Difficult Person Test: Origins, Validity and Purpose

The Difficult Person Test is a personality test that aims to identify certain traits that we usually label as difficult or challenging. The test has identified seven difficult traits that present challenges in our interactions and collaborations with other people.

While it can be used in many different settings, the Difficult Person Test was primarily designed for self-discovery.

In this article, we’ll explore the targeted ‘difficult’ traits and explain how you can use the Difficult Person Test to enhance your self-awareness and improve your interpersonal skills.

The Difficult Person Test is an online personality test that measures traits that are commonly associated with being perceived as a ‘difficult’ person.
The test targets seven key ‘difficult’ traits: callousness, grandiosity, aggressiveness, suspicion, manipulativeness, dominance, and risk-taking.
The ‘difficult person’ meaning refers to individuals with whom interactions and collaboration are challenging and problematic in some way.

The Difficult Person Test consists of a series of simple questions that are designed to identify the extent to which you exhibit the so-called difficult traits. It is based on psychological research on individual differences and personality, led by clinical psychologist Chelsea Sleep.

However, Sleep wasn't directly involved in creating the test. The study on which the test is based was focused on exploring the structure of antagonism and crucial traits that may indicate that someone has an antagonistic personality. Nevertheless, the team behind this research has never labeled these traits as ‘difficult, as the authors of the test did.

Moreover, the Difficult Person Test also uses the insights from the Dark Triad and Big Five personality tests to specifically target the traits that pose challenges in interaction and collaboration.

Thoughit is not clinically validated, mental health professionals could use it as an additional resource in diagnosing personality disorders and different psychological conditions.

Now, let’s see which traits the test targets and measures and how they are explained.

The 7 difficult person traits are those that have been identified to significantly impact interpersonal relationships in a negative way, making interactions challenging. The one thing that all seven traits have in common is their potential to cause conflicts and friction.

So, here are the 7 traits that are associated with having a difficult character:

Callousness is a trait that refers to a lack of all types of empathy and complete indifference to other people’s feelings and needs. Callous behavior can be cruel, unkind, rude, malicious, selfish, and generally insensitive.

Since callousness is also linked to psychopathy, it is important to make a distinction between a psychopath and a difficult person who doesn’t fit the criteria for a personality disorder. So, the crucial difference is that psychopaths are incapable of empathy, whereas callous people simply believe their feelings are more important than those of others.

The essence of callousness is an egocentric focus on one's own needs and feelings and a complete disregard for others’ emotions. Moreover, callous individuals are typically described as cold-blooded, cutthroat, vicious, heartless, and detached, and people generally feel unsafe around them.

However, unlike sociopaths, who don’t form close bonds with anyone, callous people form close connections with select people.

In the workplace, a callous person can take the form of an authoritarian boss who ignores the needs of their employees, denies them their rights, and finds ways to make them work more without giving them anything in return.

They might disregard their employees' requests for sick leave even when it is clear that they are unwell or terminate their employment for taking time off to care for a child or a sick family member.

In personal relationships, callous people are highly self-centered and selfish and tend to have very few close relationships.

Grandiosity involves an unrealistic, inflated sense of superiority over others and self-importance. The core of grandiosity in an individual is the belief that they are unique and special and that, as such, they deserve privileged treatment.

While this can also be said for egotistical individuals, the key difference between grandiosity and egotism is in the scope and intensity of their inflated sense of superiority.

For grandiose people, proving their superiority is a matter of life and death, as they are driven by a deep-seated need for validation, while egotistical people aren’t necessarily motivated by deeper psychological issues.

Grandiose people tend to exaggerate their achievements and abilities, brag about their successes, and present them as more significant than they actually are. They may also be prone to belittling others' accomplishments as a way to make theirs seem more impressive. Moreover, they believe they deserve admiration and adoration from everyone they meet.

Grandiosity, in general, usually goes hand in hand with narcissism, so grandiose people’s behavior often closely aligns with typical narcissistic behavior. However, since narcissism is an element of a personality disorder, there are specific narcissism tests that target this trait more specifically.

In terms of being difficult yet not still a narcissist, a grandiose person may, for example, tolerate other people only as long as they show unconditional admiration while readily leaving the relationship at the slightest sign of criticism or disapproval.

Aggressiveness refers to hostile, forceful, and often violent behavior. Aggressive individuals tend to overreact, easily engage in confrontational and belligerent behavior, and generally assume an intimidating attitude toward other people. Aggressiveness is also an element of the passive-aggressive personality disorder.

Moreover, aggressive individuals are easy to start a fight over petty issues and tend to assert their views in an intrusive or obstructive manner. They aren’t interested in getting along, keeping harmony, or finding common ground with others.

Aggressiveness can also be expressed as passive aggression through ironic or sarcastic remarks that trigger other people or alienate them. An aggressive person might, for example, frequently interrupt other people when they speak and talk over them while also using intimidating body language to assert their attitude.

Suspicion refers to a pervasive, distrustful attitude toward other people for no particular reason. Suspicious people tend to assume other people’s motives and intentions and interpret them as threatening in some way without relying on any solid proof for such assumptions.

While suspiciousness can generally be useful and justified in some instances, in the context of this test, it mainly refers to suspiciousness that is entirely irrational.

Suspicious individuals may be prone to pseudoscience, conspiracy theories, and prejudices. They may, for example, constantly seek evidence that their boss wants them fired or check their partner’s phone for proof of their betrayal.

In general, overly suspicious people tend to ask too many questions about simple, straightforward things and are quick to believe the worst about other people.

Manipulativeness refers to the tendency to control or influence other people’s emotions and behaviors for personal gain. Manipulative individuals are often skilled at using their charm to take advantage of others while disregarding their well-being.

Like suspiciousness and aggressiveness, manipulativeness can be justified in specific contexts. However, in terms of difficult, toxic personality characteristics, it refers to undesirable, problematic behavior.

Moreover, manipulativeness is a trait that is commonly associated with antisocial personality disorder, as manipulative people often don’t care for the consequences their behavior has on the community.

Some examples of manipulative behavior include relentless salesmen who use high-pressure tactics and misleading information to win consumers over and encourage them to buy unnecessary goods.

Dominance is related to the desire for power and control over others. Dominant individuals seek to assume positions of power and authority in their community and are quick to take charge and make decisions for other people. They are also often very competitive.

While dominance isn’t a bad trait per se, as it can help us be recognized as leaders, if taken to an extreme, it can make a person very difficult to deal with. Moreover, dominant personalities tend to be too controlling, intrusive, authoritative, and dismissive of other people’s needs. They aim to overshadow everyone, which can provoke a lot of dissatisfaction in their environment.

For example, an overly dominant parent may inhibit the development of a child's personality by acting as their competitor instead of a caregiver. Or, they may limit the child’s options by pressuring them to make choices that they believe are the best without considering the child’s needs.

In a professional setting, an overly dominant team member takes over all the crucial tasks, makes decisions for the team without consulting anyone, and ignores others’ contributions and efforts.

Risk-taking refers to behaviors that are highly likely to lead to dangerous, unforeseen, or negative consequences. In the context of the Difficult Person Test, risk-taking isn’t related to a healthy dose of courage that pushes us to strive forward and try new things.

Rather, it is connected to recklessness and lack of insight of how our actions may affect our future and other people. Therefore, risk-taking is associated with impulsivity. Moreover, risk-taking individuals prioritize short-term thrills over long-term gains, jeopardizing their safety along the way.

For example, a risk-taking individual may invest all their assets in a highly volatile stock without making a mitigation strategy to prevent possible losses.

The Difficult Person Test can be used by anyone interested in personal growth and development, as it was primarily designed for the purpose of raising self-awareness. However, it can also be used in many professional contexts, as it is a very practical tool for identifying individuals who are difficult to interact with.

So, here are a few of the most popular uses of the Difficult Person Test:

Workplace and organizational development. The Difficult Person Test can be very useful in the process of recruitment to identify individuals who may be problematic for team collaboration.
Team building and leadership development. HR experts can also make use of the Difficult Person Test to find problematic personality traits in the company and develop training programs to help employees overcome them, all with the goal of making the workplace more efficient.
Psychological research and studies. Mental Health professionals use the Difficult Person Test to explore specific personality traits and their effect on social dynamics, quality of relationships, and professional achievement.
Clinical and therapeutic purposes. The Difficult Person Test can be used as an additional tool for differentiating diagnoses and as a part of their diagnostic set. This test can provide more clarity when certain diagnoses overlap to better identify the targeted personality disorder or mental health condition.

What to Do If You Are a “Difficult Person”?

If you are a difficult person, meaning if your results of the Difficult Person Test indicate that you exhibit certain ‘difficult’ traits, remember that these results are not definitive. Consider the Difficult Person Test result as a useful insight into how other people may perceive you, but bear in mind that this test doesn’t define you.

Moreover, if you want an accurate, clinically valid psychological assessment, the best way to go is to consult a professional psychologist who has access to verified psychometric tools. Nevertheless, if the question “Am I a difficult person?” often comes to your mind, that’s a good sign that you are ready to work on yourself and grow.

So, here are a few steps you can take if you want to explore your Difficult Person Test results and check how relevant they are for you:

Ask people you trust for honest feedback. Since the test targets those traits that make you hard to deal with, the people you interact with on a daily basis may offer constructive, honest feedback about your behavior and help you determine how accurate the test is in your case.
Practice introspection. Try to be honest with yourself and identify the situations that are the most stressful for you. Chances are that stressful situations trigger your most difficult behaviors.
Take more personality tests. Consider taking the Likable Person Test, as it targets the opposite of the Difficult Person Test and can help you understand what other people base their perception of you on. The Dark and Light Side of Personality test can also provide you with useful data. Comparing results from different tests can lead to unexpected insights.
Use the test as a self-improvement tool. Make a plan for what you want to change about yourself and how you can do it. Then, take the test again after some time to check how successfully you implemented your self-improvement strategy. Ask for support from a mental health professional if needed.

It is important to understand that most of us have some of the traits targeted by the Difficult Person Test. But what makes the difference between having a personality disorder, being a difficult person, and being an average person is the level to which these traits are expressed. Moreover, understanding the concept of personality can also help in understanding the meaning of a difficult person.’

For example, a healthy amount of aggression is needed when we have to stand up for ourselves. Caution is needed when we are facing a tough decision. Each of the traits can be examined in both positive and negative contexts.

Therefore, it is best to use this test exactly for the purpose it was made for: as a tool for self-discovery, to explore your level of self-awareness, and to gain insights about your behavior.