Buddhist Personality Test

Which Buddhist Personality Are You?

Buddhism is generally credited with having invented one of the earliest systems of personality. Buddhism has a vast history and there are several Buddhist ways of viewing personality.

The present test uses the personality system developed by the Indian monk Buddhaghosa, which is more than 1500 years old. It classifies people into one of three types.

What is your Buddhist personality type? For each of the following questions, indicate your response below.

Question 1 of 10

When someone seems to dislike you, you:

Seek to devise a plan for how to keep your distance while interacting with them now that they don’t seem to like you. Try to reverse their impression of you by displaying your qualities and skills to them. Withdraw from them and feel bad about yourself because of it.

The IDRlabs Buddhist Personality Test (IDR-BPT) is the property of IDRlabs International. The IDR-BPT utilizes names and components from the work of the Indian monk Buddhaghosa but is not affiliated with any monastic orders or organized religious practices. It is not the equivalent of other Buddhist personality tests. Buddhaghosa’s work is aligned with Theravada Buddhism. Other Buddhist schools may utilize different personality typologies than those of Buddhaghosa.

The IDRlabs Buddhist Personality Test was created by IDRlabs on the basis of the following sources: Gunaratana, Henepola (1994), The Path of Serenity and Insight, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Kalupahana, David J. (1994), A history of Buddhist philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited. Nyanamoli, Bhikkhu (2011), The Path of Purification, Visuddhimagga, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Schmidt, Amita (2009): Which buddhist personality type are you? Tricycle Magazine.

The three personality types postulated by Buddhaghosa are Striving/Appreciative, Aversive/Wise, and Confused/Mindful. One example of a classification of personality types is: Striving/Appreciative – Compelled by desire and seek comfort, status, and pleasure. In their unenlightened state, a person of this type has a natural appetite for life by which they grasp for more and more status, luxury, and pleasure in the phenomenal world. These inclinations can lead to problems related to pride, self-centeredness, overindulgence, jealousy, deceitfulness, and addiction. On the other hand, the Striving/Appreciative type also has a natural ability to appreciate beauty and abundance, growing to genuinely see what is good in life and promoting harmony and generosity in their relationships.

The developers of this free online Buddhist Personality Test are professionals in the use of numerous personality assessments and work in fields related to psychology and personality typology. Before taking this online quiz, please keep in mind that the results are provided “as-is” and should not be construed as professional assessments or recommendations of any kind. For additional information on our free online Buddhist Personality Test, please consult our Terms of Service.

Why Use This Test?

1. Free. This free online test is designed to quickly measure your personality type, according to the typology of the Buddhist monk Buddhaghosa, and is delivered to you free of charge.

2. Statistical controls. Test scores are logged into an anonymized database. Statistical analysis of the test is conducted to ensure maximum accuracy and validity of the test scores.

3. Made by professionals. The authors of this test are certified in the use of different personality tests and have worked professionally with typology and personality testing.

4. Based on ancient insights. The present test was crafted on the basis of insights into human nature that are more than 1500 years old.