Take Gretchen Rubin’s four tendencies quiz.

Published: October 9, 2017 | Updated: May 7, 2019

It’s very important to know ourselves, but self-knowledge is challenging. Gretchen Rubin sorts everyone into four categories, which describe how people tend to respond to expectations: outer expectations (a deadline, a “request” from a sweetheart) and inner expectations (write a novel in your free time, keep a New Year’s resolution).

Your response to expectations may sound slightly obscure, but it turns out to be very, very important.

In a nutshell:

• Upholders respond readily to outer and inner expectations. (Rubin is an Upholder, 100 percent.)
• Questioners question all expectations; they’ll meet an expectation if they think it makes sense. (Her husband is a Questioner.)
• Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike.
• Obligers meet outer expectations but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves.

Do you find yourself within this framework? Doing so can help you understand how to manage yourself better. Figuring out the tendencies helped Rubin understand herself. It also has made it much easier for her to understand other people’s perspectives.

In her appearance at the Norton Healthcare Go Confidently series, you’ll learn about the four tendencies and find out what kind of person you are.