I bet you think I'm extroverted. That's a pretty reasonable assumption to make based on the fact that I've taken you along with me to my mammogram. An introvert probably wouldn't do that.
Only I did. And I am. Honestly.
I'm not shy, I'm not socially awkward or maladjusted, I'm just a loner. Some people thrive on crowds and parties and wearing lampshades on their heads. I thrive on solitude and often need a day of recuperating after an especially social outing like buying gum.
Admittedly I'm just a borderline introvert which is why I I'm not uncomfortable in social situations or afraid of them ... I just find them tiring.
How do I know this about myself? Well I'm pretty astute. Plus I took the famed Myers Briggs personality test a few weeks ago and it indeed confirmed everything I already knew about myself.
The Myers Briggs test is a personality test that was developed by a woman in the 1940s based on research done by Carl Jung in the 1920's. It breaks everyone down into 1 of 16 different personality types based on whether they are Extroverted or Introverted, Sensory or INtuitive, Thinking or Feeling, and Judging or Perceiving.
It's the most popular personality test in the world and it's also one of the most criticized. Not unlike the Seinfeld finale.
I turned out to be an "INTJ". Which means I'm an Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking and Judging kind of person. Which makes perfect sense because when I first heard about this test my first instinct was to judge it. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of nutshelling. But then it was accurate and I didn't know what to do. I mean I'd already judged the way a judgey judger would. I'll Intuitively Think about what to do with this information while being Introverted one night.
No personality type is deemed any better than any other type in the test. They're just different. "INTJs" (me) for example tend to be interested, innovative, single-minded in concentration, unimpressed with authority and naturally high achievers. On the other hand an "ENFP" is charming and enthusiastic, people oriented, knows everyone and everything that's going on and will b able to do almost anything that he or she wants. See? Not better. Just different.
Only obviously anyone who is an INTJ is better.
Wanna know what you are? This sample Myers Briggs test only takes a few minutes to do. Go do it then in the comment section tell us what you are and if you think it's true!
I really did find mine to be a fairly accurate representation of me.
Curious about famous people? Of course you are because we're all interested in what famous people are really like for some bizarre reason. Actually it isn't bizarre at all, I know exactly why. It's because we either want to know that they're exactly like us or nothing at all like us, depending on what famous person we're talking about.
This site has a great long list of all the different personality types and famous people they attribute them to. I'm linking to the INTJ page, but just look in the left hand column for your type and click on that.
Since we know I'm an INTJ, here are a few others in this world who were as well.
Sir Isaac Newton
Physicist
Mark Zuckerberg
CEO of Facebook
Stephen Hawking
Physicist
Ted Kaczynski
The Unibomber
Jay Z
General all around mogul
I was pretty excited about my list of INTJ celebrities until I couldn't find David Letterman on it. Turns out he was on the ENTJ list. Which no way in hell is true. David Letterman is not an extrovert, he's a classic introvert so now I'm back to questioning the validity of this test.
Not that I'm one to judge. But I am.
Did you take the test? Do you know what you are?
Lay it on me.
[shareaholic app="share_buttons" id="5342563"]
gloria
I'm an ISFP. Whoah, nail on the head. I'm probably one of your older readers and back in the day we took the Gregorc Style Delineator test. I think I was a Concrete Random on that one. And on the Four Temperaments Test, I landed firmly in the middle of Melancholic. Anyone else take these?
Mike
BTW, read about the great ham fart in your Easter blog. Yeah, I read them all. And I'm a guy
Karen
LOL. So you know all about it. ~ karen!
Stephanie Hobson
ISTJ. Pretty spot on. But the best thing, if true, is that you read Penelope Trunk! A notification of a new post from you and her on the same day! Très amazing!
Mike
Ok, took the test. Says I'm a ENFP. Looks pretty accurate. Hate those questions, though. Seems like I could answer them all the same. Wish they gave you the "maybe" option. I've had to take these test for various jobs I've had in the past. One took me two hours to complete. Would have rather been shot. When I finished, I don't think I had any personality left. Thanks for the good article. Curious about the great ham fart. Used to have a fart machine. A little gizmo that made various fart sounds. It worked by a remote. I would place the sound part under the office break room table, hide, and just laugh and laugh. Doesn't take much to amuse me, I guess.
Amber
I think your Bloggitudinousness has crashed the site. I answered much more honestly this time, since it's late and I've had wine, but all I've gotten is a blank page and an inability to complete request.
Humph. I was curious what I am...
Clifyt
Introversion in the clinical sense has nothing to do with outgoingness...it has to do where you gain energy. I was in entertainment professionally for a decade, and folks thought I was a complete extrovert. My current career is doing thing like creating / validating / administering tests like the MBTI. And even my colleagues that should know better still think I'm an extrovert. Nope...I like my office door closed when possible. Why? I get my energy from being by myself. Recharging time. I know how to be social, and very good at it, but still...
Now, if you get your energy from interacting with others? Then you are an extrovert. Probably. Or maybe an ambivert, but that goes against the whole jungian archetypes that go into this side of personality theory.
Kate
Clifyt, I was hoping someone would go into that. Introverts are too often lumped in with the anti-social and socially anxious..... not that some introverts aren't, the terms just aren't interchangeable.
clifyt
It is much easier to be anti-social when you end up turning your attention to yourself and you never develop the skills to communicate with others. However, socialization is really a developed skill and nothing more. I know extroverts that for one reason or another never had to learn to socialize in a proper manner (i.e., small communities of very heterogeneous individuals) -- that once they get into the 'real' world, end up with social anxieties because they just can't cope and end up isolating themselves because it doesn't come out right...so it works the other way as well.
That said, I think taking the test on your own is the wrong way to do this...you miss so many details of what this may mean and you may mistake a lot of subtleties for things that mean something completely different.
Jo
INFJ. Great -- apparently we're hard to understand and besides there aren't many of us. And the only person on the Famous INFJ Persons List is Jane Eyre! For God's Sake, it just like being a Scorpio! Ever look at that sign's horoscope?! One day mine said "Try to get along with those around you." I could have told them: "Not my fault!"
SusanR
This was fun, Karen.
INTJ
Yep, pretty much. Maybe a bit more IN(TF)J. I'm a softie.
ruth
Also an INTJ and not so pleased to be on a list with the unibomber. And I think I am bit warmer and sensitive than the description, but maybe I'm not. I'll have to think about it!
Susan
ISTJ - pretty much bang on. And explains A LOT!!
Shannon
INFP for me. I took this back in college and it gave me the "e" instead of the "I", but I may have just been excited to be there. I too prefer time to recover after an event but am probably somewhere near the border. I love seeing what others are. Does anyone else struggle with the answer to "is it worse to be unjust or unmerciful"? It struck a chord for me and I'm not sure what the right answer is.
Grammy
The justice vs. mercy question had me struggling to answer, too.
Jacquie
I actually stopped doing the test at that point so I could think about it. Still not quite sure where I stand on it really.
Luanne
I don't think there is a "right" answer for this. And I don't think you have to be one way or another.
If you ask me, merciful is most important. So much so that I am glad that there are people who are equally as "just" to balance me out.
judy
Justice without Mercy is not Justice. Justice must consider mitigating circumstance etc. IMHO
Auntiepatch
ISTJ -- Right on - They will excel at ensuring everyone is clear on what is expected—everyone will know what the plan is and their part in it—and in ensuring that the plan is enacted. They are more task- than people-focused.
Robert
I'm a INFJ although i disagree with my areas of growth
Pam
I also did the test for work and was not surprised to find I am an INTP. Yep, I sure am!
Pam
Wait, maybe I remembered that wrong, because I just took it again and I'm an INTJ! I guess I'm judgier than I thought. :-)
Sarah
Just took the test at your link: INTJ as well :-) Though what is interesting is that I last took this test about 20 years ago, when I was 'more' of a lawyer than I am now. And then, I was an ISTJ. And I would agree that since I've stopped being 'so much' of a lawyer, I have become much more free-thinking, open-minded and creative. Which pretty much fits with a shift from S to I! So it's interesting that one's life experiences can shift the outcome of the test...
Sensing (S)
Paying attention to physical reality, what I see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. I'm concerned with what is actual, present, current, and real. I notice facts and I remember details that are important to me. I like to see the practical use of things and learn best when I see how to use what I'm learning. Experience speaks to me louder than words.
Intuition (N)
Paying the most attention to impressions or the meaning and patterns of the information I get. I would rather learn by thinking a problem through than by hands-on experience. I'm interested in new things and what might be possible, so that I think more about the future than the past. I like to work with symbols or abstract theories, even if I don't know how I will use them. I remember events more as an impression of what it was like than as actual facts or details of what happened.
Catherine Gibson
Your results can change over time as your personality is not a static monolithic thing, but rather part of who you are. Since you change with your life experiences and what is working for you, your MBPI results can change too. I'm an ENTJ, so I'm not likely to change my modus operandi, since it works out pretty well for me.
And the Op is absolutely right, you may not have extroverted tendencies, it doesn't mean that can't do something extroverted and do it very well, or exceptionally well, You just may not be able to do it all the time or you may need some recovery time after it.
Katie
Textbook INFJ here! ...but a terrible Capricorn. :)
Kim from Milwaukee
I'm an INFJ too!!! Fist bump!
Katie Schneider
1-2% of the population, baby--we should start an exclusive club where we stubbornly counsel each other into organization... :)
Sue
ISTJ - ISTJs are the behind-the-scenes workers who make things happen. I would somewhat agree.
Karla
ESFP. No argument here!
TucsonPatty
ISFP - "Planning and control are not for ISFPs; they much prefer to stay in the background doing the things they like, keeping a balance, which of course includes choosing to remain happily disorganized."
Um...yep. That pretty much sums it up in a nutshell!
Luanne
High-5, NTJ-er! I'm ENTJ, but just barely into the "E" world. I participated in a workshop on this as a part of a workplace a few years back. It was really great to see how we could better interact with one another's tendencies.
Bronwyn
Snap! Me too - also did it as a workplace exercise. And talk about "judging"- the organisers use the "describe the sea" exercise to illustrate differences. To me, the sea is deep and blue. To others in the room it was "powerful, sensual, mysterious". Snort!