Agreed. I'm all for personality tests. I keep taking these tests and I know what my basic personality is. I'm not trying to be who I'm not. But anxiety is not me, its a problem I have. I'm an introvert, I don't want to turn into an extrovert but I want to have better social skills. I'm an idealist, individualist, I like the way I perceive the world. But it doesn't mean I shouldn't work on the things that are causing me pain.
I started wondering if the results I get on that personality test really reflect my unadulterated personality or if they're heavily influenced by social anxiety. As in, if there were things I'd enjoy doing if I didn't have anxiety creeping in while doing them for example.
Yes, I think these are important to mention.
I once had someone say about me that I'm trying to be someone I'm not, because I am unhappy with the anxiety and I try to act more outgoing in social situations and then feel badly when I think I've "failed" (although, I realized a long time ago that it was impossible for this person to make this statement with any certain while only going off of some posts I wrote and messages on Facebook; he only knew me over the internet). I shouldn't beat myself up, but aside from that, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm certainly not trying to be someone I'm not. I am not just a shy person or even an introvert. I'm either ambiverted or extroverted, but I have social anxiety and that mimics introversion sometimes (although contented introverts obviously don't have signs of nervousness). I've compared introversion vs extroversion many times, and I just don't think I fit the definition of introversion
when I'm anxiety-free.
I usually have the need to share my thoughts externally rather than internally, and I gain energy from being with people, but ONLY when I'm completely comfortable and not self-conscious or nervous; social anxiety is draining, and again, it can mimic the introvert's need for recharge time, but in reality they're not the same thing at all. One is born out of an innate need tied to one's personality, and the other is a direct result of emotional and adrenal fatigue from being in the fight-or-flight response too long (think of when you have a bad scare and the adrenaline races through you and then when it's all over you feel exhausted).
So, I think there should be a caveat with the personality test: if the user experiences social anxiety, he or she either shouldn't take it or should take it with a grain of salt because their result might be warped by the anxiety. I have the feeling that many people who think they are introverted are actually ambiverted or even extroverted, but they are self-conscious and awkward in social situations and so they clam up. They still have that deep need to connect externally with others.
I'm only mentioning my own experience because that's what I have to go on. I can't speak for others, but I suspect many people here may feel the same (like Ithior).
