The animal in You

I took this test called The Animal In You, by Roy Feinson. As the name implies, this test categorizes people based on resembling animal characters. Unlike many personality tests which tend to have 20 questions or more, this only has 9 questions, and selection of answers were between 2 and 4. Simple enough.

In under 5 minutes, Roy Feinson had me categorized as a...BABOON.

At first sight, I thought.. Eww, so completely unflattering. But as I read through the results I had to give Feinson credit for being rather accurate (given some allowance for self-perceived misfits).

Here's the summary of results:

Baboon

Genus and Species:
Papio ursinus

Collective Term:
A shrewdness of baboons

Careers and Hobbies:
Investigator
Journalist
Artist
Entertainer
Comedian
Massages
Family Time
Camping

Talking Famous Baboons:
Robin Williams
Jim Carrey
Billy Crystal
Conan O'Brien

Aah, the lighter side of the animal kingdom. It takes brains to be quick witted and amusing and the baboon has plenty of them. But, these are also affectionate creatures, and if you were to watch a family of baboons at play, you'd be struck by the relaxed attitude and the constant touching that goes on between them. There is also a very clear hierarchy in the baboon family. Parents rule the roost, ever ready to teach and chastise misbehaving youngsters, and the husband assumes his role as dominant male. But the ideal of all work and no play makes the baboon's skin crawl, so games and lighthearted fun remain the primary focus of its genteel life.

Baboon personalities come in all shapes and sizes, but are usually powerfully built smaller individuals with bright appealing eyes. Intelligent and shrewd, they are highly adaptable individuals, and as students of the lighter side of life there is nothing they enjoy more than indulging in complicated practical jokes or impromptu comedic performances.

Arguably, they are neither handsome nor plain, and their robust personalities are engaging and charming. Little value is placed on physical exertion and they have a tendency to gain weight in later life. Their most noticeable physical characteristic is an elastic and expressive face, and with their animated communication style they delight in being the center of attention.

Intensely social animals, they work hard to maintain their large, well-run families and insist on order in their households -- brooking no disagreement from their mates or children. They'll never back down from a physical confrontation, although they are rarely aggressive towards members of their own family. When threatened, they are formidable fighters and even larger animal personalities think twice before initiating conflict.

Disdain for physical work leaves them dissatisfied with manual labor unless it contains a strong creative component. In fact, the Kung people of Southern Africa believe that baboons are able to talk but are careful not to let people hear them, lest they be made to work. However, their curious nature makes them perfect for investigative work or journalism. Ultimately however, they only find true happiness when performing as comedians or actors. They function best during the daylight hours, preferring to spend nights quietly in the company of their family.

And just to check and see if other results might apply to me, I went back to redo the test, but changed one of my answers. The result came out totally off the mark.

So maybe, maybe Feinson is onto a brilliant test here.

Take it and tell me the animal IN YOU!