A couple’s psychometric test can help romantic partners open a new and honest conversation about how they think, what they believe, and why they behave the way they do. Personality styles and personal preferences will be revealed during a couple’s psychometric test, in a unique context where self-discovery and self-disclosure can occur simultaneously.

Personality tests can reveal some amazing facts about individuals. But a couple’s psychometric test can be even more revelatory, when partners sit together to take the Myers-Briggs or Enneagram personality test and then share the results. The final outcome will inevitably offer an interesting mixture of confirmations and surprises, as previous knowledge is affirmed in some instances but contradicted by new discoveries in others.

Can taking a couple’s psychometric test really strengthen a relationship? Plenty of anecdotal evidence suggests it can, as long as each person is willing to answer the questions honestly and willing to dig deeper into the insights that emerge from their participation in the process.

If you’re intrigued by the idea of taking a personality test simultaneously with your significant other, here are some of the things you can learn if you both decide to leap in headfirst.

#1 How to express yourself in a disclosure-friendly context

There may be things about your partner that bother you or puzzle you. It could relate to their moods, their reactions, their pet peeves, or their personal habits. There may also be things about your partner that charm and delight you, that leave you marveling at their kindness, sensitivity, or generosity.

Either way, it’s possible you’ve never mentioned these things before. Perhaps the time never felt right. Maybe you were afraid of hurting your loved one’s feelings and kept quiet even though you really wanted to say something. You may be the type of person who feels a bit uncomfortable bringing up such topics in general, thinking that you won’t express yourself properly or clearly, or that you’ll feel embarrassed and vulnerable expressing either your concerns or your unconditional love.

A couple’s psychometric test can help you with this, by providing you with context where an honest discussion of deeper feelings is both expected and encouraged. The spirit of the moment can carry you along and help you open up, buoyed by the confidence that your partner will respond positively since you’ve promised to do the same with them.

#2 How to develop blueprints for change that can help your relationship and you as individuals at the same time

When you get the results of your personality tests, you’ll each learn invaluable information that can help you make life changes for your own benefit. You’ll emerge from the process understanding more about yourself, and why you find certain aspects of your life rewarding and others discouraging or disappointing. Each of you will have an opportunity to put what you learn during these tests into action, adding elements to your lives that are likely to please and satisfy you, while subtracting or adjusting the elements that are likely responsible for your stress or unhappiness.

You would be able to make such alterations even if you were each taking a 16 type or Enneagram test entirely on your own. Because you’re taking a couple’s psychometric test instead, however, you’ll have a special opportunity to coordinate your life changes together. Your peace and contentment as individuals will be addressed, but you’ll be creating plans of action that can also improve your relationship. What each partner needs from the other can be addressed specifically, so that adjustments in personal lifestyle are accompanied by changes in the way you relate to and interact with each other.

#3 More about your loved one’s zones of vulnerability

You may think you know quite a lot about what upsets your life companion. You may understand what triggers their temper or frustration, or what leaves them feeling embarrassed, rejected, or disrespected.

While your insights in this regard might be accurate, you might not know as much about what makes your companion tick as you think you do. There may be things that disturb, provoke or disquiet them that you never would have suspected, because they did such a good job of keeping their feelings hidden. It’s also possible that the reasons why certain things upset them are different than you’d imagined (insights like this often emerge from personality tests).

The taking of a couple’s psychometric test, and the dialogue that you initiate during the process, will offer you an excellent chance to gain a deeper understanding of your partner’s true zones of vulnerability. With this knowledge in hand, you’ll be able to offer them even more compassion and understanding than you normally would, as you strive to adjust behaviors that you never realized made them uncomfortable.

#4 More self-awareness, and more awareness of your partner

Being aware of who you are is empowering. Self-awareness is the key to a happier and healthier life, as it gives you a more inclusive and profound understanding of what you really need to feel fulfilled. It can help you gain more clarity about the dynamics of your relationships as well, since it will provide you with deeper insights into how the behaviors of others are likely to impact you emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.

The whole point of personality tests is to increase self-knowledge and self-awareness. When you’re actually taking one with someone else, checking out the characteristics associated with your personality types together, the increase in self-awareness you achieve will be accompanied by an increase in your partner’s understanding of who you are and what you require to thrive—and vice versa, of course.

In an intimate partnership between two self-aware people, reciprocal enlightenment promotes a collective awareness that is doubly empowering. That’s why a couple’s psychometric test can be so invigorating to a romantic relationship that has gotten a bit stale or predictable.

#5 More about the mysterious chemistry that makes you such a perfect couple

In chemistry, different elements can bind together to form new and highly useful substances. It is common to talk about chemistry in the context of romantic relationships, although what makes partners compatible doesn’t involve the exchange of forces between electrons and protons. It is something far more difficult to measure or quantify, some mysterious connection that transcends both commonalities and differences—or so we’ve been told.

You may be surprised by what a personality test can reveal about such matters. After taking your couple’s psychometric test, your curiosity about what binds you and your loved one into one cohesive unit will likely be at least partially satisfied. Once you’ve been typed in a particular system, you’ll be able to read more about what types best complement your type, and about why your type and your companion’s type seem to fit together so well (like oxygen and hydrogen!).

As you learn more about the multilayered nature of your personalities, you’ll gain insight into why the two of you seem to mesh so well and complement each other so perfectly, despite some of the differences you undoubtedly have. You’ll come to understand how and why your relationship is so harmonious, and why your occasional disagreements are not enough to tear you apart.   

#6 How knowing the results of a personality test can add a new dynamic to your relationship

Once you know your Enneagram number or Myers and Briggs personality type, you won’t be able to forget it, or what you’ve learned about that type. The same goes for your companion’s type, which is a fascinating bit of information that you’ll be thrilled to possess.

Through a couple’s psychometric test, you can gain mutual insights into deeper truths and fundamental personality characteristics. But regardless of what the results of the testing show, just the process of sitting down together to take these tests, and discussing, debating, and contemplating the results afterward, will add an extra dash of spice and a new layer of complexity to your relationship.

You may find yourself discussing ideas about identity and compatibility that never came up before, in an intimate atmosphere that makes the two of you feel closer and united in your commitment to strengthening your emotional and spiritual bonds. Even after the couple’s psychometric test is over, you’ll likely find yourself returning to the topic of personality again and again, as you seek more ways to apply what you learned to everyday living.

Nathan Falde
Nathan Falde has been working as a freelance writer for the past six years. His ghostwritten work and bylined articles have appeared in numerous online outlets, and in 2014-2015 he acted as co-creator for a series of eBooks on the personality types. An INFJ and a native of Wisconsin, Nathan currently lives in Bogota, Colombia with his wife Martha and their son Nicholas.