Tell Me Who I Am: Personality Tests, Diagnoses and the Search for Self

Why do we crave labels, and when do they fail us?  In the debut episode of Hold That Thought, hosts Taylor Lord and Becca Havian explore our cultural obsession with self-definition. From popular personality tests like Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Big Five Personality Inventory to casual labeling games played with friends, they unpack the rise of self-categorization and the power and pitfalls of self-imposed labels in the search for self. The conversation also dives into the growing desire for formal mental health diagnoses, examining the comfort, clarity and limitations they can bring. 

This episode is the first of the Hold That Thought mini-series— Building a Home in your Mind. 

Topics Include: personality tests, MBTI, Big Five, identity, mental health diagnoses, self-discovery, labeling, psychology, culture

Resources: 

• The New Yorker: “Why We’re Turning Psychiatric Labels Into Identity”

• Poog: “Poison Has Its Place”

• A Third Thin Place: “Tell Me Who I Am” 

• A Third Thin Place: “Naked in the Town Square”

• Granted: “MBTI, If You Want Me Back, You Need to Change Too”

• MBTI Personality Types

• The Big 5 Inventory 

• The HiTOP model

• Why do you love personality tests?

• Mary Oliver: “Our World”