wanders. When teachers do this to me my mind constantly wanders and usually you can look around the room and notice your not the only one with a wandering mind. There are five dimensions when it comes to listening: avoiding, interruption, postponing evaluation, showing interest, maintaining interest and organizing information. (Rahim, M. A. 1983, June). In the listening assessment I scored a 53 out of 75 which means I have about an average skill of listening. Avoiding interruption is a listening skill I am great at that I learned young and is something that relates a lot to respect. You need to respect the instructor for trying to teach a subject and should let them pause without interrupting in between discussions. I never jump into conversation to express my views and I never stop the speaker when I disagree with something he or she says. The only necessary time to interrupt is if you are extremely confused or lost then you should interrupt nicely to ask a question. Sometimes when the speaker is talking I can determine if I like or dislike there ideas. If I like there ideas then I am more focused in the class and have a much easier time paying attention. If I don’t like the ideas then I get side tracked and confused. This assessment talks regularly about showing interest in the speaker. “There is a big difference between feigning interest and showing genuine interest.” (Rahim, M. A. 1983, June). The author talks about an example of a commercial where the boyfriend is slouched on the couch playing a video game while the girlfriend Is telling him all about her day and he just replies with short responses such as “uh huh” or agrees to everything. Other examples of feigning are by nodding your head to someone talking to you when your mind is elsewhere. I tend to relate to this way of feigning a lot. This was a interesting and probably the most informational assessments of all the ones I took. After completing all the assessments I got a lot more out of them than I thought I would. Some of them were even enjoyable to answer. I even got a kick out of some of them because the examples were so true and I see myself and others doing them every day. Oddly enough for the most part most of the assessments were very accurate. After answering the questions the majority came out to my type of personality and if they didn’t it was real close. I think this is a good way of getting an understanding of the different types of personalities and it’s a neat way of getting to know your own personality.

References

Anatole France quotes. (n.d.). Notable Quotes. Retrieved from http://www.notable- quotes.com/f/france_anatole.html Are you a team or solo player? (1996). Retrieved from http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest= 1119

Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2008). Organizational behavior (8th Ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.
Mcshane, L. Steven, (2000). Communication and Negotiation. New York, NY: The Mcgraw- Hill
Companies, Inc.

Oliver, D. John (2009). The Big 5 Personality Test. The Mcgraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Retrieved from:http://bb.uis.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tabGroup=courses&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fcontent%2FcontentWrapper.jsp%3Fcontent_id%3D_124944_1%26displayName%3DLinked%2BFile%26course_id%3D_1913_1%26navItem%3Dcontent%26attachment%3Dtrue%26href%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.outofservice.com%252Fbigfive%252F Rahim, M. A. (1983, June). A measure of styles of handling interpersonal. Academy of Management
Journal. Retrieved from http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/management_tutor_seri es/activeListeningSkills/index.html
Snyder, M., & Gangestad, S. (1986, July). On the nature of self- monitoring: matters of assessment.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Self-Assessment | Score | Output | Self-monitoring tendencies | 6 | Moderately low self-monitoring. | Locus of control | 5 | External locus of control. | Big Five Personality Test | 2 | Prefer traditional and familiar experiences | 58 | Neither organized or disorganized | 31 | Stay away from social situations | 50 | Neither extremely forgiving nor irritable | 49 | Not particularly nervous, nor calm | Team or Solo Player | 27 | Fear of criticism is not a concerned. | | Decision making style | 18/27 | No output given. | Conflict-handling style | 14 | Problem Solving skills are good. Take an objective look. | 11 | Cooperate well with others. Little self-interests though. | 8 | Speed of implementation. Resentment towards others. |

References: Are you a team or solo player? (1996). Retrieved from http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest= 1119 Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2008). Organizational behavior (8th Ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Mcshane, L. Steven, (2000). Communication and Negotiation. New York, NY: The Mcgraw- Hill Companies, Inc. Rahim, M. A. (1983, June). A measure of styles of handling interpersonal. Academy of Management Journal Snyder, M., & Gangestad, S. (1986, July). On the nature of self- monitoring: matters of assessment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.