Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

That describes me well, in large part, and I answered yes to all of those.

But I also feel comfortable in large groups and have no problem interacting with people in social ocassions. That's simply not what I seek out most of the time.

So, the combination of those factors led me to be marked 'E'...whereas in the past, usually an 'I.'

And I realized that E didn't refer to raising my hand a lot. When I said I was extroverted in class, I meant that I sought out interaction and attention. I liked talking to people and being heard and making people laugh. I derived "energy" from that. Which, I think, is the type of extroversion that Myers-Briggs means. But outside of class, I generally preferred to be alone, needing time to "recharge"...during which time I spent a lot of time reading, writing and listening to music.

So, I think depending on what aspect of me you look at, I can be characterized as E or I. And now have been.

 

it sounds like you are somewhere near the middle on that scale (they call it a "dichotomy"), which isn't unusual. So you would have some qualities of an ENTP, and some of an INTP. I wish I was more E than I am, but you can't fight it; you have to go with what got you here.

 

To some extent, that's true. I think it's possible to become more adept and comfortable in social situations. You won't ever be a type-A salesman personality, but you could probably push yourself closer to the middle of the scale.

 

As a contrast, I have a large personality and am very capable of interacting at social functions and being charming and outgoing. An observer would say I am definitely an E. But what they don't realize is how exhausting that is for me and how difficult it is for me to sustain that type of behavior.

Since I was very little, at every social function, I seek out a place to be alone and interact as little as possible. It used to drive my parents crazy, because they knew a boisterous, loudmouth kid that never shut up, and they would take me to family gatherings and never see me.

Being a strong I kind of sucks. If you don't enjoy social functions, you miss out on meeting a lot of interesting people. Be glad that isn't you.

 

This just basically shows if you live alone or are married.

This just basically shows whether you are in command of your mental faculties or not.

 

It's not hard to figure out that both options exist in his scenario.

How so? I see no connection between being in "command of your mental faculties" and how much time it takes you to consider what you are about to say.

 

there's also how I'd like to live my life and how it is actually lived to.

for example I like to go out with a bunch of ppl and just talk have a few beers etc or go watch a sporting event, but my wife is not like that so we tend to keep to ourselves more. It bothers me at times because I see less of my friends but we do lots of stuff together so it's not like my life sucks either.

so in answering the questions I get caught between reality and what I'd like to do more.

 

Some people have a deep-rooted need to interact with others. My six-year-old daughter is an extreme E, and sometimes it is very hard on both of us. We start out the day with the same energy level, and as time goes by, and we both get tired, I need alone time, and she starts to get manic, and needs to spend time playing with me. Soon we are at each other's throats. She can't help the way she is, though. My mother, too, is an E. After dinner, after feeding my family, wrestling them to bed, and cleaning, up, I just want to run off and scream. She wants to sit around the table, drinking tea, and chat about whatever random thoughts pop into her head. It is hard for extreme "I"s to adjust to that sort of behavior.

No, it is different. An "I" will pause, sometimes for very long periods, while he or she considers a question and works out the answer. You may think that an "I" has forgotten the question or hasn't even heard it, but then they will let out a stream of ideas seemingly out of nowhere. An "E" will immediately start to talk . . .they may start by repeating the question, and start articulating their initial thoughts, enuncuate different options, etc., before eventually figuring out how to answer on the fly.

Biden is an "E." He will say something like "Mike, stand up . . . oh, what am I saying?"

It is really better for you if you are close to the middle. Being an extreme I is a definite weaknesses, and being an extreme E just annoys everyone until/unless you learn to control your urge to talk all the time.

One problem is that in focus groups, the Es will dominate the conversation, The "I"s will keep quiet, because they are working out what to say internally, while the "E"s just start talking . . . and then they believe that the "I"s have nothing to contribute.

 

exactly. But you will interact one-on-one if you somehow stumble upon the right kind of person.

 

Let me add that understanding what type my daughter is--I typed her as an extreme ESFJ since she was two, and she hasn't deveiated from that--has helped improve my ability to interact with her. I understand what motivates her, what her behavior will be. For example, I know that she will get upset if I spring a "surprise" on her, such as that we are going to Bennigan's for lunch when she was expecting to go to Friday's, and that to counter this, I have to map out our schedule as far in advance as possible. Sometimes, though, she keeps her expectations private, and she'll sometimes get upset when we do something that she isn't expecting--there's no way to counter that.

 

One more thing I wanted to add. I found that when I first took the test, found out what I was, and that I was perfectly described by the literature, it was a very liberating experience. As an INTP--as some of you--I had gotten used to most people laughing at my ideas and not taking them seriously, to the extent that I'd preface them myself with the phrase, "this is probably a crazy idea, but . . ." Myers-Briggs showed me that the problem wasn't me, but that everyone else just can't keep from thinking linearly and seeing the world and events in terms of facts, and not patterns and concepts. Now, I'm much more confident in my thoughts and ideas--if someone doesn't get what I am saying, and refuse to explore it further, it is because they are small-minded and stuck in their own narrow world, not because there is necessarily anything wrong with what I am saying. The INTPs include people like Einstein, Darwin, DesCartes, Blaise Pascal, Socrates, etc. These are people who learned not to be bound by commonly-held beliefes and so-called conventional wisdom.

So I guess you can say that I've become more dismissive and annoyed at SJs for their insistence on sticking with the the way things have always been done, and what they think is "common sense," which is just a lack of imagination.

 

figures.

 

George Bush was pretty widely accepted for over 4 years, but now has been almost universally de-bunked as a fraud.

In life, as in silly attempts to cateragorize people into neat and tidy cubicles, perception is everything.

I took the 3 tests, and got 2 different outcomes. I attribute this to the wording changes between the similar questions from test to test. I am sure I would interpret the answers to the tests differently than the authors do, since we see things differently, and therefore woulld assign test-takers to different catagories than the authors.

As a further experiment, I re-took the tests answering them as I would have 20 years ago, and came up with 2 different outcomes again, but quite different from my outcomes of present time.

People change.

 

remember that you aren't RESTRICTED to acting a certain way; there's nothing to keep you from going against type; it just takes effort, and it is hard to do for long periods of time. I liken it to reducing the amount of oxygen in a room. A candle will still burn, but it won't burn as efficiently.

 

You are right; people can change over time, especially if they aren't extremes in any category. Remember that these tests are not the "official" Myers-Briggs test, but rough approximations that someone devised. They are not as accurate as the official test would be, but it is expensive and time-consuming. Regardless, it sounds as if you are probably in the middle of one or two scales, so your preferences would be pretty slight in any event. I've heard that the tests don't do as good a job describing preferences for people that are "in the middle" of multiple dichotomies. Fortunately or unfortunately, I am not one of them.

 

I am very heavily I and F. Those will never change. I am moderate N and J. These are still pretty strong, but if there are inconsistancies, that's where they are.

 

[SIZE=+1]Your Type is
[SIZE=+2] ENFJ[/SIZE][/SIZE]<table width="50%" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr align="center"><td>Extraverted</td><td>Intuitive</td><td>Feeling</td><td>Judging</td></tr> <tr align="center"> <td colspan="4"> [SIZE=+0]Strength of the preferences %[/SIZE] </td> </tr> <tr align="center"><td>33</td><td>75</td><td>38</td><td>44</td></tr></tbody></table>
Someone analyze me!