I'll show you mine, now you show me yours
The first time I heard about the Color Code personality test was when one of my new freshman roommates asked me about it on our way to Shop Ko to buy dishes for our apartment. She was very, very "yellow" and was sure I was "white". She was right; according to the test I was mostly white, with a little blue mixed in. Over the years I've migrated to being fairly split between blue and white, but I'm definitely not red or yellow.
I've taken other personality tests since then. I find them interesting, but I don't feel like they define everything about a person. Today on another blog I read, someone pointed out in the comments that you can often tell a person's personality by the way they respond to conflict on threads. Several people referenced the Myers Briggs test, which I don't think I've taken before. So I decided to take it. It apparently measures four different areas with two possibilities in each area and so is thought to be somewhat more comprehensive than other tests. I took this online test and it labeled me as ISFJ, which means that I am "Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging". According to them, my preferences for introversion and judging were very pronounced, while the sensing and feeling were a little more towards the middle (the other options there are Intuition and Thinking). So, what does this all mean? According to this test I am:
Introverted: Many tests I've taken have described me as introverted. I'm still not sure I agree. On the one hand, I can be socially awkward and I hate large crowds. I would rather be home reading a book than out in the middle of a big party. On the other hand, I've become increasingly more comfortable leading discussions, teaching, and drawing attention to myself. I'm usually one of the few people commenting in classes at church and I have no problem expressing my opinion in public. That is, after I get to know people first and feel comfortable with the group. So I guess I'm not necessarily "introverted" in the sense of being shy, but I would say I am more inwardly motivated and need to reflect before acting.
Sensing Function: Apparently what this means is that I prefer information that is concrete and able to be perceived with the senses. I am interested in data more than hunches or intuition, which is definitely true. At the same time, I have been known to go on a hunch, but that's usually after thinking it over for a while and finding some kind of outward confirmation. I also have a hard time with the theoretical and abstract; when analyzing literature I tend much more strongly towards historicism or formalism than the theoretical. It's also why I like translation and grammar so much.
Decisions based on Feeling: This means that I prefer to make decisions based on some sort of sense of equality or balance, with an emotional attachment to the problem rather than viewing it from a detached, outside perspective. I can agree with this one; I always find myself thinking "it's about priorities--what do you value?" and "you have to go with what feels right to you".
Judging: This is based on how we interact with the world; apparently people who use their judging form and base decisions on feeling are more "empathetic" than logical. I'm not sure I agree with that. On the one hand, I would like to think that I'm more logical and that I stick to rules. On the other hand, when I interact with other people I tend to have a very hard time telling them anything negative and I often feel "squishy" with my students. It hurts me very much to make people uncomfortable and I have a hard time being firm with my own kids too.
According to the test I took, people with my personality work well in education, religious life, and translation. I guess I'm on the right track after all.
This isn't really a meme, but I'd invite my readers to take the test and find out what their personality is. I'm curious.
I've taken other personality tests since then. I find them interesting, but I don't feel like they define everything about a person. Today on another blog I read, someone pointed out in the comments that you can often tell a person's personality by the way they respond to conflict on threads. Several people referenced the Myers Briggs test, which I don't think I've taken before. So I decided to take it. It apparently measures four different areas with two possibilities in each area and so is thought to be somewhat more comprehensive than other tests. I took this online test and it labeled me as ISFJ, which means that I am "Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging". According to them, my preferences for introversion and judging were very pronounced, while the sensing and feeling were a little more towards the middle (the other options there are Intuition and Thinking). So, what does this all mean? According to this test I am:
Introverted: Many tests I've taken have described me as introverted. I'm still not sure I agree. On the one hand, I can be socially awkward and I hate large crowds. I would rather be home reading a book than out in the middle of a big party. On the other hand, I've become increasingly more comfortable leading discussions, teaching, and drawing attention to myself. I'm usually one of the few people commenting in classes at church and I have no problem expressing my opinion in public. That is, after I get to know people first and feel comfortable with the group. So I guess I'm not necessarily "introverted" in the sense of being shy, but I would say I am more inwardly motivated and need to reflect before acting.
Sensing Function: Apparently what this means is that I prefer information that is concrete and able to be perceived with the senses. I am interested in data more than hunches or intuition, which is definitely true. At the same time, I have been known to go on a hunch, but that's usually after thinking it over for a while and finding some kind of outward confirmation. I also have a hard time with the theoretical and abstract; when analyzing literature I tend much more strongly towards historicism or formalism than the theoretical. It's also why I like translation and grammar so much.
Decisions based on Feeling: This means that I prefer to make decisions based on some sort of sense of equality or balance, with an emotional attachment to the problem rather than viewing it from a detached, outside perspective. I can agree with this one; I always find myself thinking "it's about priorities--what do you value?" and "you have to go with what feels right to you".
Judging: This is based on how we interact with the world; apparently people who use their judging form and base decisions on feeling are more "empathetic" than logical. I'm not sure I agree with that. On the one hand, I would like to think that I'm more logical and that I stick to rules. On the other hand, when I interact with other people I tend to have a very hard time telling them anything negative and I often feel "squishy" with my students. It hurts me very much to make people uncomfortable and I have a hard time being firm with my own kids too.
According to the test I took, people with my personality work well in education, religious life, and translation. I guess I'm on the right track after all.
This isn't really a meme, but I'd invite my readers to take the test and find out what their personality is. I'm curious.
Comments
INFP
ENSJ
and. . . a couple others. I think it's something that changes with time and experiences. Not that people tend to go one way or another as time passes, so much as they just change.
Also, I'm yellow. Not very surprised. I'd bet that's what Sboogie is too. She seems like a girl who knows how to have fun! :)
The best site for these personality types I've found is href="http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/infp/">this one. It has all of the types linked at the bottom, has the best, most accurate (in my opinion) descriptions, and links to the most sources for each type. Very interesting stuff.
I guess that this shows that I tend to have friends more like me in personality :)
The more I read about introversion the more I realize that I really am more introverted than extraverted. I used to be a lot more socially uncomfortable but I've slowly trained myself over the years to be more social. But I really do feel drained after interactions with people and I don't usually feel comfortable in new situations or with new people.
I've talked to several folks about why these personality tests change as we age - and particularly, why they seem to get less decisive. Most folks, as they age, will start having an equal mix of 3 or 4 colors. Wild, huh? The general consensus was made at a book club meeting (with 2 psychs present) that as we live more, we learn to adapt in society and it reflects on our personality test. You say you've learned to be socially less awkward. That skill is going to cause you to answer questions differently now then, say, pre-mission.
Mr. Mormon, interestingly, tests out VERY different when he's answering the questions based on if he's at work or if he's at home. At home, he's super blue. At work, he's red red red.
INFJ
Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging
Strength of the preferences %
11 25 38 56
You are:
slightly expressed introvert
moderately expressed intuitive personality
moderately expressed feeling personality
moderately expressed judging personality
But I did answer some of the questions on how I'm acting right now as RS President. I wonder if it would be different in a different calling? I'm desperate for peace seeing as I rarely have a minute where the phone isn't ringing with someone needing something. But before this, I was a ton more outgoing.
The nice thing is, the older I get, the more of the "left-handed" skills I pick up. So, I can do J to get stuff done, I can do some F to get along better with people.
I'm a red on that color code scheme. To which my mother announced that all reds are bad people, since a red's concern for self trump all other considerations. Needless to say, I don't like that color code thing. Though it did shed some light on my Red-Red marriage.
On the color test I'm an even split of yellow and blue, with a little bit of red and no white whatsoever.
As we mature, and become more socially adept, our skills may move toward center on each one, but our personalities, at least aspects of them, remain at the margins. I think I was INTJ when I took this test. And I'm an even split red and blue. It can be a bad combination.
I have always been an ISTJ. I am a strong introvert. As much as I love social interaction, I am always exhausted when it's over. Actually, I have very strong preferences on all of the axes. Reading the descriptions of an ISTJ makes me laugh because it's all so true.