INTJ I AM

A lot of Christian bloggers are posting their Myers-Briggs Personality Type profile information. I decided to do a little research on my type. I am an INTJ – Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging personality type. One classification system called INTJs Masterminds (www.keirsey.com). Another says we are the most self-confident of all personality types projecing an aura of “definiteness”, of self-confidence, which can be mistaken for arrogance. We know what we know, and perhaps still more importantly, we know what we don’t know. We excel at contingency planning. We may eventually take complete charge in order to achieve our goals or when we see progress floundering. We have exceptionally strong wills and confidence which makes us born decisions-makers. We are not afraid testing our ideas in the real world.

Our strongest assets are our intuitive abilities and our willingness to “work at” relationships. Although we do not always have a natural empathy, our intutition can often act as a good substitute by synthesizing the probable meanings behind such things as tone of voice, turn of phrase, and facial expression, which we highly tuned into. Honing this ability by consistent, repeated effort to understand and support those we care about causes those relationships which ultimately suceed at tend to be characterized by robustness, stability, and good communications.

According to one site I am concerned with:

The inner world of possibilities, symbols, abstractions, images, and thoughts. Insight and logical analysis, driving need to understand, task oriented.

Some interesting facts about people who have this type, which of course means me.

* Most important feature of an ideal job: creativity and originality. Source: MBTI Applications, 1996, by A.L. Hammer.

* In national sample, lowest in reporting stress associated with “School” and “Caring for aging parents.” Source: MBTI Manual, 1998 [I actually enjoyed school, even when the pressure was at its highest. My mother has died but my dad won’t let me take care of him, though I wouldn’t mind if he did. The same with my mother-in-law.]

* In national sample, lowest in coping with stress by “Watching TV.” Source: MBTI Manual, 1998 [While I like TV, I don’t use it for stress relief. I guess this applies.]

* In national sample, ranked highest in saying “No” to belief in a higher spiritual power. Source: MBTI Manual, 1998 [Here I definately go against the trend, since as a committed Evangelical Christian I emphatically say “YES” to belief in a higher spiritual power.]

* In national sample “Leisure Activities,” overrepresented in “Taking classes, going to school,” “Appreciating art,” “Playing with computers or video games,” and “Working out/exercising”; underrepresented in “Watching TV 3 or more hours per day.” Source: MBTI Manual, 1998 [Well the computer part fits, and I have always liked playing physical games. I guess Bible studies and seminars are similar to taking classes and going to school. I would say I definately appreciate art, especially the music and the visual arts.]

* Academic subjects preferred: science. Source: I.M. Myers & M.H. McCaulley in Manual: A guide to the development and use of the MBTI, 1985. [Being a history major, somewhat belies that tendancy, but I have always enjoyed reading about technology, which is applied science.]

* Highest GPA among college persisters. Source: MBTI Manual, 1998 [I graduated with a 4.0 – Summa Cum Laud.]

* 1 of 3 highest types in liking work environment characteristic “Variety of tasks” as well as highly favoring “Clear structure” and “Independence & achievement”; lowest of all types in liking work environments characterized by “Making the job as simple as possible.” Source: MBTI Manual, 1998 [I am definately task oriented and like variety, but want a clear sense of what the goals are.]

* In national sample, among types with highest income; dissatisfied with “Future work opportunities,” “Promotions,” and “Job security” in their jobs. Source: MBTI Manual, 1998 [I have always been able to make money, but it was never important. The rest is why I have almost always been self-employed.]

* Highest rank on coping resources used was spiritual/philosophical – ranked 3rd out of the 16 types. Source: J. Shelton, in MBTI Applications by A.L. Hammer, 1996. [This response seem at odds with the earlier one on “higher spiritual power” but as a Christian who relies on my faith it fits me to a “T”.]

* Among the 3 male types overrepresented among substance abusers. Source: N.L. Quenk & A.T. Quenk, in MBTI Applications by A.L. Hammer, 1996 [As a person who tends toward obsessive behavior (I find it hard to let go sometimes), I can see this. However, I have avoided any real addictions thus far, praise God.]

Some famous INTJs are:
Jane Austen, author (Pride and Prejudice)
Augustus Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus), Emperor of Rome
William J. Bennett, “drug czar”
William F. Buckley, Jr., conservative political advocate
Michelle Forbes, actress
Alan Greenspan, federal reserve board chairman
Charles Everett Koop, former U.S. surgeon general
C. S. Lewis, author (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Christian apologist
Ludwig von Mises, economist
John Nash, mathematician
Sir Isaac Newton, scientist
Ayn Rand, author & philosopher
Dan Simmons, author
Donald Rumsfeld, US secretary of defense
Tad Williams, author

U.S. Presidents:
Chester A. Arthur
Calvin Coolidge
Dwight Eisenhower
Thomas Jefferson
John F. Kennedy
James K. Polk
Woodrow Wilson

Fictional Characters include:
Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes)
Mr. Darcy, (Pride and Prejudice)
Andy Dufresne (The Shawshank Redemption)
Gandalf the Grey, (J. R. R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth books)
Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon)
Al Simmons, Spawn (Todd McFarlane’s Spawn Animated Series)
Ensign Ro Laren (Star Trek: TNG)
Tyrell (Blade Runner)
Tom (The War Zone)

I had noted in an earlier post that I was surprised, being looked at as an extrovert by others how much of an introvert I am, and how I liked times of solitude and generally working alone. While I enjoy teaching it is very stressful. So testing as an introvert was surprising, but did fit afterall.

There you have it. More than you wanted to know about my intersection with Myers-Briggs.