Myers-Briggs Personality Type Test

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Thirty-something years ago I wanted to enter a monastery. I had to take a battery of psychological tests that included the Myers-Briggs among others. When I got the results back from these tests, the MB was the only one that I felt accurately described my personality.
 
Like several of the above posters, I found the Myers-Briggs test very accurate and helpful.

I didn’t find it to be new-agey either. 🤷
 
spiritualwrrior said:
I read the questions of the test and agree that they don’t have anything out of the ordinary or New-Agy in appearance. It seems rather interesting but I still don’t quite agree with the test. For example one question was about habits and another about being organized. If I answer negatively it only reflects a side of myself that I personally need to change. It reflects a weakness, a vice, such as sloth or sensuality as a cardinal sin, rather than my personality. In other words, I don’t get the point.

I do agree, however, about introversion vs. extroversion as forming an aspect of a person’s personality. Their vices, such as what I described above or even “judging” as part of a person’s personality, well, er, not so much.
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Eh, well, I don’t get the point either and have taken the test twice. It is a means to categorizing people, but then can be applied “stupidly”. But then take into account I test INTJ. We view everything as questionable. 😛
 
RebeccaJ said:
Eh, well, I don’t get the point either and have taken the test twice. It is a means to categorizing people, but then can be applied “stupidly”. But then take into account I test INTJ. We view everything as questionable. 😛
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You and Boswell are both INTJ’s. 🙂

I think I am, too. It’s been awhile since I took the test, though. Come to think of it, I believe I’ve gotten slightly different results each time I’ve taken it. I’m always strongly at the I end of the I/E spectrum. With the other factors, I tend to be pretty close to the center. That just goes along with my general tendency to try to reconcile opposites. :o
 
Joe_5859 said:
You and Boswell are both INTJ’s. 🙂

I think I am, too. It’s been awhile since I took the test, though. Come to think of it, I believe I’ve gotten slightly different results each time I’ve taken it. I’m always strongly at the I end of the I/E spectrum. With the other factors, I tend to be pretty close to the center. That just goes along with my general tendency to try to reconcile opposites. :o
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Anecdotally, INTJs tend to make up a good percentage of online forum participation, while being the least common personality type. If everyone participating in online forums understood that, I think they’d run. 🙂

Not a scientific measurement, just in forums where an all-call has gone out for personality types, there are a lot of INTJs. Disproportionate to the general population.
 
spiritualwrrior said:
My team at work and I have even asked by our manager to take the Myers-Briggs personality type test. In the past some of my coworkers have taken it for fun but I refused to participate due to my Catholic faith. I did a quick Google search and found this personality test was influenced by Carl Jung, whom I read about in the book “Ransomed from Darkness” by Moira Noonan and who taught New Age ideas.

I’m a believer that my personality is unique and influenced by my actions and decisions, and the way I was raised. Is it OK for a Catholic to take the above personality test, given its influences by Carl Jung?

I personally don’t feel comfortable doing so.
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I don’t believe you have any solid foundation for objecting based specifically on your Catholicism.

See Fr. Serpa’s answer here:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=12107
 
RebeccaJ said:
Anecdotally, INTJs tend to make up a good percentage of online forum participation, while being the least common personality type. If everyone participating in online forums understood that, I think they’d run. 🙂

Not a scientific measurement, just in forums where an all-call has gone out for personality types, there are a lot of INTJs. Disproportionate to the general population.
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So that’s why I hang around CAF so much. 😛

That’s interesting, even if only an anecdote. Someone needs to do a study. 🙂
 
I’ve taken this test a few times and each time I get INFJ. And, yeah, that’s pretty much me to a T lol! My hubby is an ISFJ but isn’t quite and introverted as I am. I also think that they can be helpful especially in choosing a career. I’m a massage therapist and also freelance graphic artist and both are a perfect fit for an INFJ 🙂
 
I took the MB as part of my leadership training with GE. They gave me the test so that I (an INTJ) would better understand the way I naturally tend to react to people and situations.

Equipped with that understanding, I was then encouraged to “flex my style” so as to help me interact more kindly and effectively with people whose styles are different from my own.

I found it deeply humbling and an opportunity for personal growth; and it has been good for my career, where most every day I deal in person or by phone with people from all over the world.

I try, but often fail, to flex my style here on the fora. I guess I should flex more and gripe less. 🙂

Paul
 
RebeccaJ said:
Anecdotally, INTJs tend to make up a good percentage of online forum participation, while being the least common personality type. If everyone participating in online forums understood that, I think they’d run. 🙂

Not a scientific measurement, just in forums where an all-call has gone out for personality types, there are a lot of INTJs. Disproportionate to the general population.
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Haha, I am an INTJ too! Although, I’m about half and half on the J/P. I’m indecisive about some things and decisive about others. I like to be on time or early to places, yet I tend to procrastinate on homework, yet I can organize and get things done when I have to, yet I am messy in general… 😛
 
I have taken it several times and I always test out as INFP
 
Well, all of your responses were helpful and convinced me there’s nothing to fear. I took the test and scored as INFP.
 
The Myers-Briggs Tests I think are pretty useful in understanding yourself and others. I am ENFP, incidentally. The types are more like a “cognitive functioning blueprint” rather than what many people think of personality types. The thing to remember as Catholics, though, when we’re trying to “develop our personalities” is that we are all broken and have a fallen human nature. Only God can save us–he asks for our cooperation but we can’t save ourselves. Another thing is, if you get really interested in MBTI, you will likely come across some enneagram enthusiasts. Now by no means is everyone into MBTI also into enneagram, they are very different systems, but just be aware. The MBTI was made by Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers as a way of operationalizing Jung’s psychological concepts, the enneagram was not really developed as a method to understand psychology but as its founders pseudo-spiritual beliefs. The Bishops have urged us to be cautious about the enneagram until some real psychological validity has been shown. Here is a link going very in depth about their perspective–well worth a read and an excellent illustration of the principles of being open to truth and skeptical and looking through the lens of our Catholic faith:
natcath.org/NCR_Online/documents/ennea2.htm

With MBTI, there are debates about its validity, but I think though it has wrinkles that need to be ironed, it is valid:
celebritytypes.com/blog/2014/02/mbti-for-skeptics/ (This website is WAY more cerebral than you’d expect from the name)

The MBTI is often conflated with the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, but I am one who doesn’t agree with what Keirsey did with the MBTI. He brought behaviorism into it, and I am with Jung in despising that approach to psychology. His temperament sorter in my opinion makes it into a stereotype pigeonholing game and ignores the cognitive functions.
Here is a chart about different approaches to type:
celebritytypes.com/infographic/different-approaches-to-type.php

And here is a good article to read to introduce yourself to the cognitive functions theory:

thoughtcatalog.com/heidi-priebe/2015/06/if-youre-confused-about-your-myers-briggs-personality-type-read-this-an-intro-to-cognitive-functions/

Have a good day, everyone. 🙂
 
RebeccaJ said:
Anecdotally, INTJs tend to make up a good percentage of online forum participation, while being the least common personality type. If everyone participating in online forums understood that, I think they’d run. 🙂

Not a scientific measurement, just in forums where an all-call has gone out for personality types, there are a lot of INTJs. Disproportionate to the general population.
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LOL - I hadn’t heard this before, but I do believe it.

INTJ here. Solidly INTJ, too, and consistent over decades. Nothing wishy-washy here! 😉
 
I’m an I/ENFJ/P. I always have the NF, but I deviate between I and E, and P and J.
 
I’ve taken the test as well as other similar ‘fortune cookie’ type tests.

The more questions asked the higher probability that someone will answer a subset of Q’s in such a way to drop the person into a specific bucket.

I don’t put a whole lot of stock in them, but it can be interesting.

Take care,

Mike
 
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