A few weeks ago a friend described herself as a Type A personality, while more recently Justine Musk had a post about being an introvert. I knew immediately that I was not the first but very definitely the second. I know, I know there are probably lots of Type A introverts out there but I am not that continuously stressed, need to control type at all. In fact to look at the state of my house you’d say I was a little too laidback.
So when Week 5 was about personality I was delighted at the thought of exploring a little more. I did the Jung-Briggs-Meyer test and discovered I was an ISFJ. Basically I’m just like Queen Elizabeth II and Dr Watson. I am introvert, sensing, feeling and judging. I am a Guardian Protector, I like to be needed and to look after people. Interestingly I did this test in the evening, just having fed the family, the kids were playing, my husband was watching tv and all was right with the world. It seemed to fit nicely.
A few days later I decided to take the same test again. I forgot to note the numbers that indicate just how much I leaned towards each of these attributes. So just after lunch having spent the morning editing academic papers I did the test. And I got a different result. I was now an INTJ. An introverted, intuitive, thinking and judging Rational Mastermind. I’m just like Hilary Clinton and Professor Moriarty. That’s a turnaround, but having mentioned perfectionism before and having studied science, it also seemed to fit.
Here’s the thing. Personality is a continuum and trying to divide that continuum into neat little boxes just doesn’t work.
The main aspects of my personality came through, being an introvert and judging (in the sense of being a planner, not of using the judgey wee bastard). But my information perception and processing are open to change.
I’d say that’s true for most of us.