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.

Comments

Courtney said…
My father-in-law is ALL about the Meyers-Briggs test. I haven't taken it since I was a freshman in college, so I look forward to taking it again and seeing if anything has changed since I was 18!
Kailey said…
Ok, I took your challenge and am an E(1)N(25)J(75)F(33)= extraverted, intuitive, feeling, judging. Do I have to refer to this when I meet people now? :-)
Katya said…
ISTJ, but I have quibbles with a couple of the axes, because I've never been able to find good explanations of them. (I don't argue with the typing, itself, I just don't get how it breaks down, etc.)
Katya said…
Oh, and "introverterted" and "shy" aren't supposed to be synonymous, although they can often be co-occurring. "Introverted" means that people wear you out - that you need alone time to recharge. So you can be the life of the party or draw attention to yourself, but if it wears you out in the long run, you're more of an introvert. (And obviously, introvert / extrovert is a spectrum or a continuum, not a binary distinction.)
JB said…
Woah. We're very close. I'm an ISTJ this time. I've also tested as:
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! :)
JB said…
Interesting, Katya. Lunkwill's an introvert but people can never see him as such because he tends to be very outgoing and fun in social situations. He just has to go home and recoup for a while, but usually I'm all kinds of recharged and happy afterward so I'm more talkative then. . . poor guy. . .
The Weed said…
I always come out as either INFP or ENFP, and most tests usually say for either that I'm really middle-ground when it comes to extroversion/introversion, which makes a lot of sense to me. I get a lot out of some social interactions and feel energized in many cases, and other types of social situations make me very uncomfortable and drain me entirely. Also, while I think I'm okay at playing the social game, I very, very rarely share my real self, and avoid talking about myself much of the time through my natural curiosity towards others. By far, I indentify more with being INFP--I think in large part my social persona is something I've created and learned how to do because that type of behavior seems to be more valued and rewarded in our society than introversion.

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.
The Weed said…
Wow, botched that link. Here's it is again (hopefully) http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/infp/.
FoxyJ said…
Weed--thanks for the link; I like that site for the explanations

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.
Thirdmango said…
I haven't taken it in a while but every time I do I always end up as a ENFP. My F and P are above 90% and my E is about 75% and my N is about 51%.
Mama said…
I have only taken the color code test (I'll take the other later today) but tested out as a pretty strong blue. As I get older and I retake the color code, I get more red and yellow added in.

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.
Mama said…
Your Type is
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.
Johnna said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Johnna said…
INTP. Very high T, classic case. I took quite an expensive version of this test 12 years ago, when my husband's firm payed to test everyone and their significant others.

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.
Katya said…
My beef with the color code is that it focuses only on the negative aspects of each personality type. I have friends whose personalities fall into all four quadrants, and the have many positive and complementary qualities, even if they may also tend towards some of the negative qualities specific to each group. (I guess it's reasonable for a self-help book to start with convincing you that there's something wrong with you, but it still bugs me.)
Desmama said…
I was ISFJ too. This was an interesting test to take. A friend once pointed out, and I think it's true, that identity isn't so much what we think we are, but what we think others think we are. It's a series of reflections. So. Something to ponder, I suppose.
M said…
I'm INTJ. No surprise there, I think.
Anonymous said…
I'm an ENFJ.

On the color test I'm an even split of yellow and blue, with a little bit of red and no white whatsoever.
The introversion thing has to do with what energizes you. I too have become very adept at working large groups of people (teaching has done this) and striking up conversations with total strangers in random places (missionary work was the one that helped with that), but it wipes me out. Spending all day with a book, talking to the radio while I listen to NPR, discussing ideas with a close friend or two, blogging on serious topics, writing long letters--these things make me feel most like myself and wake me right up. Parties are fun, but I feel like I need to detox afterward.

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.
TK said…
Interesting. We did this for family night years ago and I remember Mr Fob was also white.
Mrs. Hass-Bark said…
I am a red (with some blue).

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.

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