What's the point of questionaires on online applications?

Question

I've really been looking for jobs this summer online, and I've seen many, many questionares and character evaluations. They all seems to have generally similar questions:

When your friends need help, they call you first.

You can wait patiently for a long time

You like to chat with people you don't know

You find small talk annoying

Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree

So I wonder:

1. What's the point of all these?

2. Why are many of their questions so similar (Office Max, Staples, K-Mart, Boarders, and Circuit City all have very similar questionares)

3. Are they really important? Will an employer throw out your application if you say "Strongly Agree" to "I have regrets about my past" or if I give seemingly conflicting answers to 1 or 2 questions?

Answer 1

Should you be hired on just your screen name alone?

Any company, whether you are applying online or not, wants

a resume' of sorts, either a hard copy that you take with you

to their employment office or an online application.

Any company that would be willing to give you a paycheck

deserves to know as much about your past history as possible

including, past employers, employment history, experience,

education, criminal background, even your hobbies will

explain much about the kind of person you are.

If I were in the hiring chair and someone refuses to come

forth with answers to those questions, I would File 13 their

application and move on to someone who is more willing to

share that info.  That's the way it works in the "big world".

Answer 2

I am certainly not going to disagree with my learned mentor

from the green state of Oregon. What he said is my answer

to a tee. and dotted i.