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What's Your Personality Type?


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Several years ago, Brian Enos and I were having a conversation about which Meyer-Briggs personality types made the innately best shooters. This reminded me of an editorial Jan Libourel wrote years before opining that most shooters were introverts rather than extraverts. In any event, I'm very curious what a poll of Enosverse members could tell us about the personality types of competition shooters.

This poll will be different than a similar thread dealing with personality type in that it'll give us totals, though I'll be sure to transplant a copy of my post telling how to simply and easily figure out your personality type, and a link to the original thread, as well.

EDIT:

Here's the link as promised:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...2&hl=Meyers

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As promised, quick 'n' dirty guide to the MBTI:

The Meyer's-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is so-called because it was developed by Katharine Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Myers. The basic idea is that human personality can be divided into four areas, and that in each of these areas, human beings tend to have one of two preferences in how they will act. Each of these either/or choices is designated by a single letter. Thus you have 16 basic 4-letter personality types, for instance ESTJ. If that sounds complex, I assure you it's not, and by the time I'm done here it should all make sense. (I should mention BTW that a lot of the info and ideas I'm going to give you here come from a book titled The Art of Speedreading People by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger.) For each of the four areas, I'm going to list your two choices, and then the letter by which they're designated.

EXTROVERT (E) or INTROVERT (I)

The first area relates to where you get your energy. Introverts get their energy from inside themsevles, Extroverts are energized by interacting with other people. Thus when an Introvert is feeling tired and dragged out, he'll stay home by himself because he needs the alone time to recharge his batteries. When an Extrovert is feeling tired they'll go out to a party, because what energizes them is being around other people.

To determine whether you're an Introvert or an Extrovert, you can ask yourself these questions. If you choose the first answer, you're an Extrovert, if the second you're an Introvert:

What energizes me most -

interacting with other people

or

being by myself?

Where do I like to focus my energy -

in the outer world of people and things

or

the inner world of ideas and thoughts?

At a party, am I likely -

to be in the center of the largest group, the "life of the party"

or

off in a corner having an intense conversation with one particular person?

Do I have -

many superficial friends

or

a few close friends?

Which do I prefer more -

to be around others

or

to spend time by myself?

Would I rather -

work on several projects at the same time

or

focus my attention on one task at a time?

Am I more comfortable -

acting first, then thinking about it

or

thinking things through before I act on them?

Am I more -

a "public person"

or

a "private person"?

SENSOR (S) or INTUITIVE (N)

You may note we do not designate Intuitives by the letter "I" - that's because we've already got an "I" with Introverts, and Meyers/Briggs thought having two of the same letter would be confusing.

The second area is how people perceive, or take in, information. Sensors collect information primarily through their five senses. Thus their thoughts tend to be a very "real world" oriented, linear process, a to b to c to d. By contrast, when Intuitives take in information they instantly relate it to something else. In other worlds, they operate much more on intuition. As soon as an Intuitive takes in some bit of information, they're likely to jump from a to z without traveling through any of the other letters. For instance, if you were to hand a Sensor a rose and ask them to tell you about it, they'd say, "Well, the petals are red, the stem and leaves are green, there are thorns, the petals feel really soft and delicate against my fingers, the thorns are sharp and prickly, it smells really nice," i.e. the information related by their senses. Hand an Intuitive the same rose and ask them to tell you about it, and they're likely to say, "You know, this reminds of when I was a little kid, when my family spent every summer at our cabin on the lake. The window to my bedroom had stuck in the up position, and in the summertime the roses would grow right through the window and into my room. Their smell was the first thing I experienced every morning when I woke up." You'll notice that the Intuitive experienced the rose very differently than the Sensor. Instead of focusing on its concrete reality, he focused on his relationship to the flower, on the associations it evoked. Put another way, Sensors experience what IS, Intuitives experience what MIGHT BE. Sensors tend to focus on details but miss the big picture. Intuitives tend to focus on the big picture but be not so good at details.

Ask yourself these questions. If you choose the first answer, you are a Sensor, if the second an Intuitive:

Do I usually -

pay more attention to the facts and details

or

try to understand the connections, underlying meaning, and implications?

Am I -

a more down-to-earth and sensible person

or

an imaginative and creative one?

Which do I trust more -

my direct experience

or

my gut instinct?

Am I -

more tuned into the here-and-now

or

do I often imagine how things will affect future events?

Do I like new ideas -

only if they have practical utility

or

just for their own sake?

Would I rather -

use an established skill

or

do I become bored easily after I've mastered it?

THINKER (T) or FEELER (F)

I might mention BTW that I feel these two options are not very well-named, because the terms Thinker and Feeler carry with them such heavy connotations. The fact you're a Thinker doesn't mean you can't feel deeply. Similarly, just because you're a Feeler it doesn't mean you can't think.

The third area relates to how people make decisions, or come to conclusions. For Thinkers, logic rules. When making a decision it's as if they take a mental and emotional step back, away from the problem, and ask themselves, "Okay, what makes logical sense here?" IOW they objectify the decision making process. Feelers by contrast, when faced with a decision, take a mental and emotional step forward, inject themselves into the problem, and ask themselves, "Okay, how do I feel about this? What are my personal values and emotions telling me to do?" Feelers subjectify the decision making process.

Ask yourself these questions. If you choose the first answer you are a Thinker, if the second a Feeler:

Do I make decisions -

more objectively, weighing the pros and cons

or

based on how I feel about the issue, and how I and others will be affected by it?

Which words describe me better -

logical and analytical

or

sensitive and empathetic?

Is it more important to be -

truthful, even if it hurts someone's feelings

or

tactful, even if it means telling a little white lie?

Which usually persuades me more? -

a good logical argument

or

a strong emotional appeal?

Which is the greater compliment? -

to be tough

or

to be tender?

JUDGER (J) or PERCEIVER (P)

Again, I feel these these choices are not very well-named, since the fact you are a Judger does not necessarily mean you're particularly judgmental, the fact you're a Perceiver doesn't mean you're necessarily very perceptive. Better terms might be CLOSER and PROCRASTINATOR.

The last area relates to how people like to organize the world, live their lives. Basically it relates to the issue of closure. Which do you find more stressful, to have problems unresolved, or to lose your options? If you find unresolved issues more stressful (Judger), when faced with a problem you will move as swiftly as possible to make a decision and set the matter to rest. If what stresses you out is cutting off your options (Perceiver), when faced with a problem you will put off making a decision, and strive to keep all your options open, for as long as possible.

Ask yourself these questions. If you choose the first answer you are a Judger, if the second a Perceiver:

Do I tend to make most decisions -

quickly and easily

or

does making decisions often make me anxious and unsure?

Would I rather have things -

settled and decided

or

be able to leave my options open, just in case something unexpected comes up?

Is it very important for me -

to be in control of most situations

or

am I often comfortable letting others call the shots?

Am I -

very conscious of time, and almost always punctual

or

do I frequently run late, and find time has somehow slipped away?

Which is more true of me -

I'm generally very organized

or

I often have trouble finding things and keeping organized.

Which is truer for me -

I prefer to get my work or chores done before I relax

or

I can often find compelling reasons to put tasks off until a later time.

By the time you've asked yourself theses questions you should have a pretty good idea of your 4-letter type. Some people have strong preferences within a type, for instance they are a strong Extrovert. Other people will be more balanced. But the idea behind the MBTI is that, whether to a greater or lesser degree, every person will have a preference, an inclination toward one option or the other. Thus we tend to automatically play to our strengths, to react toward our preferences. Kind of like how even those people who are functionally ambidextrous will still have the preferred hand they'll automatically use before the other.

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Several years back my employer "tested" all employees with Meyer-Briggs personality tests. These were detailed tests taken over a several day period.

Each employee was given a detailed explanation of not only their results, but also the results of their immediate supervisor as well as any subordinates that reported to them.

Initially I was skeptical. After testing it was determined I was an ENTP and my boss was an ISTJ. For years this guy was driving me freaking nuts with his rambling demands. As it turns out, even though I did an excellent job, my methods were driving him freaking nuts too.

We were supplied with a textbook that referenced how one type interacts with another type. It turned out to be very accurate and at the time, useful.

Bill

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Took it back in April 2004

ENTJ

Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Judging

Strength of the preferences %

E = 56%

N = 33%

T = 67%

J = 44%

Don't think anything's changed but I'll probably take it again in the near future to confirm.

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When the Corps started the implementation of the Project Management Business Process, about 6 years ago, they had us do this test. I don't remember what was my result but I believe it hasn't changed much.

Today I took the one HERE and came out as an ESFP.

Extraverted: 22%

Sensing: 62%

Feeling: 62%

Perceiving: 67%

A PERFORMER ARTISAN: Rational, Idealist, Artisan, Guardian.

Guess it means I'm kinda' cool... ;)

Edited to add: Here are the descriptions for each type.

Edited by Nemo
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Curiosity was killing me.

Took it again today with same result but % changed a little.

ENTJ

Extraverted 56%

Intuitive 25%

Thinking 38%

Judging 33%

FieldMarshal Rational: Rational Idealist Artisan Guardian

"impatient with repetition of error." AND HOW!

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INTJ strongly no matter what format the test is done in or who does it, been through this a time or two. Doing these tests for a potential employer is hardest, you never know what they are looking for.

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I'm finding this very interesting. Admittedly at this point we only have 44 entries (and more to come, yay!) but what I'm seeing already is:

Introverted shooters - at least competition shooters - outnumber Extraverted shooters by a factor of about 3 to 1. (Looks like that Libourel guy was right, huh?)

I-TJ comprises well over a third of competition shooters who've thus far responded. I-T- (i.e. Introverted Thinkers) comprise over half.

Interesting.

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You can add me to the list, I'm an INTJ. It's been a while since I took it so I just did the abbreviated version that's linked to in the other thread just for fun and still came up as an INTJ.

I'm always interested by how much we here in Benosverse have in common beyond our obvious love for shooting sports.

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