Meyers-Briggs?

[dr_tectonic]

I am occasionally fascinated by personality tests. I discovered the Myers-Briggs test in high school, and really liked it because not only did it describe me pretty well, the book I had explained the motivations of people who are different than me quite well. (The enneagram, on the other hand, makes no sense at all to me.)

What do you think?

[Poll #950157]

(I tested as crossover INFP/INTP/ENFP/ENTP back then, which still seems pretty accurate to me. I have a difficulty taking it any more because I like that classification and have a hard time not trying to game the answers, and because my answer to many of the questions is "it totally depends" -- which is consistent with being split on the related scores.)

Comments

[flwyd.livejournal.com]

I don't really get the point. I don't need a test to tell me that I'm pretty introverted; I already knew that.

The test also doesn't do a good job of fuzziness. I'm introverted with strong extroverted leanings (wearing outrageous hats, being on stage, etc.). But the test doesn't distinguish between that and someone who's introverted to autistic levels. It marches through questions whose answers are naturally "Well, often X but sometimes Y" and turns them into a small bit set which in the end describes what you already knew about yourself.

I think OKCupid does a brilliant satire job on their "Dating Personality Type."

[hapaxeslegomena.livejournal.com]

Supposedly, it’s more to help you understand other people’s dysfunctions. But I find it helps legitimize my existence to the type of people who only believe what they see written in popular books. Like Fundamentalist Christians.

“Here, read this chapter, then stop praying for God to grant me extroversion.”

[flwyd.livejournal.com]

I should add "It's totally worng" to my collection of stock phrases. Brilliant.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

Caring for your introvert. A little pat, but worth making into a pamphlet and handing out to friends and colleagues.

I present very extroverted, but I need a lot of time to recharge. The difference between and introvert and an extravert is whether or not you gain or lose energy being around people.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

What I realized when I was looking at it most recently is that whether I gain or lose energy being around people depends on the people. Usually I'm extroverted -- because I'm usually surrounded by the right people, and I get plenty of alone time at work. But when I'm on business trips, I sometimes need to hide in my hotel room for a while.

[hapaxeslegomena.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you’re and introvert, then. An extrovert wouldn’t need alone time at work in order to deal with people; in fact, it would probably drive them crazy.

Introverts also tend to have a small handful of people that drain them less quickly than the average stranger/coworker.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

I really think I'm bimodal.

I do need some time alone, but I can get too much of it and really NEED to interact with people. And I have quite a few people that don't drain me at all, but energize me. My friends generally think of me as quite extroverted, but I found out that my boss thinks I'm something of an introvert.

So I think I go back and forth. Living with two real introverts, I've learned to believe them when they tell me to go socialize with people and leave them at home, really it's okay.

[arcticturtle.livejournal.com]

Bah! Fortune cookies and horoscopes!

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

Ooo, curmudgeonly today!

It fits you ill, I take it?

[arcticturtle.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've never even taken it. It rubs me wrong even from a distance, though. Strikes me as one of those horoscopey things that people can use to make themselves feel understood and flattered, no matter what the result says.

I wonder if it's been tested - give people randomized results, ask them how accurate they were, and compare that to people who've been given their "correct" results.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

Ah! Well, it's not as rigorous a test, but I always like to read the descriptions of the classifications that aren't supposed to be for me. With horoscopes, you find that all of them are sort of generic good advice and apply equally well (or poorly).

What impressed me with this particular personality test is that, while the 4 types that I matched were mostly good descriptions of me (with exceptions), I felt that the other type descriptions really didn't apply at all. They were definitely describing people very unlike me.

So I think it's got something going for it. There are, of course, a million traits that it ignores, but it can be a useful lens to look through.

[bryree.livejournal.com]

Wow. Don't I feel all 's' minority and stuff.

I think such tests are effective at giving us insights into ourselves about things that we hadn't perhaps consciously noted and at helping us understand where others are coming from. They are helpful ONLY insofar as those who use them (loose definition of 'use,' your post would count) understand that the results are not deterministically revealing your 'personality fate'; they are revealing tendencies, some strong and some weak, about the way people approach life and what those tendencies can (not must) mean practically in a better (more scientifically?) tested way than do, say, zodiac signs. Tendencies can and do change, but we have them nonetheless. And I certainly know that you clearly understand the above, just wanted to 'say' it 'out loud.'

[psyclonic.livejournal.com]

I took this test once and hated it. In that session I was instructed to answer each question by selecting one of the proffered answers.

Much more recently I retook it with different guidance: this time I was allowed to leave a quesdtion blank or choose multiple answers. I got much more out of the recent testing (which may also have had something to do with a free professional assessment based on my results). So there's huge variability in how one takes the test, and how the results are analyzed and presented.

I happen to have connected more with the Enneagram, but as many in the psych profession will say, the Enneagram has little predictive value (hehehe, this is probly why you don't like it) and is more of a spiritual tool than a psychological assessment. That said, my Enneagram work ended up pointing at something very simliar to my MBTI assessment. To me these are two different approaches, and if Person A tends to prefer one over the other, then having multiple options has given that person a more effective tool.

Disclaimer: I do tend to enjoy personality testing! ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

i've had a lot of experience with Myers Briggs -- in multiple settings. I think one of the greatest misunderstanding with it is once it labels you your "preferrence" that doesn't mean that you aren't capable of behaving in a manner outside of that. Nor do many people realize that while their preferences should NOT change -- at different ages or situations in ones life, you might need to rely upon another less "preferred" characteristic. Simple example, I'm an extrovert by preference, but as I get older, i find that i need more quiet time and time to myself. And in work situations, i often force myself to be quiet and introverted to give myself more opportunity to listen to my colleagues.

As a highly desired reference, I'd point to "introduction to type in organizations" by sandra krebs hirsh and jean m . kummerow -- it gives a very good analysis on how different types work in different groups and situations. It also does a good job at looking at Myers Briggs in areas more than simply a combination of four letters (quadrants combine energizing preferences and perceiving preferences; function pairs {ST, SF, NF, NT} look at communication style and problem solving; temperments {SJ, SP, NF, NT} look at observable clusters of behavior.

Another reference I'd point to is called: they Psychological Types: A Jungian Primer from a book called "understanding your management style" -- while a bit more interesting as it actually compares and references jung, it does look interstingly at those ideas.

Finally -- another psycological test (other than myers briggs and the enneagram) that I'd point to would be the EQI emotitial IQ (also known as the BarOn EQ-I). try Howard E and Stein, Steven, The EQ: Edge...; it adds a good bit of more emotional analysis to the personality type question. Goleman's Primal Leadership: realizing the power of emotional intelligence, might be a little to "selp-helpsy" but is another good research.

Bottome line: i think all these are great tools to understanding how we behave, what drives us, and how people interact.

tw

[earthling177.livejournal.com]

Just in case someone doesn't want to take the test and wants a quick-n-dirty result, just see which "prayer" fits you best from the following ones. ;-)

-- Paulo (INTJ, not that it matters.)

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Organization: The Birdsong Company, PO Box 2031, Sunnyvale CA 94087-2031
From: larry@birdsong.sunnyvale.ca.us (Lawrence T. Hardiman)
Subject: MBTI Prayers (giggle, inside joke on... MBTI)
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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a popular psychometric instrument popularized by Kiersey & Bates in "Please Understand Me".

The following was emailed to me by a colleague. Those familiar with MBTI will get a giggle out of it.

[BTW. I'm an ISTJ. ... To the max!]


MBTI Types Prayers

ISTJ: Lord help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow
at 11:41.23 am e.s.t.

ISTP: God help me to consider people's feelings, even if most of them
ARE hypersensitive.

ESTP: God help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though
they're usually NOT my fault.

ESTJ: God, help me to not try to RUN everything. But, if You need some
help, just ask

ISFJ: Lord, help me to be more laid back and help me to do it EXACTLY
right.

ISFP: Lord, help me to stand up for my rights (if you don't mind my asking).

ESFP: God help me to take things more seriously, especially parties and dancing.

ESFJ: God give me patience, and I mean right NOW

INFJ: Lord help me not be a perfectionist. (did I spell that correctly?)

INFP: God, help me to finish everything I sta

ENFP: God,help me to keep my mind on one th-Look a bird-
ing at a time.

ENFJ: God help me to do only what I can and trust you for the rest. Do you
mind putting that in writing?

INTJ: Lord keep me open to others' ideas, WRONG though they may be

INTP: Lord help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

ENTP: Lord help me follow established procedures today. On second thought,
I'll settle for a few minutes

ENTJ: Lord, help me slow downandnotrushthroughwatIdo

Amen.

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