Myers-Briggs Typing

 Posted by on 18 June 2015 at 10:00 am  Personal, Personality, Psychology
Jun 182015
 

For some time now, I’ve gone back and forth about whether I’m INFJ or INFP on Myers-Briggs. Over the past few months, I’ve seen some aspects of my personality change and sharpen: I feel more in control of my life, more confident, and more driven. As part of that, I’m engaged in lots more J-ish behaviors. (If only I’d let you see my spreadsheets!!)

And… the INFJ on this myth-busting page really resonated with me:

Stereotype #2: INFJs are the natural counselors of the world, who want nothing more than to care for and nurture you.

Reality: Though they certainly do care for others, INFJs can often come across as cold if you don’t know them well. They lead with introverted intuition, which makes them infinitely more interested in analyzing big-picture problems than helping you sort out your relationship issues – they are empathetic to a fault but they’d usually rather be analyzing than empathizing.

Reading through the descriptions of INFJ and INFP again, I’m struck by how well INFJ suits. For example:

Consequently, most INFJs are protective of their inner selves, sharing only what they choose to share when they choose to share it. They are deep, complex individuals, who are quite private and typically difficult to understand. INFJs hold back part of themselves, and can be secretive.

I’m only starting to understand just how really, really true this is of me. But no, I’m not going to give you any details, random people of Earth. SO THERE.

P.S. For what it’s worth, I don’t recommend trying to type yourself using a test. The test sucks.

  • http://valme.io c_prompt

    “P.S. For what it’s worth, I don’t recommend trying to type yourself using a test. The test sucks.”

    Indeed. MB is effectively worthless and totally meaningless: https://valme.io/c/science/psychology/94qqs/why-the-myers-briggs-test-is-totally-meaningless

    • Adam Fitchett

      It cannot be totally meaningless when the categories resonate so much with certain groups of people. To the point where MB enthusiasts can tell someone’s type just by meeting with them.

      • James

        I’m not sure that’s entirely true, Adam. Pherenologists thought the same thing, after all, and astronomy holds sway over far too many people because it resonates so much with them. There’s also a real danger of selecting facts that fit your conclusions–once humans have an answer, we try to support it, which is why scientific studies have null hypotheses and multiple working hypotheses.

        I don’t do personality theory (anything involving squishy bits is necessarily outside my sphere of knowledge), so I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. I’m merely pointing out that the evidence you’ve provided is insufficient to justify the conclusion.

   
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