Self-Care Saturday: Personality Test :D

   Do you know your personality type?

   Maybe it's not for everyone, but I have always been fascinated with the Myers-Briggs classification of personality types. When I discovered mine (INFP) I was amazed at how it helped me to understand myself so much better, my patterns of thought, motivations, and reactions. Things that I thought were my own weird quirks, or even flaws, suddenly made a lot more sense when seen as a part of a cohesive personality and how that type of person approaches the world - for instance, the ability to express myself much better in writing than I can when speaking in person. It was a relief to realize that trait was common among INFPs and I wasn't just verbally awkward.

   Though not quite as obvious as something like healthy eating, the Myers-Briggs test can be a great tool for self care, because understanding yourself is crucial to the goal of loving and caring for yourself.

   Disclaimer, by the way: this test is not definitive by any means. It is one of many varied attempts to categorize people, and I happen to think it a very good one, but everyone is different and can't totally be put in a box. Also everyone's will is their own. No one's choices are pre-determined by their personality type, however nice that would be as an excuse.

   But it seems that most people generally match one of the 16 descriptions of personalities in the Myers-Briggs classification, and can identify with the corresponding strengths and weaknesses. Finding and reading your "portrait" can reinforce truths you know about yourself and how you interact with life, or even bring to light characteristics that you may not have consciously been aware of. A frequent tendency of ISFJs, for example, is to look after others to the point of neglecting their own needs. Many of them might not admit this, but if they were to acknowledge and keep it in mind, they could prevent getting overworked and frustrated.

  Understanding the types is also extremely helpful for relationships.

  At one point I got so excited to type all my friends that I rushed around either forcing them to take the test themselves or guessing for myself what personality they had. I just had to know what made everyone tick! Some were startled to find how uncannily specific the results could be. "Whoa, how did it know I love animals?" "May exhibit rash emotional outbursts of anger - um, this is a little too true for comfort. Creepy."

   A particular breakthrough for me was the realization that two different types could say or do the same things, but not mean the same thing by it at all. To illustrate, if I were to go to both Bobby and Daphne to ask for help with homework and they both said "Go away, I'm busy", Bobby might be expressing that he is mad at me, while Daphne is merely stating that she doesn't have time, without any idea that her words could be taken personally.
   Depending on my personality type, my automatic assumption might be that they are both mad at me, or perhaps I am similar to Daphne and accept their busy-ness without picking up on the emotions behind Bobby's words.
   However, with a good grasp of the differences between personalities, I might be able to figure out what each of my friends meant (even if it isn't what I would mean) and leave Daphne to her work while talking to Bobby to find out what he is upset about.

   Even if I can't figure everyone out, knowing that there can be such big differences makes me more likely to give others the benefit of the doubt for their behaviour.

   So how does this work? What do the four letters mean? What is INFP supposed to stand for?

   There are much more comprehensive explanations online, but I will just go through it briefly as I understand it.

   The Myers-Briggs test looks at four different aspects of personalities. The four letters in the abbreviation indicate which side of a scale you lean towards in each of these aspects.

1. "E or I" - E is for Extrovert, I for Introvert. If you get energized by being with people you are primarily extrovert, but if you get burned out by much socializing and recharge best on your own, you are an introvert. Extroverts can be the life of the party. Introverts often would rather a good book.

2. "N or S" - N is for iNtuitive, S for Sensing. Intuitive personalities think about reality mostly in terms of concepts and patterns, whereas sensing personalities focus on facts and details that they take in with their senses. Intuitive are dreamers who start with the big picture. "I am drawn to the idea of seafaring." Sensers start with the actual and physical. "How do I build a boat?"

3. "F or T" - F is for Feeling, T for Thinking. This one is pretty basic. Feelers decide things more based on the emotional concerns of themselves and others, whereas Thinkers find it more natural to make decisions based on reason. If a child was scared of monsters in his closet, a feeling parent's instinct would be to sympathize with his emotion of fear. On the other hand, a thinking parent would want to explain that the occurrence simply isn't possible, as monsters don't exist.

4. "P or J" - P is for Perceiving, J for judging. Perceivers prefer to take in information and respond to it flexibly, while Judgers like to act in a more structured and planned way. I find this last category the most difficult to distinguish as people can have a mixture of both approaches. An extreme judger would be the one who always prepares and eats her meals the same way. An extreme perceiver would be the fellow you can never get to commit to any event because he waits till the last minute to decide whether or not he'll show.

   Did any of these sound like you? Take the personality test HERE and see what you think!
If you find out your type (provided you exist, dear reader), feel free to drop a comment and let me know :)


And just for fun...