Typing About My Type

Since a high school psychology class, I have been fascinated by Carl Gustav Jung's (a.k.a. C.G. Jung) and Myers-Briggs personality test.  A visit to Jung's Wikipedia page will tell you that he provided the basis for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  Jung researched people and their personalities and concluded that there were eights basic kinds of people in the world.  During his studies, Jung was assisted by Katharine C. Briggs.  While Katharine C. Briggs collected all of the data that Jung discovered, her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers had the idea that all of this information could be used to help people.  Isabel felt that if people had a better understanding of what they were good at and what they had to work on, they would be better equip to succeed in the workplace and in personal relationships.  So, Isabel Briggs Myers spent her lifetime adding on to Carl Jung's research.  In doing so, she decided that there were 16 personality types.     

When I first took this personality test in my 10th grade psychology class, I thought that the test had me down perfectly.  Over the seven years since then (Shit, has it really been that long?) I have revisited my interest in the test, and with every search I find more information that seems even more specific and more accurate.  One search that really impressed me told me that I was most likely a vegetarian.  True!

So who am I?

I am INFP meaning I am an Introverted Feeling with iNtuition who Perceives the world around me.  The word that describes me best is "Idealist".  My polar opposite would be an Extroverted Thinker with Senses and Judges the world around them.  But let's get back to me.

According to my various books and Google searches, as an INFP, I am flexible and easy-going unless one of my personal principals is violated.  I hold myself to a strict, moral code but generally I don't impose these beliefs upon others.  I see everything for how it could be rather than how it is.  I am seek out the beauty and good in things and I fantasize about the future.  I am inclined to be creative and uninclined to understand topics based on pure facts.  It's in my nature to be curious about things and have a lifelong sense of wonder.  I always have the desire to learn new things and have different experiences.  All of the qualities make me restless and sometimes fickle.

The book Type Talk reports that as an Introvert, people may see me as anti-social because I am unable to devote large amounts of time to sociable activities.  I need time to myself to recharge for although I have an endless amount of energy for the many things I'm passionate about, being with other people depletes my energy quickly.  The book also mentions that at times, I feel guilty about all the me time I need, and living with extroverts may increase this guilt.  I am a difficult to get to know but I can be extremely warm and open with the few I choose to open up to.  I have a great deal of empathy and see both sides to any story.  Things are never black and white to me.  At the same time, I take things too personally and it is common for my type to be hypersensitive.               

I am unhappy in a job that is routine and meaningless.  I require a fulfilling career more than a big paycheck.  This career should involve something that "provides a noble service to aid society".  Without a clear purpose in my job, I become resentful and maybe even rebellious.  For these reasons, INFP are most often drawn to jobs in writing, health care, or psychiatry.  I work well when I am working independently.  I am a perfectionist and sometimes I can have a control problem.

I have also found through websites and books that INFPs often have unhappy childhoods and "a subtle and tragic motif running throughout their lives."  I don't know how a test could know this but it's true.  It is common for my type to feel lonely and isolated because on the internal nature of my personality and because INFP account for 1-5% of the population.  My happiness depends on my finding a balance between my ideals and the reality of the way things are in the world.             
 

People like me include Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, Lord of the Rings author, J.R.R. Tolkien, actress and activist Audrey Hepburn, Princess Diana, and co-founder of this personality test, Isabel Briggs Myers. 

To see what your personality type is, go here.  You can also visit this site, this site, or this site, to read more about INFPs or your own personality type.