# Myers-Briggs Type Indicator **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359 "2010-07-02T22:47:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/1 "2010-07-02T22:47:57Z")
I’ve recently become more interested in the MBTI. Anyone else? What’s your type (and that of your SO/loved ones if you care to share)? How much credence do you put in the system? Do you find it useful in understanding yourself and others? In what ways? I first took the test age 10, my whole family has taken it with consistent results. I find it almost scarily accurate for myself and most people whose types I know, and as I’m on a mission of self-improvement even more than usual right now, exploring my type has been helping me understand more deeply why I am like I am (very different than the majority) and how to change what I want to. I am an INTJ (and I am predicting there are quite a few on the SDMB despite our relative rarity - the internet message board is our perfect medium) woman in a happy LTR with an wonderful ISFP man. His strengths are my faults, and I am fairly empathetic, so we balance and support each other nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/2 "2010-07-02T23:01:37Z")
Sorry, I’m a dud. I could never answer those questions. It’s not that I was in denial or anything, and I like to think I’m pretty self-aware, I just honestly don’t know some answers and need more information to answer others. For example, ‘You like to be engaged in an active and fast-paced job.’ I guess. But more so than other people? And how fast-paced are we talking about? Oh well, at least it’s less confusing than the [Scientology personality test](http://www.xenu.net/archive/oca/oca.html). ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/3 "2010-07-02T23:07:43Z")
I put ISTJ on the poll, but I’m almost exactly 50/50 on the S-N axis. I think it does describe actual personality traits (i.e. some people are more introverted, some are more extraverted, etc.), but I think it’s purported accuracy and reliability are way overstated. I think the personality descriptions are little more than horoscopes and are convincing for the same reasons horoscopes are. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/4 "2010-07-02T23:10:00Z")
I put ENTJ, but that’s a result I got almost 20 years ago. Officially, I was a E’NTJ, meaning (IIRC) that I started out introverted, but became more extorverted later in life. Of course, I have always joked that I am a self-taught extrovert. I’d much rather be reading my book in the corner, but you wouldn’t know that when I’m in public. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/5 "2010-07-02T23:14:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Sorry, I’m a dud. I could never answer those questions. It’s not that I was in denial or anything, and I like to think I’m pretty self-aware, I just honestly don’t know some answers and need more information to answer others. For example, ‘You like to be engaged in an active and fast-paced job.’ I guess. But more so than other people? And how fast-paced are we talking about? > > Oh well, at least it’s less confusing than the [Scientology personality test](http://www.xenu.net/archive/oca/oca.html). I also find a lot of the questions on the internet tests waaaay too open ended. I found[this website](http://www.personalitypathways.com/16-personality-types2.html) the most [straight-forward.](http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/6 "2010-07-02T23:18:10Z")
I’m 50/50 on the E-I scale. I have interpreted this as reflecting that I am personally introverted, but professionally extroverted. I have an extroverted business persona that I put on in the morning like a suit of clothes. Most co-workers laugh when I tell them that I suffer from crippling shyness - what they see is the worst case of overcompensation around. ETA: ENTP ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/7 "2010-07-02T23:26:29Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > I put ENTJ, but that’s a result I got almost 20 years ago. Officially, I was a E’NTJ, meaning (IIRC) that I started out introverted, but became more extorverted later in life. > > Of course, I have always joked that I am a self-taught extrovert. I’d much rather be reading my book in the corner, but you wouldn’t know that when I’m in public. I’ve learned a ton of social skills in more recent years. But I believe that just because you are able to be charming, funny, sociable, and engage with/relate to people, even in large groups, doesn’t necessarily mean you are an extrovert. What counts are your innate preferences. If you would prefer to spend more time alone reading a book, but make an effort to be outgoing, you are an introvert. Extroverts are people whose natural inclination is to go out and interact with people. It’s not an effort or something they have to be taught, and it energizes them - at the end of a party they are ready for more fun, not ready to go home and relax by not socializing. These days people tell me I am friendly, nice, even ‘bubbly’. I try to be these things to put others at their ease. I would like to spend the rest of my life in a cabin in the woods and never see a stranger again -but I live in the real world and have to make a living. I work with people so I’ve come a long way from the teenager who was unable to make small talk or eye contact, who people assumed hated them. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/8 "2010-07-02T23:50:58Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > I’ve recently become more interested in the MBTI. Anyone else? > > What’s your type (and that of your SO/loved ones if you care to share)? > > How much credence do you put in the system? > > Do you find it useful in understanding yourself and others? In what ways? > I first took the test age 10, my whole family has taken it with consistent results. I find it almost scarily accurate for myself and most people whose types I know, and as I’m on a mission of self-improvement even more than usual right now, exploring my type has been helping me understand more deeply why I am like I am (very different than the majority) and how to change what I want to. > > I am an INTJ (and I am predicting there are quite a few on the SDMB despite our relative rarity - the internet message board is our perfect medium) woman in a happy LTR with an wonderful ISFP man. His strengths are my faults, and I am fairly empathetic, so we balance and support each other nicely. Are you talking about the real test a professional would administer or the fun Internet tests based on that? On the fun Internet tests I always come up as a strong INTJ. I just read my profile again on a Web site after not looking at it in 10-12 years and I have to say I’m disappointed. I remember thinking there was a lot that rang true, even if it did apply to millions of other people too. Reading it now I don’t see much that would be insightful to someone trying to get a quick understanding of how I think and interact with the world. I wonder if I’ve changed in 10 years or if my analysis of the profile has changed… ---
**Author:** ![QuercusMax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8baadc/32.png) [@QuercusMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuercusMax)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/9 "2010-07-02T23:53:47Z")
I put INTJ, but I’m weak in the N - I used to be a really strong S when I was younger. It should be a shock to absolutely nobody that I am a software developer. INTJ is referred to as the “Mastermind” in some places, which I think is great. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/10 "2010-07-02T23:56:19Z")
I wish it were multi-choice. I’ve taken it a few times --the test is total bullshit, by the way-- and I’m always ISTJ or ENTJ. I don’t know what IS or EN are, but I’m apparently always TJ, no matter what. I think I’ll go take the test again now just for shits and giggles. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/11 "2010-07-03T00:09:36Z")
So now I’m ENTP. Whatever, I’m just a person who does stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/12 "2010-07-03T00:44:55Z")
INTP, definitely. Not sure if that means anything, but it’s quite clearly the type that matches me the best. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/13 "2010-07-03T00:50:25Z")
In the late '90’s the corporation I worked for, before all the various parts of the corporation were sold and we became a small company again, just loved the Myers-Briggs. We all took the test as part of a team building exercise for our Quality Team. If you weren’t involved in the Quality Team phase of corporate life let me explain it. A highly paid consultant assigned all the management personnel to teams and we would have meetings were we would brainstorm ways to solve problems that didn’t actually exist. But we were required to discover problems and solve them. It wasn’t too bad because we always got donuts. One of the ‘problems’ we solved was to move the only remaining typewriter in the office to another table, in the same room. This took 4 meetings as I recall. I ate a lot of donuts. Anyway… I was a INTJ and all my colleagues said it described me perfectly. I think it is all complete bullshit. 16 ways to describe people in ways that they will find flattering. It doesn’t matter which category you end up in, you are special and have talents the others don’t. It will tell you things so you can feel good about yourself. In my view the Myers-Briggs is only slightly more useful than the Zodiac. I am a Scorpio, what’s your sign? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/14 "2010-07-03T00:59:18Z")
I just noticed that according to wikipedia, INTP and INTJ (currently the most popular choices in this poll) supposedly account for only about 5 % of the population each. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/15 "2010-07-03T01:13:25Z")
This is the case on every internet message board where people write in full sentences polled. ---
**Author:** ![BorgHunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@BorgHunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BorgHunter)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/16 "2010-07-03T01:22:56Z")
Myers-Briggs may be a bit silly, but it does have at least marginal predictive power, unlike Zodiac signs. I knew before I checked, for instance, that INTJs would be overrepresented here. In other words, it isn’t _complete_ bullshit…it’s just _mostly_ bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/17 "2010-07-03T02:00:48Z")
[Cecil’s take.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2922/does-the-myers-briggs-personality-assessment-really-tell-you-anything) I wonder what data they base the estimations of the amount of each personality type in the population at large on? I wonder if that data has been updated along with the rest of the MBTI? I can’t dig up many hard facts with google. The things that I identify with in the INTJ profile are mostly negatives (to me). I’m a know-it-all, have overbearingly strong opinions, poor social skills, am emotionally repressed and quite cold at heart (don’t get sad when people die, don’t feel strong emotions in general), dislike most people, don’t like to interact socially, have control and authority issues, and spend all the time I possibly can deep inside my own mind (causing me to stare blankly, unseeing, at my surroundings) or obsessively reading/researching/cataloging/creating/experimenting. These things have been true since I was a little child -not that I don’t have good qualities also, and I’ve been able to improve things I don’t like and grow as a person- it’s caused me a lot of confusion and bother, and it’s been nice to connect with other people who can relate, sometimes in weirdly specific ways, and brainstorm solutions to issues we share. Even if it’s mostly woo. EDIT: From what I’ve seen elsewhere there’s a correlation between ever having taken the test/putting any stock in the result, and people who score as ‘NT’. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/18 "2010-07-03T04:05:08Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > I put ISTJ on the poll, but I’m almost exactly 50/50 on the S-N axis. > > I think it does describe actual personality traits (i.e. some people are more introverted, some are more extraverted, etc.), but I think it’s purported accuracy and reliability are way overstated. I think the personality descriptions are little more than horoscopes and are convincing for the same reasons horoscopes are. I wouldn’t go that far-the first INFP profile I ever read fit me to a T, in a few too many ways (not all of them flattering). None of the other profiles I read in the book in question resonated like that at all. The biggest problem with the MB is that you can never be sure that there aren’t people out there who don’t really fit the system (excluded middle, 2 choice fallacy, etc.)-for some individuals it fits them very well, others I didn’t (when I was into it) know what to do with. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/19 "2010-07-03T04:42:31Z")
INFJ this time. The profile seems fairly accurate. Sometimes when I take this I get INTJ. I think I’m really right on the line between T and F, and it depends on my mood what I might get on a given day. I also think this test can really be sketchy in that I always find questions where I’m really not sure if I’m answering honestly, or if I’m just stating what I’d _like_ to think about myself. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359/20 "2010-07-03T07:02:51Z")
I prefer the factor 5 personality test. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myers-briggs-type-indicator/545359.md?page=2)