Did you know the choices you go for in a multiple-choice personality test reveal some of your personality traits, talents or inclinations? The system is based on a derivation of the free association method. In this personality test we’re going to look at the answers you go for, and discover more of who you are based on them.

Read the questions below and write down the letter corresponding to your answer. You will find the interpretation in the lower part of this article, but it’s very important that you don’t peek during the test. Only scroll down when you’re done. It’s vital that you stay completely honest. Oh, and one more thing: don’t ponder more than ten seconds.

1. What would you do in a perfect hour?
a) Walk; b) Read; c) Watch a reality show; d) Watch Breaking News; e) Shopping.
2. What attracts you to a potential partner first?
a) Looks; b) Intellect; c) Kindness; d) Toughness; e) Sense and sensibility, long live Austen.
3. Who/What is the one person/thing you can say you hate/d?
a) A parent; b) A traitor friend/spouse; c) A rival; d) An ideology; e) Yourself.

Now to the moment of truth – free to down scrolling. What do your choices say about you?

1. a) Walk – if you love both your computer and your yard, and have been wondering whether you’re more of an outdoor or indoor person, whether you’re more physical or more mental, here is your answer – you’re more physical. You’re strong and vital, good-humored and permanently up to something. Exuberant and easy-going, confident and a bit dangerous.
b) Read – this is the opposite to the answer to choice a. You’re more mental than physical. Now here’s the part you may not like – when nothing else works and you lack energy, get physical. While the world of the mind is fascinating, this choice does hint at a little bit of introversion; introverts actually consume more energy than extroverts to process perceptions and impressions; get physical! It will strengthen your body and rest your mind; not to mention it’ll help you sleep. The more you seek physical performance, the more your depression will lessen, if you suspect yourself of having one.
c) Watch a reality show – gossip relaxes you; you’re not very concerned with yourself either because you’re at peace with yourself, or because there are grave things about your inner life that you don’t want to deal with. This last variant is the most likely. What this choice says about you is that you may have issues you’re reluctant or downright opposed to dealing with – to be clear, these issues are given importance by your own subconscious, not by other people! Note that this choice doesn’t say anything about how others perceive you.
d) Watch Breaking News – you’re well anchored in reality. You allow the outside world to define you to a certain point. You’re a fighter, even though you may not be aware of it. You may be competitive. You love to win. You’re cunning. You are mentally very active and want to be prepared for every possible scenario. You like achievement and want to make it IN the system rather than beat it.
e) Shopping – you are energized by the new; you define yourself by renewal and often by possession. You go with the flow and with the crowd. You like crowds and movement. You need electrifying sensations. You’re easily disappointed in both people and situations. You like making and receiving gifts, it’s a way of showing that you value someone, and being shown that you’re valued. You like going out on “dates.” The downside is, you may not be exactly the epitome of faithful.

2. a) Looks – you’re very true to yourself; should you ever lie to others or avoid the truth, you’re never about the bush with yourself; you may call a person giving a different answer to this question phony. At your core, you’re direct and blunt. Your motto might be as cliché as it is simple and true to life – “keep it real.”
b) Intellect – you’re not one to lose your head, and you might not believe in love at first sight. Communication and losing yourself in the mind of another is an aphrodisiac to you. You’re dependable and unlikely to cheat on your partner, mainly because there are no such things as “accidents” for you.
c) Kindness – you have some experience with being treated roughly, or perceiving things that way. You’re highly sensitive, fragile, and require people to be gentle in their approach to you. You’ll recoil from people who come across aggressive. You dislike jealous, obsessive and possessive types. You’re not one for a fiery love affair, but for doves and roses.
d) Toughness – you like your partner to be able to stand for themselves and for what they believe in; you like them raw, true to the most primitive characteristics of humanity; this may mean you like to feel protected as a woman, or backed-up as a man. As a woman you need a protector, as a man you need an equal.
e) Sense and sensibility, long live Austen – you’re a wise person; you put wisdom before all your choices, especially in matters of the heart; you’ll be drawn to someone grounded and versatile, to someone with depth of understanding, someone tolerant and patient – you might be eccentric, in need of understanding; you might be electric and unstable, hot and cold, so in need of tolerance; you might be a powerful personality with great need for self-expression, so you require a quiet partner who won’t reprimand.

3. a) A parent – this may have awoken the vigilante in you; you’ll stand up for the weak and abused; you’ll ruthlessly punish the power-abusers and big guys harming little guys; you are a person with principles, good or bad, and you stick to them; you can come across as scary – you’ve learnt from the best; you can be obstinate and inflexible; unforgiving and methodical; determined, feeding purpose from fury.
b) A traitor friend/spouse – some of your life experiences might have left you a bit paranoid, but, “Better paranoid than dead” – you may think. You have great difficulty trusting people. Everyone is a potential foe to you. You feel the need to be permanently cautious. Insecure and angry. Reclusive and sensitive. Delicate and a bit bitter. Grumpy and intriguing. Witty and bleakly humorous. Interesting to say the least. People might be drawn to you especially because you’re so hard to please. Your friendship is rare and fragile.
c) A rival – you are straightforward. No-nonsense, ambitious, hard-working, stubborn, tenacious, you have leadership skills. You have few friends, mostly you have “followers.” You’re competitive, even combative, you’ll do whatever it takes to win. You’re either a career-driven person, or you set yourself high standards in other fields of your life. You may compromise about the means, eventually, if the stake is high enough.
d) An ideology – you’re inventive and cultivated, and you can see through schemes. Hard to influence. You like people more than most – you even find it difficult to apply the word “hate” to an actual person. You project the more negative emotions onto things and ideas rather than on people. You’re hard on the matter, soft on the people. It’s your way of staying civil and civilized. You value humanity and the human, you take delight in the achievements of man. You like polemic and debate, and you may be prone to contradiction. You’ll express your opinion. Your words are your weapons. Your mind the honey that attracts the fly.
e) Yourself – this may come as a shock to you, but you’re overly altruistic. You internalize your hatred in order to keep it from hitting someone else. You believe yourself less worthy than others; you believe yourself weak. If this is your answer, a signal of alarm must be drawn – you may need support, maybe from a friend of your choice, or from a professional; nevertheless, if this is your choice of an answer, it says that your capacity for empathy and love is greater than humanly possible, so to say. You can put up with greater pain than the average mortal; under healthy conditions, with a regained self-esteem, you can be a militant force for the greater good of humanity, and your knowledge of the most sensitive and darkest drawers of the psyche can prove priceless gifts.

And plenty more where this came from, folks. If you’d like to know more about what a particular combination of answers says about you, feel free to leave them in a comment and I’ll gladly get back at you. If you’re private about your choices but would still like to know more, contact me at anaatcalin@gmail.com. Feel free to do so also if you’d like a fresh perspective on your personality, and ask me for a personal profile.

There’s more than personality tests to look forward to. Stay tuned for further episodes of Saphira and Hyperion, coming up on Sunday and Wednesday! The stories will come out in one piece between the 15th and 18th of December in a Story Book for Adults, so a Merry Christmas to be looking forward to for us grown-ups too. Ho, Ho, Ho! (No, I won’t be growing a beard or a stomach, but I’ll be heavy with goodies.) Speaking of goodies – feel free to roam this site for quizzes, novels, and suspense stories for the coffee breaks. Enjoy!