These Inkblot Tests Know Your True Personality

If you buy into pop culture, psychologists either sit next to a patient lying on a chaise, or flip through a series of inkblots and asking: “What do you see?”

Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach developed inkblot tests with a series of ten cards in 1921. He used them to secretly diagnose schizophrenia, but now the pictures are used to figure out personality traits (if you think someone is your life has a narcissistic personality, for example, use these clues to know for sure). People apply meaning to abstract images, so their reactions to the inkblots shed some light on how they think about the world.

These inkblots from Psychobook aren’t from Rorschach’s original ten, but they’ll uncover some telling things about your personality.

What does this inkblot make you see?

If you see a…

Roast chicken (whole image)
Like anyone, you can have doubts about what you’re doing, but overall you feel centered and clear about what you need. Alienation is not your thing—you’d rather be passionately engaged. You get bored contemplating the meaning of life. Like writer Anton Chekhov said, “That is like asking, ‘What is a carrot?’ A carrot is a carrot, and nothing more is known about it.”

Cartoonish cat that looks shocked (whole image)
You like to get involved in and work things out as they come up, which explains your loud, passionate side. It is very important for you to feel like someone is on your side, listening to you. Negotiation and conflict are facts of life as far as you’re concerned, so even though you aren’t abrasive at heart, you can come across that way.

Faceless woman or someone in a wig (upside down)
You set yourself high standards and expect others to do the same. You aren’t convinced that patience is a virtue (but you should—being more patient is good for your health).

Doctor reaching out to a patient’s jaws (sideways)
Life isn’t meant to be easy, and people can’t always be expected to get along. You feel like you just have to be yourself, and if people can’t handle that… well, as
 they say in Barbados, “The eggshell have no right at the hard rock dance.”

Rocket or tower (white space inside image)
You work extremely hard, constantly setting yourself new challenges in an attempt to get stronger. You
 get a lot done and are highly appreciated professionally. In your private life, you may need to lighten up and not be so controlling—here’s how to tell if you’re a perfectionist. You can file that neatly in your “To Do” folder.

Now onto the next inkblot test. What do you see?

If you see…

Two figures leaning forward (sides of image), or person praying (whole image)
A cerebral soul, you are an imaginative, deep thinker. You know all too well the concentration and patience required to do anything well, and you can’t see why anyone would settle for anything less if they care about what they’re doing.

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A racing car or speed (whole image), or two furry baby animals (center)
Your big imagination is one of the first things people notice about you. You are naturally drawn to metaphors, and you excel at constructing other worlds, seeing things from other people’s points of view, and imagining yourself soaring to great heights or plummeting to your doom.

A dentist or barber’s chair (whole image)
You are sensitive and generous, a combination that means you get a lot out of life but also take it painfully to heart. Because you wear your heart on your sleeve, people tend to want to look after you, which can sometimes make it hard for you to recognize true intimacy. Formal, conventional environments drain you. (Check out these signs of incredible empathy.)

Two dark figures invading another figure (whole image)
You may progress as you digress, or you may just digress. How many unfinished emails or unmade phone calls trail in your wake? In the words of novelist Philip Roth, “The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.” Try these tricks to stop procrastinating.

OK, what do you see in this inkblot?

If you see…

A beetle, maybe with claws (whole image)
You are very hardworking and are good at handling your career and the “game” in general. Success comes naturally to you. You arrange your pieces on the board, lay your plans, and follow through with them. You can be careful or daring, depending on the situation. In the end, you figure the cleverest or luckiest play will always win. (Find out how successful people spend their mornings here.)

A pair of dancing emus wearing boas (whole image, except bottom center)
You feel the pull of glamour and the high life like gravity. You always know the place to be and enjoy being there, though sometimes you don’t like how you feel the next day or what you see in the mirror as you head for the dance floor. Sometimes you wonder why that is, but other times you tell yourself not to take yourself so seriously. Here’s how to stop the damage of negative self-talk.

Two pairs of hummingbirds (sides of image)
You’re a connoisseur, a beija-flor (kisser of flowers), as the Portuguese call the hummingbird. Like how hummingbirds sometimes feed on as many as 1,000 flowers a day, you’re constantly on the move, pursuing objects of desire and seeking out beautiful things.

Sunglasses, a bra, or a beard (bottom of image)
You like dressing up, and it suits you, though you can worry too much about what people think of you and seek external solutions—a new car, new clothes—to internal problems. You’re tempted to rationalize this as a Warholian creed— life is just surfaces—but you’re not sure if this solves everything.

A skeleton (whole image) or bones (details)
Life can seem like a treadmill or a merry-go-round, repeating itself over and over. You worry about feeling drained and hollow, grinding to a halt. Sometimes you think you should take more emotional risks.

If you want to find more revealing games, quizzes, and questionnaires like this one, pick up a copy of Psychobook.

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