Saturday, October 11, 2003
Several days ago, I was visiting over at a blog that I have begun reading occasionally, Standing Room Only. Hugh was writing about having gone to e-harmony.com and taking the free personality profile you hear so much about on radio commercials (or at least I do). He did it on a whim, being a gay man and all. He talked about how if you judged a person solely on the personality profile, you get a pretty white-washed (air-brushed?) picture of the person. I decided to go over and take the profile myself. Warning: don't take the test unless you've got a half-hour or so at least to spend on it. It's extremely thorough, to the point that I thought it somewhat redundant. But maybe they really need all that info to know the real me, or least the online-at-that-particular-moment me. Here's the results of what they consider "a look at the natural behavior [I] bring to an interpersonal relationship."
#You show sympathy to the feelings and needs of others. Your natural empathy style may draw others to you.
#You can generate enthusiasm in yourself and in other people. Your enthusiasm, often contagious, involves many people in a social activity who might not ordinarily become involved.
#You are a natural communicator. You love to talk, offer jokes and make sure that everyone is having a good time. This trait is especially evident at functions and outings.
#You have a natural, outgoing style that some have labeled as the "natural salesperson." You are generally likable, talkative and socially assertive. Your primary intent is convincing or persuading people.
#Poised, confident, persuasive and impressive are descriptors for you. You are usually capable of speaking in a comfortable manner.
#One of your great strengths is your ability to communicate and talk readily. Since all strengths may be overused at times, you may sometimes talk too much.
The actual profile was 7 pages long (!), so obviously I won't post it all here. Besides, I agree with what Hugh was saying about getting a somewhat one-dimensional picture of me by reading the profile. As I commented on his blog, I end up sounding like a combination of "Mother Theresa and Chatty Cathy, with a little Ellen Degeneres thrown in for good measure." Trust me, I'm good, but I'm not that good. :^}