I took a personality test today, from a book called Please Understand Me II, a book about grouping people according to their personality. I took a similar test twice in high school (the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), both times getting results that were kinda relevant, but never really feeling that they hit at what kind of person I was or what actually motivated me. I figured that was basically par for the course. I wasn't expecting much from this new version (the Keirsey Temperament Sorter). Cue shock when I look up my results and see it's nailed me dead-on. You'll have to take my word on this one; just know that I'm not normally the sort who expects fuck-all from personality tests, horoscopes, tarot cards, or any other juju. Anyways, I thought it would make an entertaining thread idea. Here's the test online (registration may be required), or you can use this PDF of the test from the actual book. All of the personality types are on Wikipedia, and if you want I can PM you relevant sections from the book. (Or post the whole thing here, if that's OK. Mods?) FOCUS: Take the test and see what you get. Is it accurate? Not at all? What do you think about it? ALT-FOCUS: Tell us about a moment where you realized something critical about yourself, your motivations, your ideals, and why you are the way you are.
My personality actually changes over time. In high school I was a strong ISTJ, now I'm a weaker INTJ. According to the Kerieiseriesy test or whatever it's called, I'm a Guardian, which is good because I have to keep an eye on all you fuckers all the time.
I doubt anyone who knows me would be surprised by my results: Spoiler Is this what the description is for all "Rationals" or is it customized?
I am an INFJ. Despite my best efforts I am likely doomed to a highly fulfilling and miserably paying career as a social worker. Stupid empathy. "...desire to contribute to the welfare of others and genuinely enjoy helping their companions. Although Counsleors tend to be private, sensitive people, and are not generally visible leaders, they nevertheless work quite intensely with those close to them, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes..." - The Portrait of the Counselor Idealist (Keirsey)
Count me in as another SJ, "Guardian." However, to me this Keirsey Temperament thing just sounds like a spiced up version of astrology or one of those Cosmo personality tests. The results are flattering and flowery, in particular telling me that SJ's are a "cornerstone of society." I doubt they tell NP's or whatever that they're dregs of society.
There's a "generic" descriptor and a "role variant" descriptor. The full book goes ridiculously into depth with this, with relationship pairings, parenting pairings, all sorts of crazy shit. I've uploaded the rational role variants. As pertains to the similarity to horoscopes or whatever, I think the whole point is that each personality type is capable of great things and bad things. For example, mine says I have a chance of being a crappy parent due to being overdemanding, short on patience and having mood swings, which I can totally see. But ultimately, being a shitbag is in your own hands, not written into your fate. I guess the website doesn't exactly go into depth on that whole thing... Here's my Idealist role variant: Spoiler That's right, I'm the fucking Champion. Seriously though, the stuff here hits way closer to home than any test I've taken in the past, and I was honestly very surprised by it, especially the bolded parts. I'm definitely an Idealist, and I give a ton of respect to symbols and metaphors. And I've always been motivated by this weird drive to experience more and better things, to feel everything, to catch every possible memory - even though, in the end, I know intellectually that this isn't what brings happiness, and honestly, a lot of these memories I end up forgetting anyway. I think the fact that most tests ask "what would you do in this situation" is a problem sometimes, because people who are awkward or want to be social but don't know how, like I was in high school, will tend to answer in the realistic (what would actually happen, i.e. I'd stand awkwardly in the corner) instead of the possible (what they actually want to do, i.e. go out and talk to everyone). This can make a naturally extroverted person test as introverted, which I figure is what happened the first two times I took a test like this. It's been about 3 years since the last time I took a similar test, so I've had time to go from INTP to INFP to ENFP. It's especially weird considering my brother seems to be (and has tested as) the stereotypical INTP Architect, aka "the nerd," and my mother is the classic Provider [ESFJ]. I don't really get the whole thing at all, but it was far more accurate this time around.
I'm an INFP or "Healer". I agree with most of the description, but some of it isn't really accurate. I have a feeling I could say that about several other results. Alt-Focus: Realizing that I'm very relational. One summer I volunteered in acute care, where patients only stay a few days or a week at most. It wasn't my favorite. As soon as I felt like I had some kind of relationship with someone they were leaving. I like working with people for months and getting to know them. When they leave I feel greater satisfaction in helping them. There's a lot of psychology involved with my job/school/whatever, and a lot of it is knowing when to push someone hard, when to back off, when to say a kind/encouraging word or just listen to them vent about their bullshit everyday problems that everyone has...take a moment and then get back to work. Some people suck, but most of them are pretty cool or at least interesting/funny.
And here's the last two groups of role variants: Guardian (Supervisor, Inspector, Provider, Protector) and Artisan (Promoter, Crafter, Performer, Composer).
I'm an Idealist. Reading the Wikipedia article, I'm a huge fan of the other people in this category. Audrey Hepburn for one. Also Princess Diana, and Isabel Briggs Myers. The test makes me out to be a bit of a saint, though. Which I can promise I am not.
I got Artisan. Honestly, at a first word read, it might fit, but the text and the implications are so far off that it's just silly. I've had better cold reads from a flea market 'psychic'. That said, might just be a badly written first response to the test. The linked PDF posted about Artisan's above has a very different description, that's much better fit for me, and specifically references ISTP types. The Myer Briggs stuff reads me as ISTP - which isn't a bad read in as far as it goes. That's as good a three paragraph summary of me as you're likely to see. High end operations computer geek with closet daredevil interests, procedurally oriented by approaches things weirdly based on personal sense of a better way, puts up with a lot as long as it's reasonable, utterly intractable about the unreasonable, and expects people to live and let live or mind their own business? No major misses. There's a LOT off in the Artisan PDF - but the following chunks are pretty accurate. I think if the writer had met some Artisan's who were into computers - it might be less glaringly off.
The thing that irks me about these tests is questions like these: Because I do both about as close to equally as can be depending on the situation. Obviously, one question isn't going to screw it up, but there's too many for me that are in the middle that I think affect these tests a bit too much. Another dumb question: Both? And many times, these stories overlap a ton. So I got Guardian this time around on these tests, which I don't think fits. I've gotten ENFP, INTP, and probably some others each time I've takena variant of these tests. I've changed enough over the years, and don't really fit into any of these types. I think ENFP is closest right now, but I like/need to be alone sometimes to recharge, as it were, and that doesn't gel too well with that one.
You may think these are voodoo, but many of them are the key to management and communication training. A friend of mine tells me that he prefers the DISC model because there are a couple MBTI types that, despite the feel-good-horoscopey descriptions on some websites, are fairly pathological.
Guardian Inspector (ISTJ). I can't say the results are wrong, but I don't like some of the qualities that come with it. They make it sound so damn rosy, but I see a lot of it a different way: Spoiler My problem with these tests is I'm never really sure how honest I'm being with myself and as ssycko pointed out a lot of the answers could easily be both. I ended up at a really strange summer camp where we took a lot of these tests (it was a troubled youth camp, but I wasn't a particularly troubled youth) and I remember not agreeing with the results, but don't remember what I got. I also remember it being fucking battery of testing. Not a 20 minute questionnaire, but a full damn day of the things. I can see the usefulness of the tests, but I wouldn't throw nuance and human complexity out of the window when dealing with your fellow man.
They made me take one of these tests after my accident because the head trauma I experienced could have led to a personality swing. So for two Fridays in a row, I had to sit in a tiny 6X6 room with some young dude fresh outta psych school and do all sorts of testing, including a 1000+ questionnaire/personality test. It must have asked me 100 times if I've ever tried to/thought about killing myself. Towards the end of the second day, I couldn't mark "No" truthfully, but there was no place for me to write in "because of this Goddamn test".
FOCUS: This reminds me of an article that Cracked did awhile back: Scroll down to number four. I looked over the test, and after taking much more rigorous tests during my vacation (MMPI-2, 567 questions; MCMI-III, 175 questions; MIPS, 180 questions.), I wouldn't take too much stock in the Kiersey Temperament Sorter. EDIT: For what it's worth, every online IQ test I've ever seen is complete horseshit. It's the WAIS-IV or nothin', baby.
Mine was pretty much spot on as an INFJ (Idealist- Counselor). A couple bullet points that are most fitting: -Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. -they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. -can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them. -Counselors are concerned with people's feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization. -Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena. There are some parts of my personality that I think this doesn't touch on - mostly ones that don't make me sound like such a gentle, mythical creature like being independent, ambitious, and a bit strong-willed, which I think actually gets covered pretty well in more thorough descriptions of Capricorns that I've read - but for the most part that represents a big part of me and I thought it was fairly accurate. It's a fun ego boost, too, that all of the descriptions of INFJs say they're really rare. I love tests like these, though, even though I agree with the faults people have pointed out in how the questions are phrased. I always think they're so interesting.
Apparently, I am an inventor (ENTP). A quick Google search indicates my personality is some mix of Richard Feynman, George Carlin, and Celine Dion. I wouldn't put much stock in these "tests." Dixie's link is spot on; horoscopes for people who won't admit they like horoscopes.