[Magdalen] What Each Myers-Briggs Type Does In A Rut (The Rise Of The Inferior Function) | Thought Catalog

[Eleanor Braun]

Thanks for that, Sally.

I find the Myers Briggs helpful for understanding myself and others, but
take it with a large grain of salt.

For example, I come out as an extreme Introvert, meaning I get more energy
from being alone and I expend energy in a group.  That's really only half
true -- it all depends on context.  I dislike large social occasions,
especially if I know few people there and don't have anything specific to
talk to someone about.  But I gain energy from workgroups working on a
problem together, or book study groups.  I think the MB questions are more
socially oriented than work oriented.

And on the P/J scale, I choose to be one or the other.  When I'm a verger
lining up a long procession or instructing acolytes, I'm a big-time J.  But
when I'm running a project and the project team needs to work through the
consequences of a particular course of action, I'm very happy to put on my
P hat.

I almost always come out as an INTJ, sometimes INTP; even though I'm an N,
I certainly do a lot of fact collection.

One of my roommates is also an I, but in a big social group she will take
charge and seems to derive great energy from the encounter.

So I find the whole thing helpful but not dispositive; and a fun way to
understand/explain our behavior in non-pathalogical terms (although I can
be pretty OCD with those acolytes!)

Eleanor



On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 12:26 PM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm fascinated by the Myers-Briggs.
>
> On the one hand, it is regarded with at best distrust and at worst contempt
> by those who believe that "personality" measurement can and should be a
> science. For example:
>
>
> http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-myers-briggs-personality-test-is-pretty-much-meaningless-9359770/
>
> And the point is well made in that article, that if businesses are in any
> way relying on MBTI for HR decisions, it could be at the expense of
> fairness to individuals or benefit to teams.
>
> It's neither used nor taught in clinical psychology, at least in my limited
> experience.
>
> And yet...what other "personality" test - except perhaps "star signs" - has
> such wide currency and is so well loved by those who take it? What other
> test is so free of pathologising and normalising tendencies?
>
> You don't find groups of people online talking about their MMPI or Millon
> scores or the intricacies of their Rorschach tests (though the Rorschach
> USED to be a parlour game in the days when people enjoyed divergent
> thinking more than blowing up one target after another).
>
> I even used to have a book (on loan) called "16 ways to love your lover"
> which explored how the different combos of "types" do intimate
> relationships. And people identified with that, too.
>
> So for me there is something about MBTI that people really do like, that
> helps us explain ourselves to ourselves and perhaps to accept  - and even
> like! - things about ourselves. For example, the idea of "introversion"
> (not unique to MBTI) is of tremendous help to people who prefer a quieter,
> less socially engaged way of life and work, in a culture that tends to
> value (and promote) the opposite.
>
> Does it matter whether these things are "real" or not in the eyes of the so
> called experts? I tend to think, not. We are all many selves and that's
> another thing MBTI kind of allows - that growth and change can occur, as
> Jon said about getting sober. Migration of identity does occur and MBTI can
> help track it. It's become a tool that people can use to re-present
> themselves, and so far I haven't noticed any harm coming from that. Unlike
> pathologising tests which contribute to the labelling of persons and their
> lives, and can have devastating consequences.
>
> The one thing I really don't like about it is the commercial exploitation.
> Our local test supplier charges a small fortune to offer the "course" for
> learning how to implement and report on the test - which is basically
> common sense. It's easily pirated however and there's not much they can do
> about that.
>
> Theoretically, it has some links to Jungian personality tests like the JPQ,
> and there's a scaled down version, the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, which is
> free online.
>
> Other than the I/E, the "type" that I find most helpful to explore, is the
> J/P. I haven't (so far) found there to be much of a "spectrum" on that -
> people seem to be one or the other, although with varying intensities of J
> or P.
>
> N/S and F/T, I think, are far more contextual in their expression,
> reflecting culture, education and so on; and F/T has shown a gender bias
> which always makes me suspicious of what's going on with that.
>
> Last time I tried it I came out as ENFP, though I wasn't very E or very F.
> I don't think of myself as an E really, just an I who likes to talk
> with other people, until I don't any more.
>
> Keith was an off-the-scale I, but he's fantastic with people and never
> seems to avoid personal engagement with others, only noisy, crowded places.
>
> Sally D
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, July 15, 2015, Christopher Hart <cervus51 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Uh, Jim, the Myers-Briggs type indicator may not be perfect, but there
> IS a
> > bit more science to it than astrology has to offer.
> >
> > On Wednesday, July 15, 2015, Jim Guthrie <jguthrie at pipeline.com
> > <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> > > Is looking for quantification of one' own behavior a way of
> rationalizing
> > > away certain outré personal habits?
> > >
> > > "I'm an ABCD and she's a WXYZ and that explains everything." I suspect
> > all
> > > this is an intellectual version of "What sign are you?" "Oh, I could
> > never
> > > get along with a Gemini because I;m a Capricorn. Good Bye!"
> > >
> > > But it's the age we live in, I suppose.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Jim
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Christopher Hart
> >
> > List Mail Address: cervus51 at gmail.com <javascript:;>
> > Personal Mail: cervus at veritasliberat.net <javascript:;>
> > Twitter: @cervus51
> >
>