What is personality profiling?

Personality profiling – sometimes referred to as psychometric testing or psychological profiling – is a means of measuring an individual’s personality in a particular situation. It is not a measure of intelligence or ability – but of behaviour.

Profiling provides a snapshot view of the preferred behaviour that comes subconsciously to most people. This is the behaviour with which they are ‘comfortable’ and can sustain for long periods of time. This behaviour is social and intellectual – not physical.

The means by which this behaviour is measured is a questionnaire which asks the visitor to choose behaviour most and least like them. The results from this questionnaire provide a personality profile of the respondent.

The questionnaire is not a test – as there can be no right or wrong answer to psychological type. It is an evaluation of the individual’s habitual or typical way of dealing with the world.

There are as many definitions of ‘personality’ as there are famous psychologists; however, one very notable pioneer in this field was Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. His theories are widely used in the corporate testing arena and underpin the Psychegraphics personality profiler.

The benefits of profiling

The psychological profile designed by PeopleMaps which underpins the Psychegraphics system was primarily for the purpose of giving individuals greater self-understanding to help them promote their strengths and work on their weaknesses.

Organisations are looking for exactly the same information about the people they employ but now also about their clients. Vast sums of money are spent on advertising but very little of it is targeted uniquely to an individual’s greatest needs. By providing a profile that acts as a compass identifying how best to understand each individual, companies are able to target potential clients more cost effectively and provide solutions that will help satisfy and retain them.