Selects: How Personality Tests Work

Have you ever felt frustrated or puzzled by the way your coworkers behave? In Surrounded by Idiots, communication expert, business consultant, and author Thomas Erikson offers a framework for understanding the people who perplex us the most.

Erikson’s framework includes four personality types, and each has a unique way of thinking, behaving, and communicating. He shows you how to navigate conflicts, sharpen your communication, and improve your relationships with your boss and colleagues—all by recognizing their personality types as well as your own.

Throughout the guide, we’ll compare Erikson’s ideas about personality to those of other personality-typing models, and we’ll add perspectives from psychologists that support or challenge his assertions. By the end, you’ll be able to more effectively communicate and collaborate with the bosses, employees, and colleagues you thought you’d never understand.

Many college students take a Psychology 101 class, but not many of them actually absorb and remember the material. If you like the study of the mind but would rather pass on dry lectures, The Psychology Book offers a broad overview of psychology and how it’s changed over time, exploring its various fields and the major figures and theories in those fields. The authors bring a wide range of expertise to the book, including clinical psychology, business psychology, journalism, writing and editing, and music.

In our guide, we’ll explore the origins of psychology before moving chronologically through six major fields: behaviorism, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, and differential psychology. We’ll also add historical context, criticisms and limitations of certain theories, and updated research that supports or contradicts some theories.

A third to a half of Americans are introverts, according to author Susan Cain, but they’re often marginalized. In Quiet, Cain contends that Western society is designed around an “extrovert ideal” that celebrates those who are bold and charismatic. However, unbridled extroversion can lead to disasters, such as the fall of Enron and the 2008 financial crisis.

By overvaluing extroverts and treating introverts as misfits, society loses out on introverts’ unique strengths—for instance, they’re highly creative, astute observers, and adept at solving complex problems. Cain argues for a balance in society, school, and work that lets introverts be true to themselves and where the two personality types complement each other.

Have you ever felt frustrated or puzzled by the way your coworkers behave? In Surrounded by Idiots, communication expert, business consultant, and author Thomas Erikson offers a framework for understanding the people who perplex us the most.

Erikson’s framework includes four personality types, and each has a unique way of thinking, behaving, and communicating. He shows you how to navigate conflicts, sharpen your communication, and improve your relationships with your boss and colleagues—all by recognizing their personality types as well as your own.

Throughout the guide, we’ll compare Erikson’s ideas about personality to those of other personality-typing models, and we’ll add perspectives from psychologists that support or challenge his assertions. By the end, you’ll be able to more effectively communicate and collaborate with the bosses, employees, and colleagues you thought you’d never understand.

Thinking is the key to improvement in all areas of your life—but what if it’s your thinking that needs to be improved? In The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, award-winning educators Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird provide a guide for maximizing your thought process to achieve the greatest success possible in the classroom, the workplace, and your personal life.

In our guide, we’ll explore the five principles Burger and Starbird recommend for learning to think effectively, which they structure around five elements: earth, fire, air, water, and change. We’ll also examine how these principles relate to established theories of learning and educational psychology, and we’ll compare them to works from other authors on how to change your thinking and mindset to improve your life and achieve your goals.

Many college students take a Psychology 101 class, but not many of them actually absorb and remember the material. If you like the study of the mind but would rather pass on dry lectures, The Psychology Book offers a broad overview of psychology and how it’s changed over time, exploring its various fields and the major figures and theories in those fields. The authors bring a wide range of expertise to the book, including clinical psychology, business psychology, journalism, writing and editing, and music.

In our guide, we’ll explore the origins of psychology before moving chronologically through six major fields: behaviorism, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, social psychology, developmental psychology, and differential psychology. We’ll also add historical context, criticisms and limitations of certain theories, and updated research that supports or contradicts some theories.

Most people believe their personality is fixed—that being anxious, introverted, or disorganized is simply “who they are.” But Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan discovered otherwise. Through a year-long experiment backed by psychology research, she changed her personality from neurotic and introverted to emotionally stable and socially engaged. Her secret? “Fake it till you make it”—she consistently practiced behaviors associated with the traits she desired until they became natural.

In Me, But Better, Khazan explains how personality change can lead to greater happiness, stronger relationships, and career success. But she also notes that the process isn’t easy—it requires deliberately doing things that make you uncomfortable and acting against your natural tendencies. This guide unpacks Khazan’s insights into what personality really is, why certain traits predict life outcomes, and how to systematically change your patterns through targeted behavioral practice. We’ll also explore the basics of personality research, examine the neuroscience underlying behavioral change, and consider how personality ideals reflect specific cultural and social expectations.

Have you ever felt frustrated or puzzled by the way your coworkers behave? In Surrounded by Idiots, communication expert, business consultant, and author Thomas Erikson offers a framework for understanding the people who perplex us the most.

Erikson’s framework includes four personality types, and each has a unique way of thinking, behaving, and communicating. He shows you how to navigate conflicts, sharpen your communication, and improve your relationships with your boss and colleagues—all by recognizing their personality types as well as your own.

Throughout the guide, we’ll compare Erikson’s ideas about personality to those of other personality-typing models, and we’ll add perspectives from psychologists that support or challenge his assertions. By the end, you’ll be able to more effectively communicate and collaborate with the bosses, employees, and colleagues you thought you’d never understand.

Have you ever felt frustrated or puzzled by the way your coworkers behave? In Surrounded by Idiots, communication expert, business consultant, and author Thomas Erikson offers a framework for understanding the people who perplex us the most.

Erikson’s framework includes four personality types, and each has a unique way of thinking, behaving, and communicating. He shows you how to navigate conflicts, sharpen your communication, and improve your relationships with your boss and colleagues—all by recognizing their personality types as well as your own.

Throughout the guide, we’ll compare Erikson’s ideas about personality to those of other personality-typing models, and we’ll add perspectives from psychologists that support or challenge his assertions. By the end, you’ll be able to more effectively communicate and collaborate with the bosses, employees, and colleagues you thought you’d never understand.

Thinking is the key to improvement in all areas of your life—but what if it’s your thinking that needs to be improved? In The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, award-winning educators Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird provide a guide for maximizing your thought process to achieve the greatest success possible in the classroom, the workplace, and your personal life.

In our guide, we’ll explore the five principles Burger and Starbird recommend for learning to think effectively, which they structure around five elements: earth, fire, air, water, and change. We’ll also examine how these principles relate to established theories of learning and educational psychology, and we’ll compare them to works from other authors on how to change your thinking and mindset to improve your life and achieve your goals.

When you hear the word “bias,” you may think of a conscious form of prejudice—but the most potent biases are actually subconscious. These implicit biases are normal neurological responses to the culture you grow up in. In the United States, everyone encounters and encodes antiblack bias to some degree, even in black communities. This racial bias doesn’t just influence how you make decisions—it determines what you notice in your environment and what becomes invisible. And in high-stakes situations like police encounters, the consequences of racial bias can be devastating.

In this guide, we’ll discuss how your brain creates bias; how that bias impacts every area of your life, from where you live to how you post online; and, most importantly, how to combat implicit bias to create a fairer world for everyone. We’ll also compare Dr. Eberhardt’s research on racial bias to other popular books on racism such as How to Be an Antiracist and White Fragility.