Crystal's Guide to
Personality Types
Explore the four major personality frameworks, discover your types, and understand how different personalities interact in relationships.
What Are Personality Types?
Personality types are frameworks for understanding the patterns in how people think, feel, and behave. Rather than labeling individuals, these systems help us recognize our natural tendencies—the ways we instinctively approach problems, communicate with others, and make decisions.
Different personality frameworks examine different aspects of who we are. Some focus on observable behaviors that show up in our daily interactions. Others explore core motivations—the underlying fears and desires that drive our choices. Still others map our cognitive preferences—how we naturally process information and engage with the world.
The goal isn't to put yourself in a box, but to develop self-awareness that helps you communicate more effectively, build stronger relationships, and understand why you connect easily with some people while finding others more challenging.
Self-Awareness
Understand your natural tendencies and blind spots
Communication
Adapt how you speak to connect with different people
Relationships
Build stronger personal and professional connections
Growth
Identify specific areas for development
Four Major Personality Frameworks
Each framework offers a unique lens for understanding personality. Many people find value in exploring multiple frameworks for a more complete picture of themselves and others.
DISC Personality Types
Four behavioral styles that shape how we work and communicate
DISC is a behavioral assessment model developed by psychologist William Marston in the 1920s. Unlike other frameworks that focus on internal motivations or cognitive preferences, DISC measures observable behavior—how you naturally act in different situations, especially in the workplace.
The four DISC styles—Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness—describe how you approach problems, interact with people, respond to pace and change, and follow rules and procedures. Most people are a blend of two or three styles, with one or two being dominant.
16 Personality Types
Cognitive preferences organized into four temperaments
The 16 Personalities framework is based on Carl Jung's theory of psychological types, later developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs. It categorizes people along four dimensions: Extraversion vs. Introversion (where you get energy), Sensing vs. Intuition (how you take in information), Thinking vs. Feeling (how you make decisions), and Judging vs. Perceiving (how you structure your life).
These four dimensions combine to create 16 distinct personality types, each identified by a four-letter code like INTJ or ESFP. The types are further grouped into four temperaments: Analysts, Diplomats, Sentinels, and Explorers—each sharing common values and approaches to life.
Explore Type Relationships
Enneagram Types
Nine types defined by core motivations and desires
The Enneagram is a personality system that describes nine distinct types, each defined by a core motivation—a fundamental fear and desire that shapes how you see the world. Unlike behavioral assessments, the Enneagram focuses on why you do things, not just what you do.
Each type has unique patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, along with "wings" (influences from adjacent types) and paths of growth and stress. The Enneagram is particularly valued for its depth in exploring personal development, relationships, and spiritual growth.
Idealist
Principled, purposeful
Caregiver
Generous, demonstrative
Performer
Adaptable, driven
Creative
Expressive, dramatic
Thinker
Perceptive, innovative
Loyalist
Engaging, responsible
Adventurer
Spontaneous, versatile
Protector
Self-confident, decisive
Peacekeeper
Receptive, reassuring
Explore Enneagram Relationships
Big Five (OCEAN)
The most scientifically validated personality model
The Big Five (also called OCEAN) is the most scientifically validated personality model, backed by decades of research across cultures. Unlike other frameworks that put you into categories, the Big Five measures where you fall on five independent spectrums.
Each trait—Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism—exists on a continuum. You're not simply "extraverted" or "introverted"; you have a specific level of extraversion that influences your behavior. This nuanced approach makes the Big Five particularly useful for research and detailed personality analysis.
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