Personality tests…. hmmm
How useful are the Myers-Briggs test results? I’m an INFP. I’ve gotten the same result every time I’ve taken the test. The results are always pretty accurate. Idealist, value-oriented, head in the clouds. This is pretty much me.
Most descriptions focus on the “fluffy” side. Perceptive, intuitive, optimistic, high minded…
In more negative terms: (similar minds.com )
creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings, prone to quitting, prone to feelings of loneliness, ambivalent of the rules, solitary, daydreams about people to maintain a sense of closeness, focus on fantasies, acts without planning, low self confidence, emotionally moody, can feel defective, prone to lateness, likes esoteric things, wounded at the core, feels shame, frequently losing things, prone to sadness, prone to dreaming about a rescuer, disorderly, observer, easily distracted, does not like crowds, can act without thinking, private, can feel uncomfortable around others, familiar with the darkside, hermit, more likely to support marijuana legalization, can sabotage self, likes the rain, sometimes can’t control fearful thoughts, prone to crying, prone to regret, attracted to the counter culture, can be submissive, prone to feeling discouraged, frequently second guesses self, not punctual, not always prepared, can feel victimized, prone to confusion, prone to irresponsibility, can be pessimistic.
They’re always telling my to be a writer or a teacher (or a preacher)… They also claim this to be an highly uncommon result- ranging from less than 1% to 1.25% of the population, but I wonder if this isn’t like a newspaper horoscope that in some sense fits everybody- or almost everybody.If I had read the descriptions for another type first would I identify with it instead? I believe that people are incredibly complex (or is this my idealism shining through?) and each embody every possible characteristic to a degree.
Any ideas?
I have done MBTI three times, and they have always come up the same – INFJ. The numbers move a bit, but I am always INFJ. My husband is an INFP (I know several, can it be that rare???). Most of the marital problems we have come out of the difference of J and P. The similar minds take on INFJ is me, to a tee.
However, as a therapist (LOL, yup, first on their list of careers for INFJ, although I was always told than ENFJ or ENFP’s would make better therapists), I think these things really are sort of like horoscopes. You have to take out of it what appeals and is useful. It is not a definition of you.
It can hopefully make you consider some things, but if you don’t want to be a writer/teacher/preacher, you can look at what in those descriptions work for you, and what does not appeal.
And I completely agree – people are very complex, and while “we” would love to label them and box them up for treatment/advertising/social control, none of us really fit completely in those boxes. Individuality has to come out somewhere!
Posted 1 year, 9 months agoJanine,
Hiya! Thanks for the comment. I would never get my husband to take the test. He hates anything like it. He is introverted, he’s anti-social (that’s an honest description of him), and he’s a gloomy artist. Not to say anything horrible- though it does kind of sound that way, somehow these characteristics can turn out well, too. =P I’m not sure exactly what that correlates to.
Anyway, funny you should mention it- I got the idea a few minutes ago that I should poll everybody I know and see just how many are INFPs. I certainly feel like a weirdo plenty, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s not that uncommon a state.
Maybe the most useful thing in the analysis is the disinterests list. Amusingly the similarminds disinterest list for me includes both lawyer and judge. I’m in law school!! I’m also hating it and thinking it was a terrible idea, but more of what I’ve always seen myself doing was something more along the ADR lines, mediation or the like and that is on several of the INFP lists. So, maybe I’m not too far off base.
I think you’re right, the whole thing should be used as an aid, not as a means of defining oneself.
Posted 1 year, 9 months agoLOL, mine sounds like yours. But I managed to get him to do a couples workshop on MBTI. I think that was the only such thing he has ever agreed to!
If you are interested in ADR or mediation, then you are in the right ballpark with law, just not the right, ummm, base? Team?
I have pursued my career to the point that I want something similar but different. It is like twisting the kaleidoscope and with all the same pieces, getting a new picture.
Posted 1 year, 9 months agoMBTI is not a test. It’s an instrument used to determine a preference.
MBTI doesn’t place you in a ‘box.’ Everyone uses all the dimensions, but we have preferences for one or the other dichotomy in each.
MBTI isn’t necessarily correct, either. It results in a ‘reported’ type. The second part of the assessment is for you to pick your ’self-verified’ type after learning what MBTI is about. Ultimately you make the final selection. That’s why I wonder why people take it more than once. Whoever administered the instrument to you should have explained all this.
It isn’t like a horoscope – it’s the culmination of decades of psychometric research.
Do you know what INFP means? The P means you extrovert intuition – that means your intuitive perceiving is what you show the world. You also introvert feeling, and that is your dominant function – introverted feeling. That means you make decisions based on how they affect people, in an introverted fashion. Here are your preferences, in order from highest to lowest:
Dominant – introverted feeling
Auxiliary – extroverted intuition
Tertiary – introverted sensing
Inferior – extroverted judging
Again, whoever administered the MBTI to you should have explained all this.
Posted 1 year, 9 months agoHmm… looks interesting. I’ll try the test and get back to you.
Posted 1 year, 9 months agoVERY interesting and helpful what Innovation Catalyst posted.
I’m predominantly an INFP and I pretty much identify with everything on that list except liking rain and prone to being late. I hate being late. lol
As you said, we’re individuals. I test between an INFP and INFJ, though I believe I’m much closer to INFP. I don’t think anyone ever is exactly anything. Even if you do test as an INFP now, try again in a couple years. It may change a little. I used to test only as INFJ or INTP, now I test as INFP. Either way I’m definitely an IN-something. lol
As for careers, it took me a while to accept, but I want to be a novelist. That basically means I want to be broke. Ha. Good luck with law school. I was studying to be a X-ray tech before I came to my senses. Now I’m studying professional writing.
If you hadn’t already I highly recommend reading personalitypage(dot)com/INFP.html
Posted 1 year, 9 months ago@lecya:
There’s an easy way to determine whether you prefer INTP or INTJ.
If you prefer P, there are probably a few things about you that stand out – you don’t like deadlines, prefer not to plan your life, like to keep things open-ended. If you prefer J, you like things planned out, prefer to adhere to a schedule.
Further, if you are a P you extrovert your intuition (N). That means when you’re with a group of people you like to talk about possibilities, connections, abstract thoughts and ideas – you haven’t made a decision yet. If you are a J you extrovert thinking (T), which means you like to talk about direction – you’ve decided what to do and want others to agree with you.
Which is more like you?
PS – you take a nice picture
Posted 1 year, 9 months agoPPS – sorry, I meant INFP vs INFJ. Not thinking (T), but feeling (F).
Posted 1 year, 9 months agoHahaha Thanks. Definitely P. I’m always talking about possibilities and never like making definite decisions. I’m never one to ask what to do because if it were up to me everyone will be sitting around all day waiting for me to decide while I talk about what’s good and bad between the two. Then I feel bad that I pick one over the other because I know the other thing had good things about it too. I can’t even decided what I want at a restaurant.
Posted 1 year, 8 months agoHiya Innovation and Lecya!
Welcome =P
I do exactly the same thing (take a million years to make a decision). I can’t even decide which restaurant to go to- it drives my husband crazy.
Apparently there’s a term for what I was refering to in the post “but I wonder if this isn’t like a newspaper horoscope that in some sense fits everybody”.
Forer effect. Wiki article I’d change my post and pretend I knew this all along, but I’d rather not.
Posted 1 year, 8 months agoI’ve taken an online [free] test, and another through a councilor who’s helping me find a new career. They were different, but not by much. The first said I’m ISFP. With the help of my councilor, I’ve been able to see, though, that I’m borderline between ISFP and INFP. I’ve also read several websites on the personality characteristics including the one you listed here. Most of them stated the characteristics in a positive light [fluffy], except similarminds.com which didn’t have anything positive to say about ISFP [probably written by an ENTJ]. My councilor gave me a chart that put the charactristics in nonbias terms, since each characteristic can be both negative or positive depending on the situation. It helped me to understand it better. If you’d like a copy, e-mail me.
Posted 1 year, 8 months agoBluerose,
Posted 1 year, 8 months agoHey you took it! I’m a loser, I haven’t written anymore blog entries. Interesting your results turned out that way. I’m gonna take you up on the offer and send an email for the list.
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Nonresistance!!
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago