Why do I have more than one archetype?
Archetypes are ways of summarizing your pattern of preferences in a simple, yet clear way. But, personality is complex and most people have strong tendencies across a few archetypes. That’s why you’ll see up to three matches: Your top one and up to two others. These can describe different dimensions of your personality, which you can use to reflect on how you may operate in different circumstances.
How do I read my Trait and Sub-Trait (Facet) scores?
Each chart places your score on a scale of 0 to 100 in relation to the scores of others who have completed the assessment. There is nothing inherently “good” or “bad” about scoring a particular way.
What does the percentile score mean (e.g., 80th percentile for Creative)? How are such percentiles generated?
A percentile is a score below which a given percentage of a distribution of scores falls. For example, if a person receives a percentile score of 80 on Creative, this means that 80% of individuals score below that score and 20% percent of individuals score above that score. Technically, it is calculated as n = (P/100) x N, where P = percentile, N = number of values in a data set (sorted from smallest to largest), and n = ordinal rank of a given value. In PrinciplesUs, each of your percentile scores is based on your score relative to the distribution of scores in our norm group of over 3,000 people.
How do my sub-trait (facet) scores relate to my trait scores?
The way traits and sub-traits (facets) are organized is hierarchical and based on real personality qualities that are seen in the population. You can think of a trait as a more general term comprising a set of related facets. It isn’t a weighted average. Each facet is scored independently relative to the population and then all the questions across those facets are combined and re-scored against the population to get the overall percentile.
The research shows that most people will have facets that are by and large aligned, though many won’t. Where there are differences, there can be interesting reflections. We’ve tried to describe these nuances fairly precisely next to the percentiles.
For example, let’s say you are 50% on Detailed and Reliable, though low on Organized, low on Dependable, and High on Detail-Oriented - that’s totally normal. The moderate score on the trait reflects your tendency on this overall set of related attributes relative to the population, but your nuances can highlight interesting tendencies as well. You’ll get a readout that is something like “You tend to be less organized and scheduled rather than spontaneous, though with a stronger focus on precision and details.” That’s our attempt to try to convey your results as precisely as we can!
What do the 3 personality orientations (Cognitive, Interpersonal, Motivational) mean?
Cognitive Orientation: Your Cognitive Orientation describes your approach to thinking. Your approach to thinking can reveal what type of work you might prefer, at which aspects of a job you are more likely to excel, and how you tend to approach and solve problems.
Interpersonal Orientation: Your Interpersonal Orientation reflects how you engage with others. Understanding your natural inclinations can help you get the most out of your relationships with people.
Motivational Orientation: Your Motivational Orientation describes how you manage and apply yourself as challenges are faced. How ambitiously you set goals for yourself. How you cope with setbacks and failure, and how you leverage these experiences to learn, develop, and grow.
What if some of my results don’t resonate?
While most people find that most of their results resonate, there may be some surprises. It’s important to remember that it’s simply based on how you answer questions relative to how others answer the same questions. They imply natural preferences rather than capabilities.
If there are scores that don’t resonate immediately, we’d encourage you to read more about what they mean and reflect on whether different facets of your personality show up in different ways, or even how you may have developed compensating habits around such preferences. For instance, often people with a low preference for Detailed and Reliable have developed mechanisms like making clear to-do lists to keep them on track. It can be helpful to ask others you are close to how they see you as a way of triangulating your results.
Of course no assessment is perfect. It’s a tool that is designed to help you reflect on and enable you to discover insights about yourself and others that can be useful to you in work and life.
Is there a “best” or “preferred” personality type?
In general there is no "best" or "preferred" personality type. High levels of Extraversion, for example, might be a preferred trait in those who are looking to advance in the sales professions but not for occupations in which they are unlikely to interact extensively with others, such as a lab technician.
Also, extreme levels of some "desirable" traits may actually be less desirable than only moderately high levels. For example, Conscientiousness is a trait that is associated with a very large range of desirable outcomes such as job performance, relationship stability and health. But extremely high levels can be associated with behaviors that are more obsessive / compulsive than is optimal.