Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Has My Personality Changed?

Several of my Facebook friends had taken a quiz that was based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I've taken the real MBTI probably at least a half-dozen times (usually in a group setting), and my result has always been ENTP. Just for fun, I decided to take the Facebook quiz which is shorter than the actual MBTI questionnaire. To my surprise, I got a different result this time. I tested as an ENFP. That's only one marker difference, but when I'd actually taken the real questionnaire the last time (about 10 years ago), I had been a fairly strong "T." Needless to say, my result caught me by surprise. I remembered from some of my counseling classes that persons do sometimes differently, but it's usually on the markers that are borderline and not on one which tested fairly strong. I decided to take the quiz again just to make sure that I was really marking the way I would really react/feel. Once again I tested as ENFP. I began to question whether the quiz makers had omitted some of the questions that would affect my result. I had seen other people commenting that they usually tested as a T but had tested as an F this time. I went to the Myers-Briggs web site and read the T vs. F description. I saw myself more in the T than the F description there, but I could certainly see some F there. I contemplated taking the full version of the test online, but being the frugal person that I am, I decided it wasn't worth about $60 to determine if the Facebook quiz was flawed. I did, however, have one last recourse. I remembered that I still had an MBTI book from the late 1980s upstairs that discussed each personality profile in depth. I read through their description of T vs. F and decided that I really probably matched slightly better with an F than a T now. I read through their descriptions of both ENTP and ENFP and decided that I more closely resemble an ENFP than an ENTP nowadays. I guess people do change! In my case, I suppose that I've "softened" a little bit. I guess that having more empathy never hurt anyone, so I'll just go ahead and be happy with my result. Now (with my most recent MBTI results in mind) - which new genealogy project should I tackle before completing the others I have started?

3 comments:

Kathryn Doyle said...

Lori,
I've missed this FB meme but you caught my attention because I have always tested ENFP. Now I need to check out the facebook version and see if I remain the same or whether I, too, have undergone a personality change. It must be difficult being a J-type genealogist, don't you think?

Lori Thornton said...

It's a quiz, not a meme, but it's showing up on a lot of the genealogists profiles so you should be able to find it. I think I'm probably borderline now on that trait but without taking the real MBTI, I can't be sure. Now - about "J" genealogists. One of the best professional genealogists I know tested as ISTJ -- the exact opposite of me. I'd hire that person any day because I know that all things really had been considered. I suspect that person can be a "P" when needed. Just because we test one way doesn't mean that we will not perform the other way in a different situation.

TK said...

"which new genealogy project should I tackle before completing the others I have started?"

Well, funny you should ask! I've got one with your name on it in yesterday's post at Before My Time!