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Have you ever been asked to take a personality test when applying for a job? How about taking one just for fun? Did you ever wonder what impacts such a test can or has in the real world?

Now available to watch, an HBO Max original, Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests, is a documentary that will take a deep look into the implications a personality test can have on a person and the potentially unfair tactics it applies in the workforce.

Informed by the book, The Personality Brokers by Merve Emre and produced by Dorothy Street Pictures, Persona explores the unexpected origin story of America’s grand obsession with personality testing. Uncovering the intriguing history behind the world-famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator while raising a slew of ethical questions and demonstrating how some personality tests may do more harm than good – like impacting online dating matches or job prospects. This eye-opening documentary reveals the profound ways that ideas about personality have shaped our society.

This documentary is directed by Tim Travers Hawkins and produced by Julia Nottingham and author Merve Emre.