There are many assessment tools available in the marketplace designed to measure our personality traits. One of the best known of these is Myers-Briggs that measures personality traits based on the following scales: extroversion versus introversion, intuitive versus sensing, thinking versus feeling and judging versus perceiving behaviors. The problem with assessment tools such as Myers-Briggs, according to Helen Fisher, partner in the company NeuroColor, is that they are not entirely accurate because “they’re not drawn from hard science”.

Fisher’s article in the March/April 2017 issue of the Harvard Business Review, titled “If You Understand How the Brain Works, You Can Reach Anyone”, focuses on an assessment tool that she has developed that is based on brain chemistry. Fisher believes that the problem with assessment tools such as Myers-Briggs is that they are based on psychology and culture (“which is what your upbringing teaches you to believe, do and say”) as opposed to temperament (“which comes from your biology, genes, hormones and neurotransmitters”). Fisher’s research revealed that there are four biological systems that are each linked to a particular suite of personality traits:

  • dopamine/norepinephrine
  • serotonin
  • testosterone
  • estrogen/oxytocin

Fisher draws the following conclusions from her research related to the biological systems that are part of the human brain:

  • People who express certain genes and have high activity in one or more of the biological systems tend to be:
    • Dopamine system – curious, creative, spontaneous, energetic, mentally flexible, risk-takers, novelty-seekers
    • Serotonin – sociable, more eager to belong, have traditional values and less inclined toward exploration
    • Testosterone – tough-minded, direct, decisive, skeptical, assertive and good at “rule-based systems” (engineering, computers, mechanics, math and music)
    • Estrogen/Oxytocin – intuitive, imaginative, trusting, empathetic, contextual long-term thinkers, sensitive to people’s feelings, have good verbal and social skills)

Fisher has created a questionnaire “to measure the degree to which a person expresses the traits in each of these four systems”. She writes that people who score high on each of the scales measuring the habits linked with the:

  • Dopamine system – “showed a lot of activity in dopamine pathways of their brains”
  • Serotonin – “had increased activity in an area linked with “social norm conformity””
  • Testosterone – “brain activity was highest in areas related to visual and mathematical perception and in areas built by fetal testosterone”
  • Estrogen/Oxytocin – “showed more activity in the mirror neurons linked with empathy and other brain regions built by fetal estrogen”

The article further criticizes Myers-Briggs and other personality tests as “putting those who take them in one category or another”. Fisher states that, “the brain doesn’t work in cubbyholes”. Indeed, the brain’s regions are highly inter-connected and so it’s most important not to classify and stereotype people based on their personality test scores.

When asked if it’s possible to change one’s style, Fisher responded that, “we’re flexible to a certain extent, but not entirely”. It seems that nature has endowed us with certain characteristics that make it difficult to experience radical changes in personality traits over time. However, the good news is that, due to the neuroplasticity of the brain, we are all capable of making changes in our lives.