INFP-healer (sometimes INTP-architect). Wants to be Galahad or Joan of Arc. That’s me all right. I got the same thing when I took a longer version a few years back, so I guess I don’t change much.
You’re right about it being similar to the horoscope in that it can be vague enough to apply to a lot of people. It’s a “soft” science, but it is used for real measurement, sometimes. IIRC, they use the Meyers-Briggs to help judge whether people have been brainwashed by cults. A radical personality change is a sign of brainwashing.
Am I the only one here who thinks the emperor has no clothes? Do you guys REALLY believe everybody in the world falls into one of sixteen personality categories? More like six billion, if you ask me.
I’ve taken the test several times in the past, but I wasn’t impressed. How the heck do you answer some of these things? Take the first question, for instance:
Sometimes they do both. Sometimes they don’t do either. They probably illustrate principles best IF they also speak for themselves. This should not be a multiple-choice question.
Anyway, the only one of the four categories I’ve ever gotten consistent results in is the first one … and I don’t NEED a personality test to know I’m an introvert.
Oh Fretful,
I understand your point, but your question answers itself.
IMHO: When we see the word, “FACTS” we immediately determine 1 of 2 things.
They are just basic truths that can’t be changed. (ie BLACK & WHITE) They are the beginning and the end, no need for interpretation. Period.
or
They are part of a picture that adds value, illustrates principles, but don’t necessatate a specific conclusion. (ie Shades of Gray)
If you think BOTH are true, then you picked #2. People who pick #1 don’t feel the need to worry about shades of gray or illustrating anything beyond the facts.
Also, as I understand it, these are just basic communication styles. Sometimes they feel right, sometimes not. You may be on the border for the 3 other categories, in which case you are an IXXX. Also, we fall into different categories depending on where we are in our lives. Although I think my basic style is ENTJ, I may have turned to an INFP (introverted, sensitive, moody, scatterbrained) while I was pregnant (since my pregnancy lasted 5 years )
ENFJ here (and I’ve taken the test several times over a period of several years–ENFJ every time). I’m a screaming J, in fact I answered every J vs. P question on the last test I took as a J. I like organization. I like things finalized.
This is not astrology. It is psychology. I find my profile to be very accurate (but not dead accurate; I have my own individual variations, as do all people); unlike horoscopes et al, the ENFJ profile is the only one I’ve read that makes me say, “Hey, that’s me!” The STs (and especially the SPs!) are far beyond my understanding.
I have the book, Please Understand Me, and it has been infinitely helpful for my relationship with my honey–far more than any generic relationship book. I’ve read it several times. My Bri is an INTP (the rarest of all the types–only 1% of the population–that explains it, Old Broad!) and is my temperment opposite. Understanding how he views and processes the world, and he understanding how I do, has been hugely enlightening and helpful.
I actually think the whole thing is just plain neat. It works for me!
“Me fail English? That’s unpossible!”
“English? Who needs that? I’m never going to England.”
As an experiment, I took the test twice and responded differently on that handful of questions that seem as though either answer is correct. Came up ESTJ both times; preliminary thought is that whatever it measures, it ferrets it out consistently (I know two trials, one subject,…).
I can’t say I necessarily took the description to heart.
I think you misunderstand what people mean when they characterize Meyers-Briggs as `astrology.’ It doesn’t mean that that the archetypes are assigned according to irrelevant criteria. The criteria used for assigning a Meyers-Briggs type does have some relation to one’s actual personality. The comparison to astrology is in reference to the Barnum Effect that is in operation.
The Barnum Effect is the phenomenon by which, given an overall positive description of themselves, people will tend to remember the accuracies and forget or downplay the inaccuracies.
Everybody, and let me stress this – everybody – is susceptible to the Barnum Effect. You are not an exception.
If somebody did a version of the Meyers-Briggs test in which the profiles were mixed up, probably no one would notice the difference. That’s the Barnum Effect.
Even the supposedly rational basis of the system is dubious. People generally don’t fall neatly into categories, a fact which Meyers-Briggs enthusiasts have pretty much copped to by all the ad hoc expansions of the system that have been tacked on to account for its failure. Now there are versions that show you as having different personalities at different times of the day, or switching personality types under different circumstances. Any time a neat little theory suddenly becomes mired in `special cases,’ you know it’s it trouble.
Basically, Meyers-Briggs is a fun party game, but it’s a pseudo-science like phrenology or graphology. Don’t take it too seriously. A lot of people swear by it, but a lot of people swear by a lot of things that aren’t true. To the extent that it does anybody any good it’s not because it’s accurate, but because it encourages people to be tollerant of other people’s differences. It’s done that better than anything else I’ve ever seen.
OK, I took the test again and lied as much as I could. Here is the profile for the personality type (ESTJ) that should be the exact opposite of mine. The passages in bold are things that I think apply to me:
If the test is as good as y’all say it is, none of these things should be true of me, but instead about half of them are. Hmm.
i have found most personality tests to be non objective. If you are rating yourself I find most people aren’t completely honest, they fill things out based on the situation they are in, At work they want to look hard working and loyal, if with friends they want to be creative, or fun or serious, or whatever their provclivity towards a character type is.
In short, many of these tests, when given properly, have to be given in the proper atmosphere. After a cool down period, in a quiet space, away from the world (perhaps with calm music playing in the background) a quick once over in between work assignments or during a class does not really give a true impression.
Don’t let the loveless ones sell you a world wrapped in grey.
RE: The skeptism that some people indicate with regards to this test. Hey, I’m not about to refute something that puts me in the same category as Albert Einstein!
Seriously, relax. I think we’re all intelligent enough to regard the online test as a fun exercise that makes for a good message board topic. In the real world, such a test is administered by qualified professionals. The tests have a lot more questions and there is as much attention given to the scores in each category as well as the category themselves. The type indicator is a useful tool in the right situations but no one should let his life be directed by it.
Well, I’m an ENFP all the way. I’ve tested that way three times in a row over the course of five years.
One thing in particular I remember reading (which may fuel Johnny Angel’s dismissal but just gives me a giggle) on a CIA conspiracy theory page was that ENFP’s are the most likely to have psychic powers.
So . . . ah, don’t piss me off.
“I’m surprised that you’ve never been told before, that you’re lovely, that you’re perfect, and that somebody wants you.” - Semisonic, f.n.p
INTP.
I’ve taken it 3 times through work and have always come up the same, though I did manage to moderate a point or 2 on the introversion scale. (Good thing, I was practically OFF the scale.)
It’s been a while, but as I recall the acronyms reflect preferences for basic qualities. Introvert vs Extrovert is where you draw your strength. Another was how you process information, yet another was something else again. Specific, huh?
It was stressed that each indicated a preference, i.e. the most comfortable and usual way of relating to the world.
The MB is one of the tested instruments, having been in use for about 50 yrs. It was widely used in the military and taken up by the corporate world, starting w/ Japan after WWII if I recall, as the stated goal of the instrument was to evaluate why people found it so difficult to cooperate w/ one another.
My opinion? Fairly positive, I suppose, judging by the results in my various workplaces. Though in justice I’ve seen the same rationale applied to astrology, the exercise did encourage people to look at others more closely. There were some interesting moments when “hate your guts” enemies had to consider that the other wasn’t just wrongheaded, evil and out to be difficult. Maybe (BURST OF LIGHT) the other person just saw the world differently.
I can’t say it proved to be a magic bullet but it did connect a few useful synapses in my brain. So, my opinion: can be useful, nothing to have a hissy fit over one way or the other.
I, like several others on this board, come out as INTJ. Only I/E was anywhere close to borderline.
I don’t think that these tests are the be-all and end-all of defining who someone is, but they are very useful in the workplace when 2 people can’t seem to agree HOW to get anything done, let alone get anything done.
Understanding your own & others inclinations can help you take advantage of strengths you would would otherwise overlook and question assumptions you might make because of your perspective.
Obviously these things don’t predict good marriage partners, judging by the number of posters who married someone largely completely different, but they do help you see what the differences are and see them as complementary rather than antagonistic.
The depictions of the various personality types are largely positive. I think this is to offset the tendency of us to see the negatives in people who we don’t understand, and to improve our ability to get along & work together.
My type can be seen as a natural (if reluctant) leader, open-minded, but practical. Or I can be arrogant, and cold & aloof. Mea culpa. On another occasion, when I first took this test, the summary included the statement that I was intolerant of stupidity, and apt to apeak my mind about the emperor’s clothing. So, Fretful, you may be one of us, whether you believe it or not.
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