What’s your personality type?
As you may know, the Meyers/Briggs test has been at the forefront of personality tests for quite a while. It’s a very lengthy test and to take the real thing can cost you money unless you’re seeing a career counselor at a University or something similar. Initially inspired by Starfoxy’s “Friends” post a while back, I searched the internet, and I came across this quick knock off version of the Meyers Briggs test that will only take minutes and can entice you to learn more by offering relevant follow up information.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
The results look as follows…[ENFP] [INFP] [ENFJ] [INFJ] [ESTJ] [ISTJ] [ESFJ] [ISFJ][ENTP] [INTP] [ENTJ] [INTJ] [ESTP] [ISTP] [ESFP] [ISFP] .
E - Extroverted
I - Introverted
N - Intuitive
S - Sensing
F - Feeling
T - Thinking
P - Percieving
J - Judging
My profile, for example, ends up being almost 65% ENFP. Extroverted Intuitive Feeling Percieving. It really means nothing until you read the description (I suggest clicking on the Butt and Heiss link for a decent explanation leading to relationship information).
According to experts, knowing your type will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses in your social, career, and home life, and knowing your spouse’s or significant other’s type can help sort out issues in your relationship.
This is a VERY basic introduction. There are entire websites for each personality type and type-oriented yahoo groups to boot.
So find out who you are and tell us if you agree with the results?
May 7th, 2006 21:00
Weird. I came up ENFJ. Usually I get INFP or ENFP. But I didn’t like some of the questions — not everything can be “yes” or “no.”
May 7th, 2006 21:12
I was ISFJ. The description matched me pretty well. But I agree with Blain, not everything can be yes or no, and some of the questions I didn’t agree with either answers.
Fun stuff though.
May 8th, 2006 03:58
An innexpensive book that has a fairly rigorous explanation of the personality types and a good written test is Please Understand Me.
May 8th, 2006 04:22
We used Myers-Briggs extensively at my last job. Very fun and interesting discussions always ensued. One interesting thing about MBTI is that people, especially women, often have two different types - one (more ‘genuine’ or native) for ‘real life’ and one (more ‘adaptive’ or acquired) for work. For instance, I always come out as an ENXP - or, right on the border between the Thinking/Feeling dimensions (no question on the E, the N or the P, tho). We eventually teased that out to be more of an ENFP IRL and an ENTP at work - since it’s much better to use your rational/less-feely bits in the corporate arena.
So, an added question could be - what type are you *really*, and how have you (if you have) adapted that type to fit in to other areas of your life? Not just work, maybe church? Just a thought.
May 8th, 2006 06:57
I agree that some of the questions are not so great. You should just go with the first answer you think of and allow for a margain of error. That’s why I point out that I am “65%” ENFP according to this test. Reading the other profiles gives me insight into the other supposed 35%.
May 8th, 2006 07:03
Blain, Have you taken the real test? Can you tell us about the questions?
May 8th, 2006 08:52
I got INFJ, which is what I usually get on these tests, though the “J” is pretty weak and sometimes I’ve gotten a “P.” I admit that I’m a bit skeptical about personality tests (the complexity of being human doesn’t seem easily reducible to categories), but I think they’re a lot of fun, and often the spark for interesting conversations.
That’s a good observation too about how personality traits can be context-dependent (different at work than at home).
May 8th, 2006 09:28
6 — I took the test linked to, and that’s the score I got. That’s the first time I’ve gotten the J, and it was very weak.
The place I had difficulty with “yes” and “no” was that quite a few were “both/either” depending on the situation and my mood, and others were “neither”. I get the “pick the one that comes to you more quickly” but that is only so effective with me in these tests. The wording of the question can throw things off — the thing the test-writer is trying to isolate doesn’t isolate because of the words used.
But, then, I don’t catagorize well.
May 8th, 2006 09:30
I’m INFP. Finding type was a major, life enhancing insight for me personally.
I felt a profound sense of validation and liberation, and as a consequence, I acquired a dozen or so type books, and have passed out many copies of the best ones.
Though the important thing is not the test score–the actual Myers-Briggs test is called an “indicator”, not a determiner–but whether the type profile matches well enough to be useful. If your score points you to a profile that does not match your natural temperament, that goes with it being a mere “indicator.” Some people have a kind of “protective coloration”, that conceals their natural type.
There are important applications, since there is a high corrolation between type and career choice. In my case, had I known my type when I started college, I could have made better initial choices of major and saved a lot of time. Also, there is an interesting book called Survival Games the Personalitites Play by Eve Delunas, that shows that the different types have different primary needs, and characteristic, self-defeating behaviors that emerge when their primary needs are not met. Plus, I’ve found the studies n how different types relate, or don’t, to be very helpful.
Types tend to miscommunicate in characteristic ways as well, so it can be useful in diagnosing relationships, whether in business, family, and marriage. I once read a paper at a Sunstone suggesting that characteristic type differences emerge in LDS social circles as well. Just compare the ESTJ profile with that of the INTJ, and you should get an inkling. Plus, I think in terms of social stereotypes, I think it is pretty clear that women in the church may feel pressed to conform to an ISFJ mold, whether the reality is that only about 6% of the population will find that fit natural. For instance, my mother strikes me as ISFJ, but my sister is INTJ, and my wife, ENFP.
Kevin Christensen
Pittsburgh, PA
May 8th, 2006 10:29
That makes so much sense to me that we conform situationaly switching types in order to reach expectations. I found when answering those questions that I wanted to say, “It depends” an awful lot. I thought of work and home (and now I think it would be interesting to focus on church as one, too) and found my answers to be quite different.
May 8th, 2006 10:36
I’m a personality prototype. You can tell can’t you.
I took the thing and got ISTJ (78 12 88 44). This has me pegged pretty good. Responsible, devoted, punctual, emotionally cold, ‘just the facts’, truthfaul rather than tactful.
I had a job interview a few months ago and they had me take the McQuaig test. One of my best friends is the engineering manager at this place and he told me I had the job in the bag until my McQuaig results came in. I was the right type personality, but an extreem example of it. They decided to keep looking and eventually gave the job to someone else.
I hate McQuaig.
May 8th, 2006 11:46
Eric, I’ve heard about personality testing in professional contexts. It tends to be that people with deep religious convictions do ‘poorly’ on those sorts of tests because they tend to be ‘extreme’ examples just like you. (Apparently faith is some sort of psychosis.) I think they’re shooting themselves in the foot becayse people with deep religious convictions tend to make the best employees.
May 8th, 2006 16:17
INFJ
Introverted 11% Intuitive 62% Feeling 38% Judging 44%
There’s another versino of the MBPT that I prefer that does have 4-5 options per question.
I’m also always stumped on these things because I never know what to put when my *nature* and my *situation in life* dictate different answers. Take the question on punctuality, for example. Having two young kids, one of whose diaper has the uncanny knack of needing to be changed just before we need to leave to go anywhere (even if he was changed 5 minuted prior), usually leaves me slightly tardy to any appointment. On my own though, I tend to arrive slightly early. Ugh, so how much of my answers are me and how much are the conditions of my life dictating things to me…*shrug*
May 8th, 2006 16:45
Wow–I just took a different one and I scored the same type:
INFJ
I 56% N 70% F 76% J 35%
That other version comes back 404 now, but I found this other one that I just took. It’s basically the same questions as the one Jen posted, but reworded such that you choose two options instead of yes or no.
http://www.personalitytest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl
May 8th, 2006 20:29
I got slightly different responses - INFJ on one version of the test, INTJ on another. I suppose because of different wordings of the test, and because I was on the fence for some answers and so just went with the answer that felt right (and that might vary the response).
Or maybe I’ve just got multiple personalities. (Nasty, nasty hobbitsses, precious. Trying to steal the precious from me . . .)
May 9th, 2006 06:34
I was the same ENFJ on Naiha’s test. Perhaps I could be entrusted with the precious.
May 9th, 2006 21:48
Thanks for the links Jen and Naiha, I really enjoyed the tests!
Turns out I’m INTJ on Jen’s link and ISTJ on Naiha’s link; my percentages were very close in both though. After reading more about the categories, I actually agree with the pigeon-hole the tests place me in–they describe me pretty well. It’s amazing what answering a few questions will do.
May 10th, 2006 11:03
Wade,
You are definitely in-TJ. I see you around the halls all the time. (Not to mention in class). And since I teach the class, it’s not much of a surprise that I’m coming up in-TJ as well. . .
May 10th, 2006 12:39
I took it and got INTJ. I read it and it sounded totally like me (on crack) but definitely me. I was only 1% T though, so I read the INFJ and it didn’t sound like me at all.
May 10th, 2006 12:50
I took the test on the other link. INTJ again. This description was also totally me, only this time it was me with PMS.
Both descriptions were a lot of fun to read. I kept laughing because it was so true.
May 12th, 2006 10:51
I am an INTJ on Jen’s link, on the other I’m an ISFJ. Reading the profiles I some how fit both.
May 13th, 2006 23:12
My Type is
INFJ on Jen’s test
The career suggestion certainly fit those I’ve seen recommended for me–and who doesn’t love poetic justice?
My type is
ISFJ on Naiah’s test
I don’t the ISFJ as described fits me as well. I engage in activities with political & moral controversy, I do like appreciation/rewards for hard work…but I did enjoy the time I spent working at a library years ago. Hmmm…
May 15th, 2006 02:08
Fun tests! I come out as INTJ on both tests, but my “T” score is so near the middle, that if I change an answer on one or two of the questions that I really hesitated on, the “T” turns to an “F.” If I look at the descriptions of the types, I can see that I have some of the characteristics of both INTJ and INFJ. But the “I” and “J” are the most strongly expressed parts of my personality. My husband is a very strongly expressed INTJ. We get along very well!
May 15th, 2006 03:32
I’ve taken this a few times before and I’ve always come up with INTJ, with the T fluctuating between T and F. But this time, for the first time I came up with ISTJ. So weird. Is my personality changing as I age?
But I’ll always be heavy on the “Introvert.” I mean, who wouldn’t rather read a book than go to a party?