Personal Style Inventory: Understanding Your Preferences

Just as every person has differently shape feet and toes from every other person, so we all have differently “shaped” personalities. Just as no person’s foot shape is “right” or“wrong,” so no person’s personality shape is right or wrong. The purpose of this inventory is to give you a picture of the shape of your preferences, but that shape,while different from the shapes of other persons’ personalities, has nothing to do with mental health or mental problems.

The following items are arranged in pairs (a and b) and each member of the pair represents a preference you may or may not hold. Rate your preference for each item by giving it a score of 0 to 5: 0 meaning you really feel negative about it or strongly about the other member of the pair.5 meaning you strongly prefer it or do not prefer the other member of the pair).

I prefer:
1a. ___ making decisions after finding out what others thinks.
1b. ___ making decisions without consulting others.
2a. ___ being called imaginative and intuitive.
2b. ___ being called factual and accurate.
3a. ___ making decisions about people in organizations based on available data and systematic analysis of situations.
3b. ___ making decisions about people in organizations based on empathy, feelings and understanding of their needs and values.
4a. ___ allowing commitments to occur if others want to make them.
4b. ___ pushing for definite commitments to ensure that they are made.
5a. ___ quiet, thoughtful time alone.
5b. ___ active, energetic time with people.

6a. ___ using methods I know well that are effective to get the job done.
6b. ___ trying to think of new methods of doing tasks when confronted with them.
7a. ___ drawing conclusions based on unemotional logic and careful step-by-step analysis.
7b. ___ drawing conclusions based on what I feel about life and people from past experiences.
8a. ___ avoiding making deadlines.
8b. ___ setting a schedule and sticking to it.
9a. ___ talking awhile and then thinking to myself about the subject.
9b. ___ talking freely for an extended period and thinking to myself at a later time.
10a. ___thinking about possibilities.
10b. ___dealing with actualities.
11a. ___being thought of as a thinking person.

11b. ___being thought of as a feeling person.
12a. ___considering every possible angle for a long time before and after making a decision.
12b. ___getting the information I need, considering it for a while, and then making fairly quick,firm decisions.
13a. ___inner thoughts and feeling others cannot see.
13b. ___activities and occurrences in which others join.
14a. ___the abstract or the theoretical.
14b. ___the concrete or real.
15a. ___helping others explore their feelings.
15b. ___helping others make logical decisions.
16a. ___change and keeping options open.
16b. ___predictability and knowing in advance.
17a. ___communicating little of my inner thinking and feelings.
17b. ___communicating freely my inner thinking and feelings.
18a. ___possible views of the whole.

Scoring Your Personal Style Inventory

18b. ___the factual details available.
19a. ___using common sense and conviction to make decision.
19b. ___using data, analysis and reason to make decisions.
20a. ___planning ahead based on projections.
20b. ___planning as necessities arise, just before carrying out the plans.
21a. ___meeting new people.
21b. ___being alone or with one person I know well.
22a. ___ideas.
22b. ___facts.
23a. ___convictions.
23b. ___verifiable conclusions.
24a. ___keeping appointments and notes about commitments in notebooks or in appointment books as much as possible.
24b. ___using appointment books and notebooks as minimally as possible (although I may use them).
25a. ___discussing a new, unconsidered issue at length in a group.
25b. ___puzzling out issues in my mind, then sharing the results with another person.
26a. ___carrying out carefully laid, detailed plans with precision.

26b. ___designing plans and structures without necessarily carrying them out.
27a. ___logical people.
27b. ___feeling people.
28a. ___being free to do things on the spur of the moment.
28b. ___knowing well in advance what I am expected to do.
29a. ___being the center of attention.
29b. ___being reserved.
30a. ___imagining the nonexistent.
30b. ___examining details of the actual.
31a. ___experiencing emotional situations, discussions and movies.
31b. ___using my ability to analyze situations.
32a. ___starting meetings at a prearranged time.
32b. ___starting meetings when all are comfortable or ready.

This material may be freely reproduced for educational/training/research activities. There is no requirement to obtain special permission for such uses.Scoring Your Personal Style Inventory:Transfer your scores for each item of each pair to the appropriate blanks. Be careful to check the a and b letters to be sure you are recording scores in the right blank spaces. Then total the scores for each dimension.
Dimension Dimension
5a. 5b. 6b. 6a.
9a. 9b. 10a. 10b.
13a. 13b. 14a. 14b.
17a. 17b. 18a. 18b.
21b. 21a. 22a. 22b.
25b. 25a. 26b. 26a.
29b. 29a. 30a. 30b.
otal Total Total Total
7a. 7b. 8a. 8b.
11a. 11b. 12a. 12b.
15b. 15a. 16a. 16b.
19b. 19a. 20b. 20a.
23b. 23a. 24b. 24a.
27a. 27b. 28a. 28b.
31b. 31a. 32b. 32a.
Total Total Total Total

Interpretation: The letters indicate the characteristic measured, with the numeric score representing the level of characteristic revealed in your answers.
If your score is: the likely interpretation is:
20 – 21 balance in the strengths of the dimensions
22 – 24 some strength in the dimension with some weakness in the other member of the pair
25 – 29 definite strength in the dimension with definite weakness in the other member of the pair
30 – 40 considerable strength in the dimension with considerable weakness in the other member of the pair.

Your type is the four dimensions for which you had scores of 22 or more, although the relative strengths of all the dimensions actually constitute your typology. Scores of 20 or 21 show relative balance in a pair, so that either member could be part of the typology.