Sunday, January 23, 2005

the various intricacies of the personality type

I have taken a Myers-Briggs personality test many times before, but it's always fun to see how you score mainly for consistancy. I'm different from a lot of the people I know: I'm an ENFP.

There's a lot of interesting stuff about the ENFP individual that really seems frighteningly accurate, and yet somewhat reassuring in the context of my own life and personality. Here's a sampling of some of the relevant commentary.

ENFPs are both "idea"-people and "people"-people, who see everyone and everything as part of an often bizarre cosmic whole. They want to both help (at least, their own definition of "help") and be liked and admired by other people, on bo th an individual and a humanitarian level. They are interested in new ideas on principle, but ultimately discard most of them for one reason or another.

ENFPs have a great deal of zany charm, which can ingratiate them to the more stodgy types in spite of their unconventionality. They are outgoing, fun, and genuinely like people. As SOs/mates they are warm, affectionate, and disconcertingly spontaneous. However, attention span in relationships can be short; ENFPs are easily intrigued and distracted by new friends and acquaintances, forgetting about the older ones for long stretches at a time. Less mature E NFPs may need to feel they are the center of attention all the time, to reassure them that everyone thinks they're a wonderful and fascinating person.

ENFPs often have strong, if unconvential, convictions on various issues related to their Cosmic View. They usually try to use their social skills and contacts to persuade people gently of the rightness of these views; his sometimes results in their neglecting their nearest and dearest while flitting around trying to save the world.
Work Environment: ENFPs are pleasant, easygoing, and usually fun to work with. They come up with great ideas, and are a major asset in brainstorming sessions. Followthrough tends to be a problem, however; they tend to get bored quickly, especially if a newer, more interesting project comes along. They also tend to be procrastinators, both about meeting hard deadlines and about performing any small, uninteresting tasks that they've been assigned. ENFPs are at their most useful when working in a group w ith a J or two to take up the slack.

ENFPs hate bureaucracy, both in principle and in practice; they will always make a point of launching one of their crusades against some aspect of it.


2 Comments:

At 3:58 a.m., Blogger cait said...

Hmm . . . Rabies was obsessed with the Myers-Briggs test last year; we took the testin high school. I'm an INFP, apparently.

 
At 12:16 p.m., Blogger Fionncara MacEoin said...

Yeah.....I spent an insane amount of time on that....but it is very interesting....I can see you being an ENFP...or J....actually very much so...that is hilarious actually...anyhow....I am INTP....

 

Post a Comment

<< Home