Myers Briggs is alive and kicking

Myers Briggs is still alive and kicking! If this post incites your curiosity, you can go on line and fill out all manner of freebie questionnaires to work out your personality type. I had my report done in 1993 and came out as INTJ.

Extraversion 9                   Introversion 21

Sensing 12                           Intuition 16

Thinking 14                         Feeling 4

Judging 17                           Perceiving 10

 

Wikipedia quotes ‘The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an introspective self-report questionnaire designed to indicate psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.

The MBTI was constructed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It is based on the typological theory proposed by Carl Jung who had speculated that there are four principal psychological functions by which humans experience the world – sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking – and that one of these four functions is dominant for a person most of the time’.

Apparently INTJs are the rarest of personality types and account for 1-2% of the population.

‘INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion “Does it work?” to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake … INTJs are known as the “Systems Builders” of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait of combining imagination and reliability. ……….Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ’s Achilles heel … This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals … Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense.— Marina Margaret Heiss

Hallmarks of the INTJ include independence of thought and a desire for efficiency. They work best when given autonomy and creative freedom. (so true!) They harbor an innate desire to express themselves by conceptualizing their own intellectual designs. They have a talent for analyzing and formulating complex theories. INTJs are generally well-suited for occupations within academia, research, consulting, management, science, engineering, and law. (really?!!) They are often acutely aware of their own knowledge and abilities—as well as their limitations and what they don’t know. INTJs thus develop a strong confidence in their ability and talents, making them natural leaders.

As mates, INTJs want harmony and order in the home and in relationships. The most independent of all types, INTJs trust their intuition when choosing friends and mates—even in spite of contradictory evidence or pressure from others. The emotions of an INTJ are hard to read (I don’t think this is true), and neither male nor female INTJs are apt to express emotional reactions. At times, INTJs seem cold, reserved, and unresponsive, while in fact they are almost hypersensitive to signals of rejection from those they care for. In social situations, INTJs may also be unresponsive and may neglect small rituals designed to put others at ease. For example, INTJs may communicate that idle dialogue such as small talk is a waste of time. This may create the impression that the INTJ is rude or in a hurry—an impression that is not always intended, and may not be true at all. In their interpersonal relationships, INTJs are usually better in a working situation than in a recreational situation.

Totally agree with the social rituals bit – I am hopeless at small talk and prefer 1:1 than groups.

INTJs value knowledge highly and expect competence of themselves and others. They especially abhor confusion, mess and inefficiency. (Yep!)