I’ve begun working with a career counselor, and she thought it would be helpful for me to take two standardized tests: the Strong Interest Inventory, which evaluates your career interests, and the MBTI, which evaluates your personality type along four dichotomies: introvert (I) vs. extrovert (E), sensing (S) vs. intuiting (N), thinking (T) vs. feeling (F), and judging (J) vs. perceiving (P). I’ve taken abbreviated forms of the MBTI in the past, twice, a long time ago: the first time I came out INTJ, the second time INFP.
I just took the full MBTI for the first time, and it’s so frustrating. It’s a bunch of theoretical questions followed by two alternatives. For instance, do you prefer a schedule or do you prefer to be spontaneous? Do you usually introduce people at parties or do you usually get introduced? Do you prefer a boss who is good-natured and inconsistent, or one who is sharp-tongued and logical? (Can I pick good-natured and logical but also compassionate?)
I had a hard time with many of the questions. I don’t think I have a consistent personality type. I’m a ball of contradictions. Sometimes I want to be alone and sometimes I want to be around other people. I’m more social than I used to be, but it was something I had to learn. Am I more open or more reserved? It depends on how I’m feeling. Do I prefer a schedule or do I prefer to be spontaneous? It depends. Does my head usually rule over my heart or vice versa? No clue. My head and my heart are in constant conflict. I think too much and I feel too much. Do I prefer logic or emotion? Coldly logical people bother me, but I don’t like mawkish sentiment either.
Grrr.
You know, if I were on the Supreme Court I’d be Justice Kennedy. No, O’Connor. Or maybe Breyer.
Granted, this test doesn’t determine the outcome of my life, or anything, really. It’s just supposed to be insightful. But it still pisses me off because it tries to pigeonhole me into categories, and I don’t like to be pigeonholed. I mean, look. Once I came out INTJ and once INFP. And on the I/E questions 10 years ago, I came out almost equally introverted and extroverted.
Anyway, I’ll see how I wind up scoring this time. It will be really interesting. Or maybe not.
That is such a P’s blog entry! Js don’t fuss about these things, since they already have an answer. (my elder daughter, a huge J, had a favorite for everything when she was little. She even had a favorite finger) Funnily enough I consistently tested INTX before I came out (x being balanced between J and P) Now I test as INFP. It would seem that part of the closeting thing might be hiding the F parts of oneself.
INFP here. Took the Meyers Briggs as well. Also seeing a career coach. Find the process interesting but at the same time I take it with a grain of salt. Lately since my interviews have picked up its been more about weeding through them and focusing on the ones I am most interested in. So its great to have as a sounding board.
INTJ here, though at the end of college I tested as ENTP somehow. Every other time I took the test before or after I’ve been solidly INTJ.
Maybe a new trend would be a dating service based on MBTI score.
The fact that you see this as pigheonholing you tells as much about your personality as the actualy MB results probably will. If you can’t let go and make choices based on your gut your results won’t have nearly as much validity.
i’m not surprise that you had two different letter sets … were you particularly stressed at one of the times? Jung noted that our personality “preferences” are like icebergs: what’s above the water, the smallest part, is that we show to the world; it’s the ways of being we use to cope with the day-to-day. The opposites of that type hide below the surface; during times of major stress (divorces, breakups, new relationships, new jobs, writing a book/dissertation, etc.), we show what’s in our ‘shadow’ — that part below the surface … these become important coping mechanism for us because we’ve decided, on some level, that our typical ways of being will not deal adequately with this current emotional or lived problem/situation … i love MBTI because it’s a useful rhetoric for the world we most want to see … of course, your “p” personality type is the very one that most hates these tests … which is funny every time i give it to my students because the same personality types always say, “oh, that doesn’t work; that’s not true” …