117: History of Personality Tests

About this episode

This episode explores the evolution of personality tests from their origins in World War I to their use in modern employment practices.

This week we learn how personality tests went from determining if you could handle PTSD in WW1 to whether or not you could be employed by a Fortune 500 company. A listener emails tells the story of that time Gary Larson had to explain a not so complicated Far Side comic to his fans. Episode Tabs: The First Personality Test Was Developed During World War I https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/first-personality-test-was-developed-during-world-war-i-180973192/ Listener Tabs: Odd This Day https://mulberryhall.medium.com/odd-this-day-177340319a6c Email your closed tab submissions to:  500opentabs@gmail.com Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs 500 Open Tabs Wiki:  https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki 500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide):  https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7 Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord!  https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to  nebula.tv/500opentabs See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Hosts: Kaveh Taherian, Hannah Hillam

Topics covered

• personality tests
• history
• employment
• PTSD
• comedy

Keywords

• personality tests
• history
• PTSD
• employment
• Gary Larson

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fortune 500

Books & works: Far Side comic

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