Personality is the science of individual differences. Theoretical and empirical psychologists have over the years developed taxonomies to define how people differ. Some personality tests are nothing more than party games but others offer psychometrically sound and useful descriptions of how we differ from others. One of the most widely used and respected suites of personality tests is the Hogan Assessment Systems developed by the renowned psychologists Robert and Joyce Hogan.
The Hogan tests measure the 5-factor model of personality, the dark side derailers and people’s motives and values. Each of these tests shows where we are on a percentile score compared to others. When combined with an expert coach, these instruments offer tremendous insight into how we differ from others and how we should manage ourselves to flourish in our lives. Here some highlights from each of these instruments.
5- Factor HPI Test
- Adjustment – How much do we worry and how self-critical we are.
- Sociability – How much do we like to interact with others.
- Ambition – How confident, competitive and driven we are.
- Interpersonal Sensitivity – How much do we understand and care about people.
- Prudence – How organized and reliable we are.
- Inquisitive – How strategic, curious and change-oriented we are.
Note: the Hogan measures of sociability and ambition are combined to one scale labeled surgency in the 5-factor model.
Derailers (only 8 of the 11 measures presented here)
- Excitable – How emotional do we get.
- Cautious – How concerned are we about failure or mistakes.
- Reserved – How much do we understand how we affect others.
- Leisurely – How stubborn are we.
- Bold – How arrogant are we.
- Mischievous – How much do we enjoy risk.
- Colorful – How much do we like others attention.
- Dutiful – How eager are we to please others.
Motives Values Preferences Inventory
- Recognition – How much do we need others to think or express that we did well.
- Power – How much do we want to influence what happens.
- Hedonism – How much do we value having fun.
- Altruism – How much do we want to help others.
- Affiliation – How important are relationships
- Security – How much do we value predictability and safety.
- Commerce – How much do we value money.
- Aesthetics – How important is appreciating the look or feel of things to us.
- Science – How much do we care about how things work.
Imagine that you were armed with a clear understanding of where you landed on all of these measures and could use that insight to choose the right job, leverage your strengths at work, or avoid triggers that lead to negative behaviors. I sometimes say that the secret of life is understanding who you are and playing that hand the best way you can. This is not possible if you are not self-aware.
Zijian Lao
7 Jul 2020In a professional career perspective, is there a good or bad personality?
admin
9 Jul 2020not really depends on the job
Lauren
7 Jul 2020I have taken a couple personality tests in jobs before (most memorably the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and had never heard of the Hogan Assessment until this semester. However, I find the Hogan Assessment to be the most comprehensive and eye-opening personality assessment I’ve ever taken. I never would have though to reflect on and assess myself in terms of things like “affiliation,” “mischievous,” “inquisitive,” and other dimensions, and I can see how this assessment can build a pretty complete and useful understanding of oneself. Taking this assessment in another course this semester opened my eyes to some strengths I didn’t realize I had (and confirmed most of the weaknesses I knew I had) and got me thinking that I should be in a job that leverages my strengths more than (and doesn’t strain my weaknesses as much as) my current job does.
Margaret
8 Jul 2020This is a complex topic – the personality profile of any one single individual has many dimensions. I agree that knowing your own personality is an essential piece of understanding your interdependencies and how you relate to – or lead- others. Are there websites with thorough, precise personality assessments that we can visit to assist with this discernment? At Fordham we used the DISC profile which was helpful but moreso addressed the relationships with others I would first like to tackle how personality informs our relationship with self-management as well.
admin
9 Jul 2020Yes there are. DISC, MBTI are not sufficient though. I use the Hogan Suite of instruments which has worked well
Margaret Mary
9 Jul 2020Thank you!
Cristian
9 Jul 2020I am curious to know how much of your personality you can work on, lets say you score relatively low in all metrics that would help you be successful in what you are passionate about, what are some exercises one can do to overcome those situations. On the other hand, what best practices are there to not overdo your strengths.
admin
9 Jul 2020the key here is to work on “behavior”, not personality. We can choose to behave in ways that are outside of our personality but we should be careful not to overdo this because it can lead us to become a bad version of someone else. On the other hand, it is true that always leveraging our strengths in situations that require something else will turn those strengths into weaknesses. For example, the bold investment banker you fails to dial it down when needed and alienates a client, coworkers, or family member.
Paul
9 Jul 2020I took a DISC analysis workshop and got a lot out of it. I was even able to assign analyses to my colleagues (in my head) and it helped me understand them better. I’d be very interested to try this Hogan Assessment System.
admin
9 Jul 2020Hogan is more in-depth and measures more factors but can be touchy to use in natural workgroups because it is so deep
William
9 Jul 2020It’s important to understant your own personality and also those of the people you work closely with.
Hayley
9 Jul 2020Personality tests are helpful for people to understand their motivations and values. Also, it’s useful to learn about the personality types of people who you work with daily. If you can discern a person’s personality type, you’ll have a better understanding of their work style and motivations. By understanding your team, you’ll have a better idea of how to maximize each person’s strengths.
Nicholas Alonso
9 Jul 2020I would like to be able to perform a Motives Values Preferences Inventory to maybe discover some new underlying motives I have that I can take advantage of
admin
9 Jul 2020let’s chat about this
Melissa
9 Jul 2020It is interesting to see where you actually fall on each of these tests vs where you think you fall. I try to be self-aware, especially at work, but I am sure that I exhibit behaviors that my colleagues pick up on that I am not aware of, or have strengths that I am not currently leveraging correctly.
Holly
9 Jul 2020I’ve taken personality tests before, but I have never encountered the metrics stated in this blog. I think it would be hard to determine which are the most important to you in general, but rather, you’d need to re-evaluate your priorities, in say the Motives Values Preferences Inventory, each year or so based on where your life is at at that point in time.