I was just wondering if anyone has ever taken the Myers-Briggs personality test, either for work, school, or just for fun. It is an interesting 72-question test that you should work through quickly, and then you get scored with a personality type that you can read about further.
It might be interesting to compare what we all get. If anyone knows more about the history of this test, how to analyze the results, and what employers and schools use the test for, please feel free to contribute! While on the surface the descriptions may seem vague and no more personal than a horoscope, I know many people have done studies on the Myers-Briggs test and taken results pretty seriously.
By the way, I came out as an ISTJ, although when I took it in high school, I was an INTJ. What exactly does that mean?
Well, I’m an ENTJ. The descriptions of this type listed seem pretty accurate and true to form. Interesting.
I don’t know anything about the test, though.
Oh, and Lou? The change in your type probably just means the government chip in your head is starting to wreak havoc on your nervous system. Professionally speaking* I would advise you to buy some firearms and some land in Montana to build your cabin. But don’t let the helicopters see you doing this…
*As a professional musician, I know all about odd behavior.
That’s funny. I did it years ago and came out initially as ISTJ. The profile just didn’t fit. I had mis-read and misinterpreted some of the questions. Upon re-doing it I came out as INTJ. Which is in other places described as “independent thinker”. (FWIW)
The test scales you on four dimensions – basically targeting four questions. The answers are preferences only. It is normal to operate at both ends of each spectrum according to the situation.
Where do you prefer to get your energy from?
Internally (introvert I) ------------------------------------------Externally (extrovert E)
How do you prefer to get the information you need?
Through the senses (Sensory S)-------------------------------Through intuition and reflection (Intuitive N)
In what basis do you tend to make decisions?
By what you think (Thinking T)---------------------------------By what you feel (Feeling F)
How much order do you prefer to have in your life?
(I forget the labels for this one)
Less order and structure, more spontaneous §------------More structure (J)
ISTJ is apparently the preferred profile for those in the armed services. Not sure what INTJ is good for.
Note. This is all from memory from a decade ago. I stand to be corrected on points.
As a postscript. I had a INTP friend married to a ESFJ woman. Fireworks.
I got INTJ this time. I’ve done it before and I think I got something else then.
I tend to agree with the Skeptic’s Dictionairy’s opinion on these tests though. They are rather general in their descriptions and just like horoscopes they can fit almost anyone.
I see that among the fictional characters who are listed as INTJs are; Gandalf and Hannibal Lecter.
We were actually talking about this in one of my classes last week. If I remember correctly, the test was first designed by Carl Jung, and then revised later by these Myers-Briggs folk.
I think the descriptions of each of these personality “types” tend to fit every person to a certain degree. It’s just that some people have more introverted “tendencies” at certain points in their lives, etc. I don’t think the test was designed to be absolute. I mean, across the life-span. I think Jung acknowledged the fact that people are inevitably changed by their experiences (dreams, etc), and though you may have been an INFP when you were younger, you may have learned things that helped you to be more extroverted, etc… I don’t really agree that tests like these should be used to assess whether or not a career is appropriate for a particular individual though.
This has recently become flavour of the month at work. My boss wants all our team to do it. I told her I would do Myer Briggs if we could have a palmist recommend team structure first. She thought this was facetious so I offered astrologer, tea leaf reader or John Edward. She wasn’t happy that I didn’t feel comfortable working in an environment where my boss paid credence to the MBTI view of me. In the interests of team harmony I have agreed to do the test without comment although I have informed her I will select the answers at random.
I’ve been an INTP with every testing for something like seven years. In fairness, the type descriptions are written out based on people who scored a type, and tend to extrapolate a lot, but the types themselves are pretty accurate. I have yet to meet someone who took the test and got a result that didn’t suit them. Of course, asking if someone prefers to be by themselves or with a group, and then determining that they’re introverted isn’t all that profound
I’m an ENTJ, as I have been since college (coming up on 20 years now). The description fits me pretty well.
don’t ask, why are you so opposed to the MBTI? Unlike John Edward, palmistry or tea-leaf reading, it’s endorsed by psychologists. I’m a skeptic and atheist myself, but I find it a useful way to look at human interaction.
Unsolicited and perhaps unwelcome advice follows…
If you’te going to take the test “in the interest of team harmony” then you should (IMO) be honest in your answers. If you’re just going to select answers at random, then you’re not really taking it.
Were I your boss, I would suggest that you think of it this way: In the future, as we in the team use this as a tool for understanding one another, we’re likely to talk about what our type is, and you’re likely to get asked. Would you prefer to answer “I am an ESFJ when I pick answers at random” or “I didn’t take the test. I’m not comfortable with it.”
I’d support you on the latter choice (were I your boss). I wouldn’t on the first.
I’ve tested at INTP and also at ENTP. My explanation is that I am personally introverted, but have had to develop an extroverted professional persona that I use for work purposes.
I test consistently as an ISTJ - although I have become closer to E than I was back in high school - back then, I was a very strong I. Now, I’m almost a borderline E.
The funny thing about my test was that I was mostly N but extremely all the rest of them.
And I tended to agree as far as that goes. . .
Muy extroverted.
very much what I “think”, instead of what I “feel”.
Definitely little structure in my life – at least that’s true on a micro-level: how I plan my day, my trips (which is to say, not at all), the disorder of my desk, my car, my schedule. On a macro level, I go to work the same time every day. I guess that’s some structure.
I’ve done a lot of studying these tests, I bought both the books Please Understand Me and the sequel Please Understand Me II.
FWIW, I’m a guy who broke the test, thus my interest in studying it. When I took it, I came out ENFJ… no wait, ENFP… no wait again ENTJ… no wait ENTP… no wait ESFJ etc etc. I was down the middle on everything except Extraversion. So I took a great interest in it and did a lot of reading on it.
Interestingly enough, one of my Computer Science courses is using Myers Briggs to help us figure out how to work in teams on coding assignments. We spent three weeks discussing how the personalities relate and interact.
Yes the profiles are general, but the books themselves note that trying to classify everyone into 16 personalities is ludicrous. As Captain Barbossa once said, “They’re more like guidelines.”
In the end, as I entered college and took the test again I ended up a more clear ENFJ. Though I still notice that I can flip to other modes rather easily. So I guess I’m just a social chameleon.
Apparently, my councellor in College had never seen that strong a T before.
I still remember the “Do you tink too much?” question. I pondered for a couple minutes. “Do I? I don’t know. Sometimes I do…” before realizing that the sheer amount of time I was spending on this one question was its own answer.
INTP here, fairly extreme on all of the components except N.
While I would certainly not recommend using this as a way of choosing who is appropriate for what career, my company uses it in a very sensible way. Being aware of the work styles in your immediate group can be very helpful in learning how to work well with someone. If my boss, and E, knows that I have very strong tendencies toward the I end of the scale, she is more likely to let me take a problem away and ponder it on my own rather than trying to brainstorm it through and get me to solve it on the spot with her.
don’t ask, perhaps you should find out how your boss intends to use the information before you write it off altogether. It is a useful tool for describing people’s work styles, and if used appopriately can be helpful. Like Brainiac4, I am a skeptic and an atheist, but I can certainly see that a descriptive exercise like this has no inherent common ground with the quackery you seem to associate it with. Like any information, people can abuse it if they don’t know what it’s intended for, but that’s no reason to discount it.
