My Personal DNA- My true self revealed!

As I was cleaning out my bookmarks, I found a link back to the results of the personalDNA test I took about a year ago. Now this is hardly any big news, nor interesting at first sight. But what if one re-took the test? Would the results still be the same? If one (his mood) can change in a blink of an eye, how much will he have changed over time? Will one’s “true self” have taken a U-turn?

Back then

First let us take a look at the old results, stating that I’m an advocating inventor.

• Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.
• Being social, empathic, and understanding makes you ADVOCATING.

Reading every detail for the inventor part makes me agree with it, altough I sometimes do get caught up in details but that’s only to form the bigger picture. Above that it has a striking resemblence with the totem given to me. The advocating part also seems to fit quite well. Kewl, this test really works!

Any measurements?

Above that PersonalDNA also provides you a score, for the various categories of questions they have, as explained here:

• Confidence
  How confident you are about expressing your opinions and accomplishing things
• Openness
  Your degree of openness to new experiences
• Extroversion
  How outgoing you are. High means you are extroverted. Low means you are introverted
• Empathy
  How much you understand (and experience) the emotions and thoughts of others
• Trust in others
  The general faith you have in other people; how much you think people are good at heart
• Agency
  How much you believe you determine your own outcomes. High means you believe that you have control over your life. Low means you believe that other factors – such as chance, fate, and powerful others – influence your life
• Masculinity
  The degree of your stereotypically-male traits
• Femininity
  The degree of your stereotypically-female traits
• Spontaneity
  How comfortable you are with making plans at the last minute
• Attention to style
  How aware you are of fashion trends. How much effort you put in to your own style
• Authoritarianism
  Your adherence to the social order and how much you favor obedience
• Imaginative/Earthy
  Your prefererence for concrete or abstract things. Low means you prefer abstract, theoretical things. High means you prefer detail-oriented, practical things
• Functional/Aesthetic
  Your prefererence for beauty or form. Low means you care more about how something works. High means you care more about how something looks

We want numbers!

In numbers, the advocating inventor is expressed as:

• Confidence : 64
• Openness : 100
• Extroversion : 44
• Empathy : 76
• Trust in others : 24
• Agency : 26
• Masculinity : 48
• Femininity : 82
• Spontaneity : 44
• Attention to style : 14
• Authoritarianism : 46
• Imaginative/Earthy : 36
• Functional/Aesthetic : 28

Erm … we want analyzed numbers!

Wow, that’s some data overload. But let’s take a look at it; keeping in mind that 50 would be considered average ;).

• Jumpouts are “Confidence”, “Openness”, “Feminity”.
• Downfalls are “Thrust in Others”, “Agency” and “Attention to Style”.
• Above that I’m rather “Imaginative” and rather “Functional”.

When looking at that information, it all looks good (I don’t thrust other that quick, am Open to new stuff, have a Functional Look, etc), except for “Attention to Style”.

This got me thinking … do I lack an attention to style? I can’t recall of any lack … maybe in my clothing (Think of me as a Shirt, not a Suit) but not that I can recall anything else. Above that attention to style IS crucial in my profession (webdevelopment)! On the bright side, I don’t see a lack of attention to style as being a lack of attention to details. A subtle word-twist to keep me happy (this is getting psychological, isn’t it?), although I think the perception is correct.

Enough about then, what about now?

Anywho, flash forward to today again. What if I retook the test? Would I still be an advocating inventor? The answer is simple (and predictable): No. But how much will I have changed? Well, the results of today’s test got me labeled as an animated inventor which is “rather close” to advocating inventor.

The first thing that went to my head: “Cool, this is no stupid so called test that just randomizes who you are based on the today’s date nor your IP!“.

Secondly I immediately started reading the explanation:

• Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.
• You are outgoing, comfortable with others, and up for anything, which makes you ANIMATED.

Further reading made me stumple upon “You would rather experience the world than sit back and observe it – you are not one to sit on the sidelines.“, which is not so true. I do find myself observing a lot, yet when that’s done I jump in and sure don’t let the world pass me by (cfr. “The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you’re not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be” – being intrigued makes you observer imo).

We want numbers, again!

After that mental drift-off, I then of course started looking at the numbers that came out (And those weren’t 7-8-15-… :P) :

• Confidence : 86
• Openness : 82
• Extroversion : 50
• Empathy : 28
• Trust in others : 74
• Agency : 42
• Masculinity : 30
• Femininity : 84
• Spontaneity : 52
• Attention to style : 82
• Authoritarianism 16
• Imaginative/Earthy : 24
• Functional/Aesthetic : 46

Excel my friend

Aha, time to compare those results and what to use else than a spreadsheet app for this to get a nice chart? So I booted up Excel – Excel 2007 of course (Just love the Office 2007 Suite!) – and finally came up with this nice little chart:

So let’s take a closer look, but then at the minor changes (My openness for example has dropped from 100 to 82; although 82% still is very high), but at the big swifts:

• Major “Empathy” drop (from 76% to 28%) which doesn’t seem right as I still (at least I think that I am) understand the thoughts of others, although lately I’ve blocked out some emotions (of other people). I bet that by spring this will have changed again.
• Major “Thrust in Others” rise (from 24% tot 74%) which can only be applaueded.
• Major “Attention to Style” boost (from 14% to 82%) which fixes my point of failure when compared to the last test … although I still wear the same type of clothes but maybe now the more quality stuff (that’s what working does to one’s wallet: you can now actually buy some of the quality stuff you’ve always wanted)
• Slight drop in “Authorianism” (from 46% to 16%) which surprises me, altough I’ve always been a bit rebelious (Use The Force!).

Above that I’m a bith more Imaginative than I used to be, yet I’ve become a bit more aesthetical (this is what working close with a designer can do to you :P)

So?

It is safe to say that the test over at PersonalDNA is quite accurate at judging who you are by simply answering a few questions; the guys from Attap have done their homework very well!

Above that it is quite safe to say (and already know since the dawn of time) that people change in some aspects over time. What keeps me interested though is:

• Will I have changed a lot by tomorrow?
• Will one have changed in 12 hours (difference between morning and evening + analysis of this in all seasons to see how daylight affects them)
• How does a person change when something tragic happens, and how long does it take for him to “recover” towards his old inner-self (and when does he start reverting)?

Very interesting matter imo, which makes me want to give out an assignment to some psychological/social student as his/her end term project.

Bramus.out!

(I think I think too much – Pun.Intended)