Monday, July 26, 2010

Personalities

A few weeks ago, I finally got around to taking a Meyers/Briggs-type personality test. My friend Tea has been encouraging me to do so for years, and David has also taken it a few times, and I was so thrilled to finally be participating. (I took this one, which isn't- as I understand it- the "full" or "real" one, but yields fairly accurate results, I'm told.) (If you're curious about taking it, this version only takes a few minutes.)

According to the test, I'm ENFP. I found the descriptions eerily accurate, to the point where I had to laugh. "Has lots of great ideas but lacks follow-through." YES. You see? I can't help it! I'm an ENFP, and that's just how we are! We are, after all, the champions.

All snort-chuckling aside, I found it very interesting to read/see/validate certain traits of my personality. I hope to use the information not as an excuse for my actions, but rather to recognize my own strengths and weaknesses. I think that's exactly what the results did for me: articulated parts of my personality that I had not seen/heard articulated before.

When I posted it on facebook, I got tons of people sharing their personality types. I found this very intriguing. David couldn't remember his type, so he retook the test as well. It wasn't a surprise to us that we are almost exact opposites.

Have you ever taken a personality test? Do you think they hold any credibility?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

We studied Myers-Briggs a lot in college psych. At the time (with the "offical one") I was an ISFJ. I've been resisting taking it again, but maybe I will just to see if anything has changed.

Anonymous said...

I'm still an ISFJ. I guess some things never change. With the S, I could go either way, but I am firmly entrenched in the I :-)

Swistle said...

I got ISFJ. But I could have gone either way on about HALF of those questions! Like, I HATE being the center of attention at, for example, my bridal shower. But on the other hand, um, BLOGGING? Obviously I LOVE having TONS of people reading what I write.

And, like, do I prefer small groups or large? Well...how small are we talking? And it depends on how much of the conversation I need to carry. Because sometimes a big group means I can more easily hide, or have lots of small-talky conversations, which I LIKE.

Or about getting bored with theoretical books: YES if they're on topics like PHYSICS, but NO if they're on topics like Malcolm Gladwell writes about. But maybe those aren't theoretical? What IS a theoretical book?

I'll bet my indecisiveness and going-both-ways-ness would let a MB expert diagnose me better than the test did!

I don't know! It was really hard to decide.

Swistle said...

I took it again and got ISTJ. And that description doesn't really fit either. I see that for both the middle figures, my preference is only 1%---so apparently I'm right in the middle, though definitely an I and definitely a J.

Seester said...

I took it again and got ENTP this time which I think is more fitting.

Marie Green said...

Swistle and Seester- I *think* but am not sure that the full length version would be more accurate for people that are on the fence in a few areas. I had a hard time with lots of the questions too. "Do you get exhausted after spending extended time with people?" NO! Well, wait, WHO am I spending time with? Honestly, sometimes being with people is energizing and other times I need to have some time alone...