Index
Probably the best way to get to know other people is to know yourself, not as you imagine yourself to be, but as other people see you. Your character attributes can best be judged by your actions. You may think that you are generous, but others may view you as stingy. You may think that you are easy to get along with, but others may think that you are domineering and pushy. The Zamora Personality Test enables you to know yourself in a more objective way.
You should study the results of the test and try to determine why the results came out the way they did for each category. You may want to take the test multiple times, changing you answers to determine what the results would be if you acted differently or had different attitudes. The test may also be used as a guide to evaluate other people by answering the questions based on their actions. Once you know the character attributes of a person, you may be able to predict better their actions or reactions. It is also possible to do a Personality Compatibility Analysis.
Carl Jung, a contemporary of Freud developed a theory of psychological types stating that each person had two fundamental attitude types: introversion and extroversion. Extroverts can be described as outgoing, easily adaptable, and confident about unknown situations. Introverts are hesitant, reflective, somewhat mistrustful, and not socially outgoing. Jung also thought that people further differed from one another depending on the degree to which they developed the conscious use of four functions: thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. Thinking enables us to recognize meaning, feeling helps us to evaluate, sensation provides us with perception, and intuition points to possibilities available to us. Jung considered feeling and thinking to be "rational" functions, whereas sensation and intuition were considered "non-rational" in that they give rise to knowledge that cannot be reduced to any other mode of understanding. Jung observed that people tend to develop one rational and one non-rational function in addition to the introverted or extroverted attitude. The Extrovert/Introvert, Intuitive/Sensing, Feeling/Thinking model is able to describe eight personality types. Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers extended Jung's types by adding a Judging/Perceiving aspect to the personality classifications thus doubling the number of categories to sixteen. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test is used widely today to identify Jungian personality types.
The Jungian personality type is useful in a broad sense, but it cannot be used for essential everyday situations. The Extrovert/Introvert part of the psychological personality type provides information about social interaction. The Intuitive/Sensing, Feeling/Thinking, Judging/Perceiving provides information of how information from the senses is processed. Would you marry an extrovert/sensing/feeling/perceiving individual? Probably not before knowing a lot more about the person. A more comprehensive test is the 16PF (Personality Factors) developed by psychologist Raymond B. Cattell who defined personality as "that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation". These psychological tests still do not answer some of the questions that are essential for a successful relationship, such as whether a person is responsible, honest, and mature. For this reason we have developed the Zamora Personality Test.
The Zamora Personality Test is divided into two parts: Test of Individual Attributes and Test of Interpersonal and Social Attributes. A person in a deserted island can display individual attributes, such as alertness, contentment, and anger. Interpersonal and social attributes are those that manifest themselves in the company of other people. Envy, rudeness, or loyalty, for example, cannot be expressed unless there are two or more people. No system of classification can ever be complete or universal, and the attributes determined by this test are not necessarily independent of each other. A goal-oriented person, for instance, may also need to be resourceful and systematic to be successful although this test may consider these as different aspects of the psychical categories or personality attributes.
The Zamora Personality Test program takes into consideration that some attributes are mutually exclusive. In general, you cannot be happy and sad at the same time; you cannot be alert and inattentive simultaneously. The set of over 150 statements for each part of the test is weighted toward identifying the predominant characteristics of an individual after removing inconsistencies.
Below is an exercise to evaluate six advertisements from the "personals" section of a newspaper. Three are from women and three from men. We can evaluate them in terms of the classifications established above to try to understand what each person is like, what they desire in a partner, and what vital information is missing from the ad. We also can make some predictions about the chance for success for the person placing the ad. You will notice that marital status, race, and philosophical beliefs are often primary criteria in the ads.
In the following analyses, we place the categories of the attributes by each of the terms. For example, the term (s8) by the word "attractive" indicates that this is considered a social attribute of the physical appearance category as indicated above. Terms starting with an i refer to individual attribute categories. More details about the categories are provided in the Personality Compatibility Analysis page. The following abbreviations are used in the ads: D=Divorced, W=White, B=Black, F=Female, M=Male, P=Professional, C=Christian, S=Single.
CUTE AND SWEET. Attractive WF, 41, 5'4", 110 lbs, enjoys movies, dining out, music, and just relaxing. Seeking attractive, secure WM, 41-46, who's sincere, honest, and enjoys sharing fun times.
CUTE AND SWEET tells us that she considers herself cute and attractive (s8). Sweet probably means affectionate (s5). She enjoys passive activities like movies, music, and relaxing (i3). She wants an attractive (s8), secure (i2), sincere (s3), and honest (s9) man.
CUTE AND SWEET only tells us about her physical appearance and her preference for passive activities. She does not mention whether she is sincere and honest, but we can give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that because she requires these attributes in a man, she also possesses them. Since she is passive, she may be better off with a man who is initiative (i1), but this may require too much effort from her for a stable relationship. The sincerity and honesty that she is looking for may turn out to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is good to have a relationship where you can trust that you are not being deceived, but sincerity and honesty have to be tempered with compassion (s4) and diplomacy (s2). She may find an attractive, secure, sincere, and honest man who tells her "Yes, you are cute and attractive, but my first girlfriend was prettier". That kind of honesty can be damaging to a relationship.
SEEKING SOULMATE. SBPF, 34, 5'5", long hair, brown eyes, single parent, enjoys jazz, gospel, Italian food, bowling, movies, videos in front of fireplace. Seeking loving, considerate, honest SBPM, 32-40.
SEEKING SOULMATE tells us that she likes both active and passive activities (i3) like bowling, music and movies. We don't know anything else about her except by assuming that she also has the characteristics that she is seeking in a man, especially since she would like to find a soulmate. The man must be loving (s5), considerate (s6), and honest (s9). SEEKING SOULMATE will have a hard time finding a real soulmate for one main reason - there is at least one child involved. Any relationship will always have to deal with the tension of the visitation rights and support payments of the biological father. Given the age of SEEKING SOULMATE, the child could be almost a teen-ager, which could also place stress on the relationship between the mother and the man that she is seeking. Many children have loyalty toward their biological parents and resent the intrusion of "strangers" into their home environment. The man will also need to be generous (s4), forgiving (s4), and patient (i2) to have a successful relationship in this situation.
FULL OF FUN. SWCF, 39, loves books, animals, gardening, conversation, travel, outdoors. Seeking guy who knows how to hug and think positively. I've been told my eyes and smile can melt hearts. Interested?
FULL OF FUN defines herself as Christian which means that religion and a religious way of life are important to her. FULL OF FUN likes intellectual activities such as reading (i4), active pastimes like gardening and outdoors (i3), conversation (s5), and travel (i9). She wants a man who can show affection by hugging (s5) and who is optimistic (i7). Obviously, FULL OF FUN also would like a man who respects (s6) her religious principles and is energetic (i3) to keep up with her. The man should also be able to give compliments and not be jealous (s6) of the man who told her that her eyes and smile could melt hearts. Of the three ads from women that we have analyzed, this one provides the most information about herself.
TREAT YOU RIGHT. Honest, reliable man, 34, lean, athletic build, financially/emotionally secure, seeks sensitive, caring, fun-loving female, 24-35, with interests in outdoors, sports and dancing. Race unimportant.
TREAT YOU RIGHT claims to be honest (s9), reliable (s3), financially (i5) and emotionally (i2) secure. He likes athletic activities (i8). He seeks a sensitive (s4) and caring (s4), fun-loving (i2) woman who also has athletic (i8) inclinations. The fact that race is unimportant means that he is not prejudiced (s6) and that has no concern for any social stigma from mixed race relations. As in the previous examples, we can use the categories of individual and social attributes to look for gaps to try to determine what we don't know about an individual. Because TREAT YOU RIGHT seems to have everything under control we have to wonder just a little bit about his level of aggressiveness (s1) and the ways in which he deals with people (s2). He might not be the right kind of guy for an assertive, independent woman, although he sounds like a fine man in many ways.
EASYGOING, HONEST. Straightforward, DWM, 56, lives in the country, enjoys country-living, games, movies, reading, grits, black-eyed peas, and all other gourmet dishes! Seeking companionship with special, sweet S/DWF, 25-60, with similar interests.
EASYGOING's way of life revolves about southern country living. We don't know whether he is into farming or ranching. He tells us that he is easygoing (s5), honest (s9), and straightforward (s3). He likes passive and active activities (i3), and has a taste for southern food. EASYGOING has a sense of humor (i2) as shown by his calling grits a "gourmet" dish. He does not want much in a woman except for her to be sweet (s5). The fact that he is 56 and is seeking a relationship with a woman as young as 25 makes you wonder whether he is trying to make up for lost opportunities during his marriage(s).
I'M LOST AND LONELY. I'm a lonely man, young, shy and bashful. Looking for a friend or that person to help me. Do you like talking, reading, movies, cuddling and long romantic dinners?
LOST AND LONELY may be lonely (s10) because he is shy and bashful (s5) and because he is young (i8) and inexperienced (i6). He is looking for help, which means that he probably will be submissive (s2) in a relationship if he described himself correctly. Since he can read by himself, his real interests seem to be talking and cuddling (s5). LOST AND LONELY sounds like a person who is really after the cuddling, but makes himself appear helpless (s7) to get some sympathy. Conspicuously absent are any references to his truthfulness and honesty (s9), his dependability (s3), or his goals in life. He also does not say what kind of help he needs, although it seems all too obvious that this topic will come out during the cuddling.
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