I found a colleague’s copy of a Myers-Briggs personality test, and went through it again. Since I hadn’t taken one since 1993, I wondered if I still was an ENFJ. Nope! Something has shifted in my life, as I now come out as ENFP. Less judging, more perceiving — though it was very close between the two.
At the risk of being a boastful papa, I need to share that our gorgeous Matilde is a hardworking and generous chinchilla, and has been doing some splendid work this month to raise funds to help her friends in the Midwest in danger of being pelted. And there is much good news to report on the Pet Homes for Ranchies site. But so many more chins can still be saved, and Matilde is very interested in seeing this project expanded. One way or another, our little family is going to start to play a role in ending chinchilla pelting in this country. All rap stars draped in the bodies of hundreds of these precious babies, you are on notice!
The really exciting news of the morning is that Lance Armstrong ended months of speculation last week by announcing he will ride in this summer’s Tour de France. In my world, these are indeed splendid tidings. If I had watched Oprah on Friday, I would have known this. As it turns out, I was riding around the Rose Bowl in the pouring rain as his show aired. So this may be news only to me…
I miss having tons of time to post. Three classes ahead today.
Hugo,
How high was your “J” 12 years ago? I’m going to bet it was a fairly low “J” rating.
I’m one of the ones who believes that our personality types don’t change, at least from one category to another, in most cases. I believe that if there are major changes, it’s because we either did not know ourselves well when we took a test, were undergoing lots of stress at a time when we took a test, or have low scores in one of the categories (and, consequently, it’s not that hard to shift).
That said, I’ve also seen some shift of my own on the “J”/”P” scale, although not from one category to the other. Thirteen years ago, I was a moderate “P”; by just two or three years ago, I was a high “P.” In a decade, I had given myself permission to be much more of a “P”!
Peace of Christ,
Chip
You know, I can’t remember how close I was in ‘93 between “J” and “P”. I agree, our personalities don’t change that much — I think I’ve become more comfortable expressing that “p” side as I’ve grown older. Greater honesty is, I think, a part of this.
I seem to remember that the New Yorker published in article about personality tests in general, and Meyers-Brigg in particular, at some point during the last few months. The point made in the article was that the questions in these tests are that your real answer is usually, “it depends.” Since you are forced to choose an answer anyway, the results of these tests are arbitrary. The article’s analysis reflects my experience taking these tests, but then again, your results over the span over years have been quite similar (only one letter off!)
Better update your profile! :-D
-ianvh
I’m schitzophrenic. I’m an INXJ, which means that T and F are equal. I’ve done the test three times, and each time, they come out within two of each other. The profile things are relatively accurate, at least generally, in my case.
I have a friend who’s really into Myers-Briggs (I am an INFJ) and she said that when choosing between the two types (like judging/perceiving), you should go with the one you’re most naturally inclined towards. So, for extroverted/introverted we determined that even though I’m much more extroverted now, it’s really something that I’ve learned to do. People who know me well often forget how shy I was when I first met them.
Well, John and Stephanie, we all have our intuitiveness firmly in place, don’t we?