CPP, Inc., the publisher of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) assessment today announced new research that validates the importance of self-awareness in the workplace, and offers new insight into how personality assessments serve as a catalyst for developing it. Researchers found that the 937 respondents reported that increased self-awareness led to improvement in confidence, decision-making, people management, and stress management. Survey participants report that self-awareness has increased their ability to:
- Work with others as a team (56 percent)
- Cope with stress (54 percent)
- Act as a coach (53 percent)
- Deal with change (47 percent)
“Research has shown for a long time that self-awareness is a critical trait of successful business leaders,” said John Hackston, Head of Thought Leadership, CPP. “For us the important takeaway was that people find personality assessments so valuable in building this critical skill in their own lives.”
Personality assessments play a key role in developing self-awareness
Survey respondents reported that “completing research-backed personality assessments” was second only to “feedback from peers” in terms of effectiveness for developing self-awareness. In undertaking this research, CPP sought to fill a gap in understanding self-awareness and its benefits, and show how MBTI type can be leveraged to improve self-awareness both in the workplace and outside of it.
“We found that people really do care about their self-awareness and are tremendously affected by it,” said Hackston. “In fact, 98% of our respondents reported that it’s important to go deeper than merely identifying a behavior, and understand the motivations behind their behavior. This is a critical validation of the role of personality assessments in developing self-awareness.”
The study showed several specific areas where people are finding value in self-awareness due to use of the MBTI, including improvements in ability to:
- Capitalize on strengths (85 percent)
- Make better decisions (61 percent)
- Become a more confident leader (64 percent)
- Feel more confident in contributions at work (67 percent)
CPP offers new resources on self-awareness for people and organizations
With a deeper understanding of the role of personality assessments, CPP has compiled this research into resources that help people and organizations better understand the benefits of self-awareness. These include a Self-awareness Quick Guide [https://www.opp.com/en/SelfAwareness/self-awareness-quick-guide-DWNL] that combines findings from this research with actionable takeaways and an infographic on the same topic [https://www.opp.com/-/media/Solutions/self-awareness/SelfAwarenessInfographic.jpg?la=en].
Additionally, CPP is offering An Introduction to Personality Assessments in the Workplace [http://people.cpp.com/rs/788-YSM-155/images/introduction to psychometrics - web.pdf], a workplace-specific guide that draws heavily from the research and MBTI best-practices to offer a roadmap for integrating personality assessments into a holistic approach to developing self-awareness.