A portrait of your character, not a verdict.
63 statements based on Nancy McWilliams' psychoanalytic model. Twelve minutes, anonymous, and you get a written profile to keep.
Character as a way of coping
In Nancy McWilliams' psychoanalytic model, character is understood not as a set of symptoms, but as a personal strategy for adapting to the world. The test does not look for disorders. It shows how you have come to cope with anxiety, protect self-esteem and build relationships.
How a score is read
- Not manifest
- Score below 3.5Few answers match the description. It is shown for context and may help in understanding other people.
- Moderate
- Score from 3.5 to below 6.5Some answers match the description. Worth seeing what feels familiar and what does not.
- Pronounced
- Score from 6.5 to below 8.5Many answers match. The description may fit a habitual way of coping, at least in some situations.
- Dominant
- Score 8.5 and aboveMost answers match the description. It may reflect a habitual way of coping in most situations.
A score is your average agreement with seven statements, rescaled to 0-10. The four bands are cut-offs chosen by this project, not clinical levels. This questionnaire does not assess the level of personality organization.
Nine character styles
Each style is a way of handling anxiety, protecting self-esteem and staying close to people. Most of us carry several.
Sensitivity to evaluation
The King in the Looking Glass
I am either the best or nothing.
The narcissistic style is about self-esteem and what keeps it steady. Recognition, achievement and comparison with other people carry a lot of weight. Criticism, or simply an average result, can bring shame or a feeling of emptiness. It comes in many degrees, most of them ordinary: from healthy ambition at one end to a painful dependence on approval at the other. A match with this description does not mean a personality disorder.
Read the full descriptionNeed for distance and inner space
The Wise Hermit
I am free because I am alone.
The schizoid style centers on a tension between the wish for closeness and the need to protect one's autonomy. People described this way often have a rich inner life and are sensitive to intrusion and overstimulation, so they step back when contact becomes too much. It is not the same as introversion, coldness or a lack of interest in people.
Read the full descriptionReliance on order and control
The Living Chronometer
I think, therefore I do not feel.
This style manages discomfort through thinking (the obsessive side) and doing (the compulsive side). Rules, duty and standards matter, and feelings tend to be kept at arm's length and replaced by reasoning. It is a character style and is not the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder. A match here does not diagnose or predict OCD.
Read the full descriptionSelf-sacrifice and difficulty with one's own needs
The Cross Bearer
I suffer, therefore I deserve love.
In this clinical usage the word has nothing to do with sexuality. The self-defeating style describes a habit of caring for others at one's own expense, feeling guilty about pleasure or success, and enduring in the hope that patience will be noticed. Having trouble asserting one's needs never makes a person responsible for being mistreated by someone else.
Read the full descriptionEmotional expressiveness and need for response
The Star of the Show
All the world's a stage, and I demand the lead role.
This style manages anxiety through emotional expression and contact with people. Feelings come quickly and strongly, warmth and liveliness come easily, and being overlooked or powerless is especially hard to bear. McWilliams also uses the older clinical term "hysterical" for it. In everyday English that word has become an insult, so it is not used here.
Read the full descriptionVigilance and caution with trust
The Bunker Commander
Trust, but verify. Better yet, don't trust.
The paranoid style is marked by alertness to hidden motives and possible threat. Trust comes slowly, ambiguous remarks are easily read as hostile, and one's own unwelcome feelings may be attributed to other people (projection). Context matters: vigilance can be a reasonable response to real experience of betrayal or danger.
Read the full descriptionSelf-criticism and sensitivity to loss
The Broken Vase
If something went wrong, it's my fault.
The depressive style turns blame and anger inward. Guilt comes easily, other people's needs come first, and loss or rejection is felt deeply. It is a character style and is not the same as clinical depression. McWilliams also describes a manic counterpart, in which a person escapes painful feelings into constant activity; one statement in this questionnaire reflects that side.
Read the full descriptionStepping back from experience under stress
The Shattered Mirror
Reality can be switched off.
Dissociative experiences cover a wide range. At one end are common ones such as daydreaming, deep absorption and doing things on autopilot. Further along are feeling detached from oneself or one's surroundings, and gaps in memory. This questionnaire cannot tell these apart, and it cannot say what causes them.
Read the full descriptionDefense mechanisms
Each character style relies on its own ways of keeping painful feelings at a distance. Eight of them are explained in plain words, each with an everyday example.
All defense mechanismsSecondary defenses
How it works
About 12 minutes from start to finish.
Answer
Rate 63 statements from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". Your answers are kept in your browser as you go, so you can pause.
Score
Each of the nine styles gets a score from 0 to 10, based on seven statements.
Read
You get a chart, a ranked summary and a detailed description of every style, at a private link you can save.
Ready when you are.
No account, no email. The questionnaire is for self-reflection, has not been clinically validated, and does not give a medical diagnosis.
Take the test