We’ve all done it. The online personality quiz. The “Which classic novel are you?” test. The four letters of your Myers-Briggs. The Enneagram number. The astrology chart that tells you what career suits your moon sign.
It’s fun. It’s oddly comforting. And sometimes it feels weirdly accurate.
But Søren Kierkegaard — the Danish philosopher who spent his life exploring what it means to be a self — would likely raise an eyebrow at all this. Not because he didn’t believe in self-understanding, but because he knew the self was far too wild, mysterious, and unfolding to be pinned down by a box-ticking exercise.
The Appeal of Labels
There’s a reason we love personality types and identity tags. They give us language. They help us feel seen. And in a chaotic world, they offer structure.
Whether it’s “I’m an INFJ,” “I’m a 7 with a 6 wing,” or “I’m a Sagittarius rising,” these labels become shorthand for something deeper:
I’m trying to understand who I am. I want to belong. I want to be known.
The problem? Kierkegaard would say: You’re not something to be figured out. You’re someone to be become.
The Self Is Not a Static Thing
In The Sickness Unto Death, Kierkegaard describes the self as a “relation that relates itself to itself” — in other words, you’re not a fixed identity, but a living tension between who you are and who you’re becoming.
He’d argue that reducing yourself to a type or a tribe might feel neat and tidy — but it can also stunt your growth. Because once we settle on a label, we tend to stick to it — even when it no longer fits.
Quizzes Can’t Do the Work For You
Here’s the truth: no quiz can tell you who you are. Not really.
Selfhood — real, raw, spiritual selfhood — takes time. It takes honesty. It often takes silence. And sometimes, it takes the painful work of letting go of the person you thought you should be, so you can become who you’re actually meant to be.
Kierkegaard wasn’t against self-reflection — far from it. But he was wary of shortcuts. Especially the kind that avoid the real work of becoming.
Identity Politics, Group Belonging, and the Danger of Over-Simplifying
Beyond personality types, we’re living in an age where identity is everything. Labels define who we are, who we’re for, and who we’re against. We’re encouraged to “find our community”, — which often means finding people who think and feel just like us.
But Kierkegaard’s challenge was always personal:
Are you living in truth? Or are you hiding behind a role, a group, a category?
The risk with identity politics (from any side) is that we end up outsourcing our thinking, our morality, even our humanity. We become spokespeople for a narrative — not individuals who have wrestled, doubted, questioned, and chosen with conviction.
Becoming Can’t Be Branded
In Kierkegaard’s view, becoming a self isn’t about defining yourself once and for all. It’s about responding to your life — to God, to your failures, to your longings — with integrity.
It’s slow.
It’s messy.
It can’t be posted as a cute infographic.
But it’s real.
💡 Tired of trying to find yourself in boxes and buzzwords? Kierkegaard’s writing invites you into something deeper. Explore it in The Sickness Unto Death: A Modern Translation for the 21st Century
— a clear, powerful read on despair, faith, and the lifelong journey of becoming.