Show HN: Better understand yourself and your friends with personality science

dimensional.me

6 pointsipeefreely3 comments

With the proliferation of Astrology apps like Co-Star and The Pattern, it feels like there’s a growing, underlying need for self understanding and guidance. My friend and I have combined 16 years experience in psychometrics/bio-psychology, and during the pandemic we set out to create an app that would help people

(1) Take a suite of personality assessments (like Big5, Attachment Styles etc.) (2) Connect with friends to better understand them (3) Get insights into their relationships based on their personality signatures

Would love feedback. Happy to answer any questions.

Respectfully, isn’t personality testing pseudoscience? I’ve done MBTI and was always a bit skeptical of how well they really know me from just those simple questions (sent from an ENTJ)

I have so much to say on the topic that I probably can't fit it in an HN comment but some key points 1. Some personality testing is definitely pseudo-science. Some (big5, attachment styles, etc.) are empirically supported. 2. Often personality tests are used incorrectly. For instance, MBTI gets criticized for not being valid, but what does valid mean? If you're talking about a predictive validation study for something like hiring, then yes, it's not valid, but the authors would never have wanted it to be used for hiring/selection. 3. We see value of personality testing mostly in being (1) a framework to understand people and (2) a vocabulary to be able to describe ourselves and our intrapsychic experiences (3) a way to feel less alone/alienated in our suffering. For instance, if you understand that your attachment style (which is causing you suffering in your relationships) is common and mostly not your choice, it might make you feel less defective/alone.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com