What Personality Are You?

[Intoscience]

As per the title.

I recently, as part of a job interview, was asked to complete a Jung / Myers-Briggs test to reveal my personality. I agreed, as I found this interesting since I had never ever considered doing this previously. Possibly naively, I was sceptical of such tests as I felt they are open to ambiguity since it's my belief that personalities though possibly similar between people follow a spectrum and are unique rather than fit within a category.

Anyway, cutting to the chase I completed the test and my result was : INFJ - Introvert. Intuitive. Feeling. Judging. Which turns out to be the rarest personality type with only around 1.5% of the world's population estimated to fit in this category.

To confirm this result I subsequently did other similar tests with different questions and received the same result each time. After doing some more research on this type of personality I do have to admit, with all honesty, that I display the vast majority of traits associated with INFJ people, my partner also confirms this from her experiences living with me all these years.

Your thoughts on the subject?   

[dimreepr]

1 hour ago, Intoscience said:

As per the title.

I recently, as part of a job interview, was asked to complete a Jung / Myers-Briggs test to reveal my personality. I agreed, as I found this interesting since I had never ever considered doing this previously. Possibly naively, I was sceptical of such tests as I felt they are open to ambiguity since it's my belief that personalities though possibly similar between people follow a spectrum and are unique rather than fit within a category.

Anyway, cutting to the chase I completed the test and my result was : INFJ - Introvert. Intuitive. Feeling. Judging. Which turns out to be the rarest personality type with only around 1.5% of the world's population estimated to fit in this category.

To confirm this result I subsequently did other similar tests with different questions and received the same result each time. After doing some more research on this type of personality I do have to admit, with all honesty, that I display the vast majority of traits associated with INFJ people, my partner also confirms this from her experiences living with me all these years.

Your thoughts on the subject?   

How can you be sure that you haven't been flattered into that box?

[Intoscience]

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

How can you be sure that you haven't been flattered into that box?

I can't,

Though not sure what you mean by "flattered", each personality type has what's considered "pro's and con's" so not really a competition or any suggestion one type is better than another. 

It just interested me that I completed 4 independent tests, answered each question with honesty and the results were identical. From a scientific standpoint this suggests that the results reflect what "general" category my personality does indeed fall into. I'm not suggesting that these tests are by any means robust, but there appears to be less ambiguity than I first assumed.

I had no idea on the range of types and/or what traits each type assumes. 

I came out as INFJ on all 4 tests, I then did some research on the assumed traits for this personality type and it reflected almost exactly my personality.

So what else should I conclude from this? 

Maybe someone with more expertise on this can share their thoughts? It's all still very new to me and therefore I consider myself maybe ignorant or rather naïve. 

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by Intoscience

[dimreepr]

6 minutes ago, Intoscience said:

I can't,

Though not sure what you mean by "flattered", each personality type has what's considered "pro's and con's" so not really a competition or any suggestion one type is better than another. 

It just interested me that I completed 4 independent tests, answered each question with honesty and the results were identical. From a scientific standpoint this suggests that the results reflect what "general" category my personality does indeed fall into. I'm not suggesting that these tests are by any means robust, but there appears to be less ambiguity than I first assumed.

I had no idea on the range of types and/or what traits each type assumes. 

I came out as INFJ on all 4 tests, I then did some research on the assumed traits for this personality type and it reflected almost exactly my personality.

So what else should I conclude from this? 

 

That you like the conclusion...

[TheVat]

Mine is ILPT (intuitive loathing of personality tests).

https://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5881947/myers-briggs-personality-test-meaningless

 

 

[iNow]

2 hours ago, TheVat said:

Mine is ILPT (intuitive loathing of personality tests).

https://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5881947/myers-briggs-personality-test-meaningless

 

 

Interesting. My loathing is explicit and I’m a ELPT

[Peterkin]

12 hours ago, Intoscience said:

Your thoughts on the subject?   

Were the results of the tests a surprise to you?

Did they reveal anything you had not known about yourself and could not have articulated, if someone asked: "What kind of person are you?"

Or even if they just named the categories and asked you to pick one?

[zapatos]

I took the test years ago and don't remember the results for me, but I do remember that I thought they correctly identified me. I thought it was a great exercise as we took the test as a team and learned the personality types of each other which made for much better communications amongst the team members. I also remember I was kind of shocked that people looked at the same situations in such different ways. Here I thought everyone would think sort of like me. 😳

[iNow]

I suspect typology is like astrology that way. Regardless of which horoscope you read, it’s not hard finding ways to map it to your own experiences and thoughts. 

At least HR depts seem to finally be catching on about this… 

[zapatos]

So you don't think they do a good job of identifying personality types? Why do you think that?

[TheVat]

As the Jung part in the Vox article suggested, the questions require one to approach everything as a binary, with a yes/no answer, when the answer for many people is really "depends."  Also worth noting a large percent of those who take it a second time will get a different result.  (I know we're not obligated to read posted articles, but I really recommend the Vox coverage, especially on the rather pseudoscientific history of Myers-Briggs)

[geordief]

Is there a personality trait that depends on the degree to which a person filters their thoughts before they express them in public?

And ,if so how many common types of filters are there and can they be classified?

This occured to me because  I felt I was noticing a tendency to "speak my thoughts" a little more freely recently and so the issue of a filter came to the fore in my mind and then I recalled that it is often said of some people (one public monstrosity  in particular 😉) that they have virtually  "no filter" at all.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by geordief

[Peterkin]

You know the old adage that begins, "In this world, there are two kinds so people..."?

Four kinds of people, whatever. It's tempting to categorize everything according to a system. And it's not that difficult: once you compress all the possible reasons for an observable behaviour (picks fights or avoids confrontation) into a 'character trait' (aggressive; passive) and if their behaviour doesn't fit neatly enough, you can invent expressions like 'passive-aggressive' (how do they argue with that?) Then you can group related traits (as expressed in simple answers to simple questions) and call each grouping a 'type'. Then you can aim the questions on a test to those types, rather than let the subject answer in their own words. 

That's my guess. Now, I'll go read the article.

Interesting. I've read something similar for an earlier discussion of the same subject. But it gave me this

Quote

Myers and Briggs gave titles to each of these types, like the Executive, the Caregiver, the Scientist, and the Idealist.

If you were asked just this question: Under which heading do you see yourself? How many could not answer it without the multiple choice?

9 minutes ago, geordief said:

This occured to me because  I felt I was noticing a tendency to "speak my thoughts" a little more freely recently

How old are you? I have noticed that, as people approach the point of 'nothing left to gain' (and thus, less and less to lose), they tend to be more ready to throw off the constraints of social convention, caution, deference. It's possible that the generation in which I particularly noticed this was my parents', and they certainly had a lot more limits imposed on them than my generation did, but I'm now finding the same tendency in myself. At least, my language has definitely coarsened.  (But maybe that's just the influence of forums...)

[iNow]

10 hours ago, zapatos said:

So you don't think they do a good job of identifying personality types? Why do you think that?

Mostly I reject the idea of personality types. They're forced categories that rather often miss detail. I've also been reading about this stuff for a few decades now given my background and consistently the data seems to suggest they're more fluff and marketing than accurate indicators.

The real strength of personality typology IMO lies with the discussions they start among team members and colleagues. The conversations are what bring the benefit, the understanding that others think and respond differently than we ourselves do.

[geordief]

35 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

How old are you? I have noticed that, as people approach the point of 'nothing left to gain' (and thus, less and less to lose), they tend to be more ready to throw off the constraints of social convention, caution, deference. It's possible that the generation in which I particularly noticed this was my parents', and they certainly had a lot more limits imposed on them than my generation did, but I'm now finding the same tendency in myself. At least, my language has definitely coarsened.  (But maybe that's just the influence of forums...)

In my 70s.It is the first time I noticed it (yesterday as it happens) Perhaps it is an onset of      dementia.

I don't see why the habits of a lifetime should be easily cast aside.Maybe just a natural progression kicking in.

[zapatos]

After reading the Vox article and how MB is outlined I think perhaps I misremembered which personality test I took. My test included endless questions asking how you feel about or would respond to certain situations. Similar questions came up again and again, worded differently or with slightly different scenarios. At the end of the test you were given a chart showing where you fit into the different 'personalities'. Some of us were more or less evenly distributed across all personality types (perhaps as much an empathetic person as a logical person as a rule following personality), or you could be heavily focused in one area.

The benefit as I saw it was that sitting in the room, you saw that while you might be a rule follower and data driven ("Of course we'll just change how we do everything tomorrow because management says that is the new way!"), your co-worker might be highly empathetic and a visual learner ("You can't just throw out how things are done without asking for feedback, allowing people to first express their concerns, etc.!"). Once you knew how you and your co-worker viewed the world differently, you understood that to influence others, you had to speak in terms that they understood and communicate more in their preferred learning manner.

[TheVat]

52 minutes ago, iNow said:

Mostly I reject the idea of personality types. They're forced categories that rather often miss detail. I've also been reading about this stuff for a few decades now given my background and consistently the data seems to suggest they're more fluff and marketing than accurate indicators.

The real strength of personality typology IMO lies with the discussions they start among team members and colleagues. The conversations are what bring the benefit, the understanding that others think and respond differently than we ourselves do.

Double plus one, and a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie to you.  (my personality is sometimes prone to hyperbole) (and then taking it back, ha!)

And yes, a few moments of working on one's listening skills in conversation is worth a hundred personality tests.  Not to get all maharishi on you guys, but meditation is really helpful to this.  

 

23 minutes ago, zapatos said:

After reading the Vox article and how MB is outlined I think perhaps I misremembered which personality test I took. My test included endless questions asking how you feel about or would respond to certain situations. Similar questions came up again and again, worded differently or with slightly different scenarios. At the end of the test you were given a chart showing where you fit into the different 'personalities'. Some of us were more or less evenly distributed across all personality types (perhaps as much an empathetic person as a logical person as a rule following personality), or you could be heavily focused in one area.

The benefit as I saw it was that sitting in the room, you saw that while you might be a rule follower and data driven ("Of course we'll just change how we do everything tomorrow because management says that is the new way!"), your co-worker might be highly empathetic and a visual learner ("You can't just throw out how things are done without asking for feedback, allowing people to first express their concerns, etc.!"). Once you knew how you and your co-worker viewed the world differently, you understood that to influence others, you had to speak in terms that they understood and communicate more in their preferred learning manner.

You really got something useful from whichever test you took.  But then you would, being a Libra.  (couldn't resist - after all, astrology is the Ur-personality mapper, and people have a habit of emulating whatever their "chart" says) But jokes aside, yeah, there are some tests that can give a sense of people's communication styles and life priorities, perhaps, at least as a snapshot at the time of testing and maybe that holds up for a while.

[iNow]

30 minutes ago, zapatos said:

perhaps I misremembered which personality test I took.

The way you describe it, I'm reminded of the DISC assessment, or perhaps the Eysenck 

10 minutes ago, TheVat said:

there are some tests that can give a sense of people's communication styles and life priorities, perhaps, at least as a snapshot at the time of testing and maybe that holds up for a while.

This is an excellent observation. Take the same test before covid then take it again today and we're likely to see wildly different results on a number of the key dimensions. 

They're rather often time-bound and context-dependent, IMO. 

[Peterkin]

1 hour ago, geordief said:

In my 70s.It is the first time I noticed it (yesterday as it happens) Perhaps it is an onset of      dementia.

I don't see why the habits of a lifetime should be easily cast aside.Maybe just a natural progression kicking in.

It's not dementia. It's a loosening of inhibition due to several factors: You've come to realize that you know more than a lot of the younger people around you; you've had time to test your abilities and judgment, and so you have more confidence in your own ideas and convictions; you don't second-guess yourself as much. Also, what others think of you matters less than how you see yourself. And every dishonesty or copout diminishes you in your own estimation.

Yes, I do think it's a natural process of maturation.

But there is another factor in our current, very noisy environment: we see how outspoken, decisive people in power are screwing up with impunity and seem completely unabashed by this. And there is a what-the-hell attitude in media, unedited language on social platforms: it seems that one cannot be heard in what we were taught is a normal, polite tone of voice.  

Apropos of which, it would be interesting to see, not only pre- and post- lockdown results of the same test, but results of the same test at 20 year intervals.

And I also agree that any exercise that generates honest communication in a group is worth trying. I wonder whether a poorly-performing football team would benefit from taking one of these tests and discussing the results. 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Peterkin

[zapatos]

5 hours ago, TheVat said:

there are some tests that can give a sense of people's communication styles and life priorities, perhaps, at least as a snapshot at the time of testing and maybe that holds up for a while.

Sure, sort of like a medical test that gives you a snapshot of their health at the time of testing and maybe that will hold up for a while. People's personalities will change just as their health does. And while a 30 minute personality test may be a blunt instrument, so is a medical test that simply screens for cancer cells; it doesn't tell you anything about pre-cancerous cells present or genetic disposition.

I understand that many personality tests may be no better than a horoscope (like a lot of medical tests it turns out), but I believe one well done can be a very useful tool. So while I now know more about the weaknesses of personality tests than I did before I read this thread, I still think they have value.

[LaurieAG]

14 hours ago, iNow said:

Mostly I reject the idea of personality types. They're forced categories that rather often miss detail. I've also been reading about this stuff for a few decades now given my background and consistently the data seems to suggest they're more fluff and marketing than accurate indicators.

The real strength of personality typology IMO lies with the discussions they start among team members and colleagues. The conversations are what bring the benefit, the understanding that others think and respond differently than we ourselves do.

I did the MBTI test and the D.I.S.C. assessment in the late 1980's and there was one notable difference between them that was removed from D.I.S.C. in the early 1990's.

The D.I.S.C. assessment back them had two extra categories called Overperform and Underperform that identified when someone had selected all of the 'best' results or all of the 'worst' results.

It's a real pity (for the world that is) that they removed the one binary method of detecting psychopaths/sociopaths in business/politics but then again, if they left them in, they would just rename the categories 'executive material' these days.

Just for the record I was a MB ENTJ and D.I.S.C. had 3 categories for how you perceived yourself, how you perceived how others perceived you and the difference between the first 2 so I tested Achiever, Developer, Developer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment

[Intoscience]

On 10/25/2022 at 1:54 PM, dimreepr said:

That you like the conclusion...

I liked that the tests predicted results consistently and the descriptions of the traits for that personality type match my own. Why would I like or dislike what personality I 'am? I can't change who I 'am, but maybe I can learn from it?

On 10/25/2022 at 10:43 PM, Peterkin said:

Were the results of the tests a surprise to you?

Did they reveal anything you had not known about yourself and could not have articulated, if someone asked: "What kind of person are you?"

Or even if they just named the categories and asked you to pick one?

Yes, they were a surprise. As I stated in my OP, I was asked to complete the test as part of a job interview. It had never occurred to me previously to ever bother to do so. I was sceptical of the test because I assumed total ambiguity. When I got the result I had absolutely no idea what this particular type was, or what it meant. This is when I decided to look more into it and do further independent tests. I was then even more surprised to find that each test revealed the same result. 

Since then I have investigated even more into this particular personality type and the more I delve the more it reveals traits that very accurately match my own which I had never previously considered. 

So my conclusion is that the tests appear to be less ambiguous than I first assumed and appear to be quite accurate (at least in my own experience) Either that, or I'm far more predictable than I assumed.  

On 10/25/2022 at 3:23 PM, TheVat said:

Mine is ILPT (intuitive loathing of personality tests).

https://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5881947/myers-briggs-personality-test-meaningless

 

 

Interesting article, thanks

A couple things I noted from the article is that it mentions the test having "yes" or "no" answers to the questions. This wasn't the case in any of my tests I completed, it was set as a scale with the absolutes at either end and the option to lean towards either way or remain neutral. Not sure if this would any bearing on the results though. More to the other point, it says near the end of the article  that there is nothing wrong with "taking the tests for fun". 

Focusing on this last point, I was asked to do the test as part of a job interview. It is not me who is advocating that these tests serve any purpose. I was just surprised by the results I experienced, which has then raised my interest, which is the fun part!  

19 hours ago, TheVat said:

As the Jung part in the Vox article suggested, the questions require one to approach everything as a binary, with a yes/no answer, when the answer for many people is really "depends."  Also worth noting a large percent of those who take it a second time will get a different result.  (I know we're not obligated to read posted articles, but I really recommend the Vox coverage, especially on the rather pseudoscientific history of Myers-Briggs)

Non of that (my bold) reflects my own personal experience. I took 4 totally independent tests and got the same result each time. In addition non of the answers were binary, I either got a choice of 7 positions or a slide scale. 

I do however agree with "it depends" even with the multiple options there were still a selected few of the questions were i thought to myself exactly this. At these points i tended to go with a neutral position or very slightly leaning either side. 

18 hours ago, iNow said:

Mostly I reject the idea of personality types. They're forced categories that rather often miss detail. I've also been reading about this stuff for a few decades now given my background and consistently the data seems to suggest they're more fluff and marketing than accurate indicators.

The real strength of personality typology IMO lies with the discussions they start among team members and colleagues. The conversations are what bring the benefit, the understanding that others think and respond differently than we ourselves do.

I can't argue with any of this, I totally agree (my bold).

Lets hope that the personality test I have taken is not used as a decisive negative tool against me then in this instance. I'll keep you all posted on the outcome of the job, I may also get to ask what influence the personality test had in the decision either way. 

[dimreepr]

2 hours ago, Intoscience said:

So my conclusion is that the tests appear to be less ambiguous than I first assumed and appear to be quite accurate (at least in my own experience) Either that, or I'm far more predictable than I assumed.  

We all are when the outcome is pleasant.

2 hours ago, Intoscience said:

Why would I like or dislike what personality I 'am?

Would you like it, if the result was that you're a narcissist most likely to rape?

2 hours ago, Intoscience said:

I can't change who I 'am, but maybe I can learn from it?

Why do you need a test to know who you are? 

I can know everything about you, but I'll never understand what it's like to be you; and that's the fundamental flaw in a test that couldn't possibly know everything about you.

I can only learn about me, if I question myself honestly...

Edited October 27, 2022 by dimreepr

[Peterkin]

4 hours ago, Intoscience said:

I liked that the tests predicted results consistently and the descriptions of the traits for that personality type match my own.

No surprise there! If you already knew what type you are, the interviewer could just have asked you to tick off characteristics from a list. All the test does is go the long way around. The  questions are transparent, but also blurry: the real answer is neither Yes or No, but Sometimes, or Depends how much they annoyed me the day before, or Only when my feet are cold. And because the answers can only be approximate, so is the result - the way S M L XL clothing fits. 

Quote

Why would I like or dislike what personality I 'am? I can't change who I 'am, but maybe I can learn from it?

That's true. It's impersonal and - as far as you're concerned - objective, so you don't take offense, don't go defensive, as you might if a life partner, sibling or teammate made the same observation. This is an aspect of personality tests I had not previously taken into account.

2 hours ago, dimreepr said:

We all are when the outcome is pleasant.

In this kind of assessment, the outcome is neither pleasant nor unpleasant. It's just sorting, like blood-types: there are no good and bad ones, just categories of equal value. The idea is to see what environment you're best suited to and not hire you if you're the wrong type for their environment, because the employer won't adjust  anything to you. In the old days, you were simply expected to adapt. Now, they want to save themselves any possible unpleasantness by saying right off: "It doesn't look like a good fit." So applicants who know what the employer wants lie on the test. We're only honest on these things when we have no vested interest in the result.

[Intoscience]

2 hours ago, dimreepr said:

 

Would you like it, if the result was that you're a narcissist most likely to rape?

Why do you need a test to know who you are? 

I can know everything about you, but I'll never understand what it's like to be you; and that's the fundamental flaw in a test that couldn't possibly know everything about you.

I can only learn about me, if I question myself honestly...

Not sure the tests are or meant to be so direct or accurate that they can predict if someone is going to rape. I just took them to be a generalisation, after all there are around 8 billion unique people that the tests are trying to fit into what... 16 or so categories.  

Would you like it to know that you are likely to commit a serious crime?

I have never once stated that I like or dislike the result -personality type I have been categorised in. I just said that I was surprised by the results and their consistency and that the "group" I'm in are said to show certain traits that I definitely do. I'm sure I also display traits from other personality types, there is bound to be an overlap, else there'd be 8 billion categories. 

I thought whole point of the tests is to answer honestly, whether you like it or not. Point being you may have to face a difficult realisation about yourself that you don't particularly like. My point being I would hope, rather than the test being a waste of time, perhaps I could use some of the information and learn from it to help me accept, manage or exploit my traits.  

Gees.. I took the test because I felt obligated to do so as part of a job interview request. From this it sparked an interest!!  I'm not advocating anything, I'm sharing my experience, one which surprised me.

26 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

No surprise there! If you already knew what type you are, the interviewer could just have asked you to tick off characteristics from a list. All the test does is go the long way around. The  questions are transparent, but also blurry: the real answer is neither Yes or No, but Sometimes, or Depends how much they annoyed me the day before, or Only when my feet are cold. And because the answers can only be approximate, so is the result - the way S M L XL clothing fits

I didn't know anything about these tests until after I had completed one. I didn't even know how many categories there are or what any of it was supposed to mean until recently. I just, as I always do with similar "questionnaires" is assume that the results will be just ambiguous. But my interest was sparked once I completed more tests with the same results which then prompted me to delve into the traits of my type...

As you said I could have just ticked of from a list, I'm not a phycologist so I have no idea or expertise on these matters. I just found the results surprising and interesting and felt I should share this experience on here to see if anyone else shared similar or had an opinion.

Why do I now feel that I'm being ridiculed or persecuted for taking the test and sharing my experience? (Sensitivity being one of the traits by the way)