in my mid-teens, my dad took a psych class and shared the myers-briggs temperament sorter and the book please understand me II by david keirsey with my family. my sister and i were fascinated with the whole concept of typology and both tested as idealists. she was an infp, and i an enfp "champion".i was amazed when i read the description of my type, and couldn't believe how right-on it was. it described things about me that i had never actually identified, but had always felt. for example:
Idealist self-confidence rests on their authenticity, their genuineness as a person, or put another way, the self-image they present to the world allows for no facade, no mask, no pretense. - pg 138and
P.U.M. II, Keirsey
Champions have a wide range and variety of emotions, and a great passion for novelty, and so can become bored rather quickly with both situations and people, and resist repeating experiences. Also, they can never quite shake the feeling that a part of themselves is split off, uninvolved in their experience. - pg 156 P.U.M. II, Keirsey
i remember thinking, "you mean, there are other people who are this way?!" there were some things i could throw out or were only partly true, but mostly it was me.
immediately, we started making everyone we knew take the test. we were obsessed. it just makes sense for us as nfs to care so much about self-actualization and mutual understanding. over the years, i have taken the test many times, and have always been enfp, even after i felt i had changed. often, though, two of the letters came up even, the e/i and the f/t. i was only really strong on the n and the p. i never even had a bit of j in me, a fact which explained much about me.
well, the other day i did a sorter for the first time in a few years. this time it was from the book personality type: an owner's manual by lenore thomson. (i'm really liking the book) i scored as an intp! what's more astounding is that i answered two questions on the j side as opposed to p! it's slightly distressing to have my perception of myself be challenged this way. any artisans or guardians reading would probably think that's pretty ridiculous.
after reading about intp's, some if it is very true of me:
They tend to see distinctions and inconsistencies in thought and language instantaneously, and can detect contradictions in statements no matter when or where the statements were made. Only sentences that are coherent carry weight with them, and thus authority derived from office, credential or celebrity does not impress them. - pg 206that drives brooks so crazy about me... i can't help but rephrase his sentences properly for him sometimes. this temperament also explains my obsession with logic and natural laws. the only school subjects in which i regularly scored well were math and sciences. one semester in college, i got an a+ in symbolic logic and a d in painting. how backwards is that?
i have come to the conclusion that i have a personal spectrum of temperament ranging from enfp to intp. often times, i do sense my conflicting tendencies inside of me.
enough about me. how about you? here is a free test online. go take it and tell me what you score, and whether the type description is a good fit. i just took this particular one and was enfp again! still was close to the middle on e and f.
