randomness about the mbti

[keryx]

Have y'all taken some variant of the MBTI (aka Keirsey/Myers-Briggs/Jung personality test - there're versions you can take online, too)?

Starting middle school, and well into my first few years of post-college work, I recall the MBTI being like The Word on personality. All my friends knew their type (and in many cases knew the 'rules' of type well enough to be able to game the test), and we spent fully a week discussing it in one business 'management' course. I think personality tests appeal to our desire to be recognizable, and understood. The Keirsey 16PF book is, in fact, called Please Understand Me - it's cheesy, but probably true. They're a way of connecting people, too, at least in a work setting.

It seems like people don't use it so much anymore. But for whatever reason, I took several of the online versions recently (take the word-pairs ones if you want something less obvious & easy to game), and realized there'd been some pretty drastic shifts in my concept of self (which is what a self-reporting test really tells you about) of late.

So I'm curious. Have you taken the MBTI? If you have, have you also 'checked in' on your type periodically? Did it change over time or situation? And of course, what 4 little letters represent your personality in a nutshell?

Me, I spent years being an E/INTP at home and an E/INTJ at work (so, really the only consistency was the ragingly strong NT). The internets tests insist I'm an ENFP now, and it does make some sense.

Comments

[begraven.livejournal.com]

we use the MBTI in my department quite a bit. When I first took the test about 7 years ago, I was an ESFJ. I now come up as an ENFP which does fit me very well. I have changed ALOT in those 7 years `;~)

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

I first took the test at age 11, so 18 years ago. I was an INTP then, strongly I, N, T but only weakly P. Now I'm an INTJ, strongly I, N, T but fairly weakly J. So my self-concept hasn't changed very much, but I do consistently come up J these days, and I did consistently come up P in the past.

[libskrat]

Used to be an ISTJ, teetering on the S/N edge. As I've grown up and picked up a little more confidence, the S has swung to N, and the I is rather weaker than it used to be. I can fake F behaviors, but I do doubt they'll ever be completely natural.

And I embrace my Jness. Ps tend to tick me off. :)

[cutegaychick.livejournal.com]

I first took it at Governor's School when I was 16. It was a big thing -- everyone spent days discussing their results. I was an INFP. I've taken it several times since and I've been steadily getting more E-ish and J-ish over the years. I'll take it again today and report back.

[cutegaychick.livejournal.com]

Okay, so now I'm an ESFJ. The only thing that hasn't changed over the years is that I'm still a total F -- almost no T in me at all (shocking, I know).

[orkid.livejournal.com]

i've usually test as an ENFJ, and i still think that's the best fit for me, though i've always been 50-50 on the E/I factor. (i often feel very shy, but don't usually act as shy as i feel.) today i'm also 50-50 on the N/S factor, which is surprising but interesting.

[arovd.livejournal.com]

fisrt test about 7 years ago: INTJ - the evil spider, sitting in it's web, watching for opportunites to exploit. :) I still feel somewhat connected to that image, and both its negative and positive aspects

Two years ago: INFP - no idea what that means

My strongest characterestic is always I.

[arovd.livejournal.com]

ok just took it again - got INTP. (I used http://www.haleonline.com/psych/ )

I'm seeing an "IN" theme here. :)

this one seems like a good fit for me right now:

A relentless learner in areas that hold your interest...you might seem "lost in thought" to others...you tend to connect unrelated thoughts...you would rather be the architect of a plan than the implementer of it...you need a private, quiet workplace that allows for flexible independence... would rather organize ideas than people....
You tend to stay away from traditional leadership roles, and would rather lead with your ideas...

Pitfalls: don't focus too much on the inconsistencies of others...try being friendly and showing appreciation of others...being competent is very important to you, and you could be too hard on yourself....

[follybard.livejournal.com]

I've consistently scored as an INTP since first taking the test in a college psychology class over a decade ago. This isn't so surprising: I am strongly I, strongly N, and strongly T, and by nature middlin'-to-strong P (although I've learned to force the occasional J-ness when it's necessary for school or work), so any drift that has occurred in the intervening years hasn't been enough to change my scores. My husband, in contrast, scores out as xxxJ (i.e. borderline on the first three scales and likely to score differently on every test but almost 100% J; I've been known to refer to him as "the man with the world's smallest P-ness", which I find much funnier than he does, for some reason.... :) )

I've found the test very useful in part because I *am* so polarized on all the scales. It has been a useful reminder to me that other ways of being are equally valid and useful, even if I find them unfathomable. (The second time I took the test, it was a quickie version given as part of a program/dinner for a social/study group I was a part of. Discussing the test on the way back home afterward, I revealed to my best friend -- an ESxJ -- that I'd found one of the questions particularly baffling: "Visionaries are: (a) fascinating people; (b) somewhat annoying." "Who on earth would say that visionaries are annoying?" I raved at my friend. "Well, actually," she replied, "I did...." Heh. And then there was the strongly F soprano who joined my grad school a cappella group, whom I loved dearly but found incredibly frustrating when we were trying to learn new music: "I give her data," I complained to one of our altos, "and she tries to empathize with it!" Hee!)

I'm considering using the MBTI in our department's Senior Design class (I'm designing the curriculum, so I get to suggest stuff like that :) ), because I think it is useful for students -- engineers in particular, who probably have more of a tendency than the average person to assume that our way is the *correct* way -- to be aware of differences in type and the strengths that each one brings. We'll see how it goes over....

[kitty-pitchfork.livejournal.com]

i usually come up as an INFJ and occasionally as an INFP. today is an INFP day, heh heh. either one works for me, really--i think i'm kind of waffling on the border between judging and perceiving, but the rest of it is pretty accurate. the thing i think is funny about the INFJ designation, though, is that it's supposed to be the rarest type, and yet it seems like half my friends list is made up if INFJ's. maybe that has something to do with like being attracted to like or something, but i'm not totally convinced.

[puzzlement.livejournal.com]

My friends and I all went through phases of taking them a few years back. Many of us were raging NTs. I tend to test ENTJ or INTJ, but I've also gotten SF occasionally, so I don't know what the thing is trying to tell me about my personality.

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

oh yeah. love it, read the books, own the t-shirt. ok not really, but that would be a fun thing to iron-on a t-shirt...

you probably don't recall at this point, but in high school i was a distinct INTP. strong all the way across in each category. after my total breakdown on freshman year, i swung strongly over to ENFJ. well, the E comes and goes but the FJ were very strong.

now i think i know the test too well to take it and have it mean anything.

[snidegrrl.livejournal.com]

my big curiosity has always been to take the MMPI. i've ALWAYS wanted to take that! but you can't take it unless being like, ordered by a court, the military, or in extreme circumstances by your shrink.

fyi just took the test again, new results:

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding host or hostesses. 12.3% of total population.

i'd say this is pretty accurate lately. the N has been beaten out of me over time... something i'd never dreamed would happen.

[thescissors.livejournal.com]

I've always come up strongly INFP, although I've moved toward the middle in recent years. I'm pretty much 60-40 for each factor. I really have to be careful to turn off the manipulative "now what is this question measuring?" voice, though :). When I was going through massive personality testing in seminary, all the tests except the MMPI magically showed that I should be a pastor.

The MMPI beat me. That thing is way smarter than me.

[varsil.livejournal.com]

The MBTI isn't really a good test. The reason why it's everywhere is because any idiot monkey can get his/her hands on it, and because they license it to businesses and have it run by people who really have no clue that it's a crap test.

It's basically astrology in a shiny pseudoscientific wrapper.

If you want a better measure of actual personality, go with the MMPI. Unfortunately, you won't find an internet version of it. It's not licensed to anyone who doesn't have a psych degree (more's the pity, given that it's generally electronically scored... but it's more that they don't want random goobs trying to interpret results that need some knowledge to understand). It's also very long, and costly to have done.

If you want, I can rant more on why the MBTI is a crap test, and provide more support. Otherwise, I'll avoid overly spamming this entry. :)

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Oh, do rant more!

I think of the MBTI & its variants as sorta... personality tarot. What they say, more than anything, is what you think about yourself. Most of the types of tests used by companies & such do basically the same thing. The results are vague enough & in broad enough categories that much of their importance comes from the things that resonate for you (i.e. for me the notion of "my type" being concerned with search for self) - so your interpretation can serve as guidance for yourself, which is valuable.