My Personality Type

What type of personality are you on the Myers-Briggs test?

On Kerryn's blog, she posted that she had done a personality test and showed us the results.

I went and took the test too. In reality, it tells you only what you tell it, but it's funny how it fills in a few gaps and you think 'that's so me'.

But first, let me tell you a little story. You have to answer 4 questions and each has two answers. I noticed at the top that it is considered that there are 16 personality types. So yeah, 2^4 is 16.

I finished answering them. I knew the answers to Q's 1, 3 and 4 straight away but I wasn't sure about Q2. I answered it as best I could and found out my result. I'm of type ISTP, which is a Dominant Introverted Thinking. You can read what it says about me as an ISTP here.

Now, this is where I hit a problem with the page - it only gives you 8 explanations - but whoa, you said there were 16! I, as an ISTP, is lumped in with INTP, and yes, that happens to be Question 2 so obviously those personalities are quite close to each other.

In my quest for finding things out, there was another link to another page of explanations of The Sixteen Types at a Glance. It turns out that after reading both ISTP and INTP that I am more like the former than the latter - which was my answer to the original question.

Anyways, I'll just point out a few sentences from some of the descriptions I found to be quite interesting:

  • They distrust action taken too quickly without the necessary investigation.
  • They are fiercely independent, seeking input and comments from a chosen few.
  • When reporting to others, they need to establish credibility first: their own and that of the person they are reporting to.
  • They are less interested in running the world as they are in understanding it.
  • They may spend a lot of time defining words, concepts and systems in order to define a problematic solution.
  • Although they do have a spontaneous, even playful side, what people often first encounter with them is their detached pragmatism.

So yeah, a perfect fit for a programmer I think. I particularly liked point 2, the second half of which is exactly what I was talking to Kerryn about yesterday. Very strange.

Labels: planet-geek, personality, myers-briggs

Inserted: 2007-07-20 23:37 (3 years ago)

5 Comments

1. Travis

That isn't the Myer's Briggs test - I've done that and it's dozens of questions. The one on that page is just a rough guide.

Still - useful for personalities in your fiction, that's for sure.

Inserted: 2007-07-21 23:35 (3 years ago)

2. Jason

ENTP all the way.

Wish it was a proper test, that one would seem to result in a wish fulfillment thing going on.

For example, I tested as ENTP back at the end of University, but it seems that I fit more into the mold now than I did back then.

Inserted: 2007-07-22 15:51 (3 years ago)

3. Andy Chilton

Oh right Travis, I didn't realise that wasn't the full-blown thing. And Jason, yeah, it is pretty much "tell them what they told you". Anyways, I found it quite interesting nonetheless.

Inserted: 2007-07-22 17:55 (3 years ago)

4. Penny

Andy pants Andy pants I turned up ISTP too which is weird because you'd think I'd be E right? Someone actually said to me the other day that I was I rather than E which surprised them.

Inserted: 2007-08-19 08:36 (2 years, 11 months ago)

5. Andy Chilton

Penny pants, I'm not surprised at all you're an 'I'.

I kinda think that being an 'Introverted Type' or an 'Extroverted Type' doesn't actually make you an 'Introvert' or an 'Extrovert'. I think that it actually tests your internal personality rather than your external personality so it's more about how you see yourself than how others see you. Anyway, that's my philosophical thought for the day :-)

Inserted: 2007-08-19 11:54 (2 years, 11 months ago)