What do you think about Kokology?
Do you know yourself? It is a simple question yet so hard to answer. Many of us still don’t know ourselves fully well. And one way of knowing ourselves is through psychology. It gives us a deeper insight into ourselves, discovering things we don’t know that are us. These characteristics are hidden and subtle.
One of the tests to figure ourselves deeper is a game created by Prof. Isamu Saito, a professor, and psychologist from Rissho University, and Tadahiko Nagao, a best-selling writer, called Kokology.
What is Kokology
Kokology comes from Kokoro, a Japanese word for mind, feelings, and spirit; and the Greek suffix –logia, the study of. In psychology, Kokology is attempting to interpret different people’s behavior in hypothetical or imaginary, abstract situations.
The test answers a test that sets a scene in life. The answers to what the person will do in a given situation reflect the person’s insights about love, family, relationships, and love. Kokology aims to reveal subtle and underlying attitudes and insights through ‘guided daydreams’.
Things to Consider
Before we take the Kokology quizzes, there are some things we need to consider, according to the authors:
Say the first thing that pops into your head.
There are no right or wrong answers. Just relax and say whatever springs to mind. Not only will this lead to a more genuine answer, it will also help you to understand yourself more as each answer will reflect your personality.
Don’t try to predict the answers and don’t read ahead.
The game will tell us something about ourselves. Trying to outsmart the quizzes will take out the fun and learning of the game. No one likes to be cheated right? And most likely, you don’t want to cheat yourself.
Be honest with yourself.
Don’t be afraid to accept the truth when the book tells us something about yourself, even if it exposed a flaw in your personality. After all, we want to know our true and authentic selves, and accepting it will help us to know and love ourselves even more.
Be prepared.
Sometimes the Kokology quiz will ask you to write or draw something. That is why it is advisable to prepare a pen and paper beside you. Writing or drawing makes knowing ourselves more interactive.
Play with other people if you can. Watch people’s reactions (including your own).
It is fun learning about yourself while reading it alone. But it is more fun doing the quizzes with other people. Seeing other people react to their interpretations is instructive and entertaining as we may also learn to know them.
Keep an open mind.
Remember to keep things in perspective. There will always be a variety of answers and there will be answers different from yours. As you play with others, take the opportunity to learn from them.
Now that you are ready, take the following quiz excerpt from the Kokology book to know yourself a little deeper.
Caught in the Rain
Not everything in life is predictable. We’re always getting hit by surprises, emergencies, and unforeseen disasters without any chance to prepare ourselves mentally. Surprises can be stressful – an unexpected proposal is just as much as a sudden breakup. There are too many things we can’t predict or control; that’s one of the reasons we all tend to develop habits and patterns to live by.
You are walking outside when a hard rain suddenly begins to fall. Even if you run full speed, you’re still about five minutes from your destination. Which of the following best describes your choice of action?
1. “I’d find an awning or tree to stand under and wait for the rain to stop.”
2. “I don’t know how long it’s going to keep raining, so I’d run to where I’m going as fast as I could.”
3. “I’d see if there was anybody around with an umbrella I could share or a store where I could buy one.”
4. “I always have a folding umbrella in my bag when I go out, so I’d just use that.”
Key to Caught in the Rain
How did you respond to the sudden downpour? The rainstorm represents unforeseeable and uncontrollable forces in life. Specifically, your answer shows how you tend to react when a fight breaks out between you and a loved one or friend.
1. “I’d find an awning or tree to stand under and wait for the rain to stop.”
You’re the type who waits for the other side in a fight to cool off before trying to settle your differences. You prefer to let them rant and rave until they run out of steam, then present your case calmly and objectively. Some would say this is the intelligent approach, others would say it’s just sneaky.
2. “I don’t know how long it’s going to keep raining, so I’d run to where I’m going as fast as I could.”
You don’t care about the result of a fight so much as getting to speak your mind. You’re sure you’re right, and there’s no sense in arguing the point. The concept of give-and-take doesn’t figure into your tactics. If they get angry, you get angrier. If they start to yell, you scream. This doesn’t make arguing much fun, but at least it’s easy to tell where you stand on an issue.
3. “I’d see if there was anybody around with an umbrella I could share or a store where I could buy one.”
You don’t like conflicts and confrontations, so you try to smooth things over and calm the other person down whenever a fight breaks out. Unfortunately, sometimes that only makes things worse. It may be important for you to make a stand and weather the storm every once in a while.
4. “I always have a foldable umbrella in my bag when I go out, so I’d just use that.”
You think you have an answer for every accusation, a justification for every fault. To you, an argument may be just a chance to hone your skills at a debate, but to others, you seem slippery, frustrating, and insincere. But of course, you probably have a good explanation for that, too.
Isn’t it fun?
Discovering oneself has never been this fun! Of course, the Kokology quizzes are just guides on how one may be able to see or know oneself a little better. If you want to take more quizzes and know yourself deeper, check the book here and here too.
