2.26.2008

the counselor?

After the topic of presidential candidates and their corresponding personality types came up at a recent get-together with friends over a mostly Mexican brunch (I think this was the article she was referring to, but perhaps said friend can clarify when she reads this post), I was curious and proceeded to take two free online tests modeled after the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory. While I found some of the questions incredibly difficult to actually answer one way or the other, both produced the resulting type of INFJ, aka "The Counselor Idealist."

I'm not sure what any of this has to do with this blog, but I wonder how much two and a half years of art school has possibly modified my personality type. A few years ago, I might have expected a result more along the lines of Guardian/Supervisor. I remember being told as a first-grader how bossy I was, even amongst friends. Have the last few years of my life dramatically altered my personality type? I've always received comments as to my organizational skills, something I've only recently learned to value and not completely dismiss as a result of working in offices for so many years (or as something that seemed to be inconsistent with pursuing a life as an artist). And over the last couple of years in particular, I've been described as "literal" and "analytical." For example, I don't understand why someone would use the expression "the teapot calling the kettle black" instead of just calling someone out as a hypocrite. Idioms completely confound me. So I find it interesting that despite all that, I still scored as an intuitive and feeling introvert. Maybe my bossiness has evolved into judging. And that could definitely be a result of art school.

1 comment:

Brian said...

I love all that Meyers-Briggs stuff. It's weird that types change. I was an ISTJ when I was in junior high. Since college, I've been an INTJ, but sometimes, depending on my mood when I take the tests, the J is almost a P. It could be that these tests aren't very scientific, but I do think it makes sense that major experiences (like art school) can change a personality.

As for idioms, my take is that they're just metaphorical expressions that get popularized in a certain era. Those old expressions lose their context over time and have to be explained to us, yet people still use them (out of habit?). So, I agree, they're pretty unnecessary.