My Type

I’m participating in my first ever blog link up with “Me and My Soldier Man”! I’m so excited! Why? Because it’s a topic that I love (borderline am obsessed with): personality types!!!

I’m not sure why I love it so much. I guess because I’m curious and I like figuring out puzzles and finding the reasons why people act a certain way. And it’s really helped me be more accepting of others. Honestly. Horrible confession: I spent many years thinking everyone should act like me and feeling very frustrated when they didn’t. You’ll understand why when you see my personality type!

I also like to know why I do certain things. It has helped me be more accepting of myself, too. And it has helped me identify areas where I need to grow and push myself.

I love it!!

I probably missed my calling as a psychologist. Then again, the thought of listening to people whine all day might drive me crazy. Although, it might explain why random strangers are always spilling their guts to me. It happens so often that I’m beginning to wonder….

Anyway, here is the original blog post with a link to the Myers-Briggs personality test that I took. First, here’s a little about the Myers-Briggs’ scale:

Where you focus your attention

Extraversion

People who prefer Extraversion tend to focus their attention on the outer world of people and things.

VS.

Introversion

People who prefer Introversion tend to focus their attention on the inner world of ideas and impressions.

The way you take in information

Sensing

People who prefer Sensing tend to take in information through the five senses and focus on the here and now.

VS

Intuition

People who prefer Intuition tend to take in information from patterns and the big picture and focus on future possibilities.

The way you make decisions

Thinking

People who prefer Thinking tend to make decisions based primarily on logic and on objective analysis of cause and effect.

VS

Feeling

People who prefer Feeling tend to make decisions based primarily on values and on subjective evaluation of person-centered concerns.

How you deal with the outer world

Judging

People who prefer Judging tend to like a planned and organized approach to life and prefer to have things settled.

VS

Perceiving

People who prefer Perceiving tend to like a flexible and spontaneous approach to life and prefer to keep their options open.

Two years ago, I took a Myers-Briggs test and my result was an “ESTJ” – Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. When I took the test again a few days ago, I scored as an “ISTJ” but was an almost even 50/50 split on Extrovert/Introvert scale. I also tend to score very low on the Thinking scale (insert blond jokes) so I tend to be a Feeler too. Here’s one category that there’s no doubt about, I’m off-the-scale on Judging. Me likey to be ORGANIZED. That’s not really a surprise, though, huh?

ISTJ – “The Duty Fulfiller”

ISTJs are very loyal, faithful, and dependable.

Your first preference is toward introversion, which means that you get your energy from interacting with your rich inner world. You tend to be reflective and contemplative. You likely prefer to have a few close friends instead of many acquaintances.

Your second preference is for sensation. Sensors are pragmatic, precise people who are very detail oriented. Instead of looking at the big picture first, Sensors concentrate on specifics. They highly value experience and often have an excellent memory.

Your third preference is for thinking. Thinkers prefer to remain objective, concentrating more on facts than subjective factors in a situation. Thinking types are usually very analytical and logical thinking comes easily for them.

Your fourth preference is for judging. Judgers are structured and organized, preferring an orderly environment over disorganization. They are decisive planners who like bringing closure to projects. Judgers often feel comfortable with deadlines and can easily work within them.

Here are some descriptions of an ISTJ that are scarily accurate:

“ISTJs tend to believe in laws and traditions, and expect the same from others. They're not comfortable with breaking laws or going against the rules.”

True.

“Being perfectionists themselves, they have a tendency to take other people's efforts for granted, like they take their own efforts for granted. They need to remember to pat people on the back once in a while.” 

Oops.

“ISTJs have tremendous respect for facts. They hold a tremendous store of facts within themselves, which they have gathered through their Sensing preference. They may have difficulty understanding a theory or idea which is different from their own perspective.”

Yep.

“Under stress, ISTJs may fall into "catastrophe mode", where they see nothing but all of the possibilities of what could go wrong. They will berate themselves for things in which they should have done differently, or duties in which they failed to perform. They will lose their ability to see things calmly and reasonably, and will depress themselves with their visions of doom.”

Uh oh.

As a parent: “Traditional and family-minded, they will put forth great amounts of effort at making their homes and families running smoothly. They are responsible parents, taking their parenting roles seriously.”

Definitely.

So, that’s me in a nutshell. The good, the bad and the intensely organized me.

OK, now it’s your turn! Take the test HERE and share your results in the comments!