You have probably completed a personality test sometime—for fun, or as part of a job application process, perhaps. What do your results mean? Do they reveal what you will do in the future?
Probably the most popular use of personality tests for predictive purposes is when companies give them to job candidates to try to select people who will be the best fit at their companies. In fact, it’s a big part of an estimated $9.5 billion industry.
But behavior is incredibly complicated. There are likely thousands of factors that influence each of our actions every day. We don’t know enough about those factors to accurately predict what a single person will do at a certain moment.
In fact, people have a wide range of behaviors they’re capable of doing. For example, people who score as introverts often act in extraverted ways. The same goes for many other traits.
People can also learn and adapt their behavior patterns. They can learn new skills and change their habits, so much so that their personality traits can change.
Personality test scores cannot account for all........