SBTI, a fast and absurd personality test, has gone viral across Chinese social media.
Is your social feed still alright? Recently, a personality test called SBTI has suddenly taken off. It has hit trending charts. Meanwhile, people across WeChat, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu have been posting their results. SBTI stands for “Silly Big Personality Test”.
CCTV.com reports that the homepage looks very simple, almost rough. The test includes 31 questions. It skips long rating scales. Instead, each question offers A, B, or C. The scenarios come from daily life, so you don’t overthink. As a result, you can finish it in minutes. Compared with MBTI, it feels much quicker.
Absurd Questions and Sharp Labels
However, the questions feel quite absurd. For instance, one asks what you would think if a cute little girl offered you a lollipop. Another asks what you would do after sitting on the toilet for 30 minutes with constipation. At the same time, the tone keeps shifting between serious and playful. In some cases, there is no question at all. Instead, you simply pick an option blindly.
The results sound even more outrageous. You might get labels like “ATM-er”, “Go-go”, or “Oh-not”. In total, the test offers more than 20 personality types. Each one feels like a sharp, self-mocking tag. The creator is a content blogger. She says she made the test for a simple reason: she wanted a friend to stop drinking. She also stresses one point. She has no background in psychology. Therefore, people should treat the test as entertainment only and not use it for profit.
Why It Resonates
Wang Chenchen, a PhD student at Anhui Normal University, saw the test all over her feed. So, she took it without hesitation. She got the result “Fake”. It suggests that you play a role in social settings for so long that you lose track of your real self. Recently, she has faced heavy pressure from her thesis. As a result, she feels she must keep up appearances around others. Although the label sounds harsh, it caught her off guard. In a way, it voiced something she could not say herself.
Chongqing Daily reports that the test acts like a “spokesperson” for some users. It speaks their hidden thoughts. As a result, it unexpectedly hits home. Many people say something else matters more. After posting their results, they receive comments like “same here”. That response feels more comforting than the result itself. Therefore, the test has become a new way to socialise.
Tang Yicheng, from the Beijing Zhongke Popular Science Mental Health Promotion Centre and a member of the Chinese Psychological Society, explains. Compared with professional tools like MBTI, SBTI works much faster. More importantly, it uses the Barnum Effect. In other words, people tend to believe vague and general statements. As a result, they feel those statements fit them perfectly. Therefore, the test spreads quickly.
Zhao Wei, from the Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, shares a similar view. He argues that the key lies deeper. The test taps into a timeless question: how do we understand ourselves, and how do we understand others? Every generation explores this issue. People remain curious about it. Once a test touches this core need, it naturally sparks interest.
Written by Yi Shen.
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