[Straylight]

I've taken MBTI tests a few times and the results always show me as an INTJ but I don't put too much stock in the label. This is because I assume everyone places on a spectrum between personality traits. Technically an INTJ could be alot closer to some ESFP's in terms of personality than some extreme INTJ's.

If a test asks 21 questions to determine a persons position on the I - E spectrum.
Person A scores (I) 12 - (E) 9,
Person B scores (I) 10 - (E) 11
Person C scores (I) 20 - (E) 1.

Although Person A and C are considered Introverted and person C is considered Extroverted, A and B place much closer on the spectrum.

I know all INTJ's demonstrate similar traits but unless you know your position on each scale for each trait a test can only be a very broad generalization.

I know this has probably been raised before, you'll have to humour me.

[Arbosis]

I think I'm a very unbalanced (or extreme) INTJ, to the point it causes damage around me. Test have also shown that I'm extreme INTJ, although I don't rely on them very much, I just consider them as a basic reference.

[cyan11]

I rank strongest on I,T, and J, in that order. My N is in the middle somewhere, not as strong. Not sure what that means, as I am pretty new to this typology and am still trying to grasp all of this. It is my understanding that, though there are some commonalities between INTJ's, everyone is unique in their own sense (there are not only 16 different types of people in this world). For instance, there are situations where I (and I'm sure alot of other people on this board) can appear extroverted and talkative or even emotional. I don't think these types are absolutes and I was taught in psychology to take any personality test result with a grain of salt, or sometimes a tablespoon.

[Straylight]

Originally Posted by cyan11 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I rank strongest on I,T, and J, in that order. My N is in the middle somewhere, not as strong. Not sure what that means, as I am pretty new to this typology and am still trying to grasp all of this. It is my understanding that, though there are some commonalities between INTJ's, everyone is unique in their own sense (there are not only 16 different types of people in this world). For instance, there are situations where I (and I'm sure alot of other people on this board) can appear extroverted and talkative or even emotional. I don't think these types are absolutes and I was taught in psychology to take any personality test result with a grain of salt, or sometimes a tablespoon.

Well said, I agree.

---------- Post added 07-24-2012 at 07:02 PM ----------

	Originally Posted by Arbosis To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I think I'm a very unbalanced (or extreme) INTJ, to the point it causes damage around me. Test have also shown that I'm extreme INTJ, although I don't rely on them very much, I just consider them as a basic reference.

Would you be less extreme on the spectrum if you could change?

[Arbosis]

	Originally Posted by Straylight To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Would you be less extreme on the spectrum if you could change?

No. I've thought about this, and I think that changing the way I internally function is like killing me, that would be another person in my body.

[Apex]

I usually get INTP but display more INTJ traits. Introversion for me is always 100% or somewhere up there. Intuition is also pretty High as well as thinking, but Judgement and Perception probably 50/ 50 or 60/40.

[TheTinMan]

I always get ranked pretty high for I and N, moderate for T and J. I'm pretty sure it's more of a J/P. Quite a bit of an INTP profile rings true with me, almost as much as an INTJ one.

[epox]

I`m so INTJ that if I`d been more INTJ i would be ESFP.

[warweasel]

Pretty severely INTJ here. I typically score highly straight across the board.

[The Dan Keizer]

I think the T is the only one that stays strong for me in every test. Though I never come up extraverted, my introversion swings from slight to very strong.

[SeverusSin]

My N is strong, my I is borderline, my T is too strong and my J is borderline.

[chillipilli]

I've taken a few different tests with some variations. In the past I've sent identical surveys to friends in different circles asking them to evaluate me. It's funny that in some circles, my friends describe me as quite extroverted, whilst others see me as introverted. I'm definitely a lot more introverted than I am extroverted. The difference is that I've learned to 'act' extroverted and to use this when necessary. For example, I have little fear about standing in front of an auditorium of 500 people to give a speech or do a performance. I sing all the time in front of students in my classroom. Yet, I'm quite withdrawn and shy when it comes to certain crowds.

I don't think any test can accurately pinpoint what we are like in every circumstance. Added to that, what may be our natural traits might be superceded by what we need to become in order to live our lives.

[Saggita]

My weakest is my J, and even then it's higher than 70%. So... I'm an INTJ. A lot.

[Ariely]

I score in the extremes all across the board. As others mention, the context of social interactions will affect how other people view you, and I guess also how you view yourself in the situation. Think we have all tried being in a situation where we expected to act in one way based on our self-perception, and then acted in a totally different way.

Am I the person I perceive myself to be or am I what others perceive me to be? I would like to think that I know exactly who I am but at the same time I know that I will be treated based on how people perceive me, and my actions will be influenced by the context.

I don’t think I can answer how much INTJ I really am. What I can say though, from the traits that I have it would be unlikely that I am not INTJ but it is not always the case that I am portraying it or it is being perceived. Guess you could just call it my main mode of operation.

[DroppedG7]

Look! I have feelings.

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[SherlyDEDUCE]

I am always 100% T, pretty strong N (~90%), and fairly strong (~75%) in the others.

[Straylight]

	Originally Posted by DroppedG7 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Look! I have feelings. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Someone recommend me a test I can do which will show where I am on the spectrums like this. I really want to be balanced ... lets see

[Ender]

I've never really scored in an extreme on anything but introversion. Tests like human metrics have some woefully poor questions, which is part of the problem where people sometimes get entirely different personality types as results. Like asking if you easily empathize with the concerns of other people. Well sure I do; I have empathy. Doesn't mean I'm an F.
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Or "sticking to conventional ways." Well maybe there are a number of conventional methods that I find to be logical and I don't see the point in reinventing the wheel. That doesn't make me an S.

(Of course the test would disagree on both accounts.)

[silicon212]

	Originally Posted by Straylight To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Someone recommend me a test I can do which will show where I am on the spectrums like this. I really want to be balanced ... lets see

This is from
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... Mine is close to this picture but not quite.

95% introverted
100% intuitive
89% thinking
74% judging

[nharkey]

Originally Posted by Straylight To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I've taken MBTI tests a few times and the results always show me as an INTJ but I don't put too much stock in the label. This is because I assume everyone places on a spectrum between personality traits. Technically an INTJ could be alot closer to some ESFP's in terms of personality than some extreme INTJ's. If a test asks 21 questions to determine a persons position on the I - E spectrum. Person A scores (I) 12 - (E) 9, Person B scores (I) 10 - (E) 11 Person C scores (I) 20 - (E) 1. Although Person A and C are considered Introverted and person C is considered Extroverted, A and B place much closer on the spectrum. I know all INTJ's demonstrate similar traits but unless you know your position on each scale for each trait a test can only be a very broad generalization. I know this has probably been raised before, you'll have to humour me.

I think you are absolutely on the right track. I am a retired psych prof and I know that psychology's strongest criticism of the MBTI is that idea that the number of scores for a preference do not matter. That is just throwing away information. There have also been some serious studies in the Journal of Psychological Type that criticize the MBTI people for this. And when you spend the money to take their Step II test you find that in subtle ways, the number of responses does matter. They split each preference into facets and, of course, the more scores in one direction, the more facets you endorse.

When we designed our feedback for our online sorters (at Parentingbytemperament.com) we built in advice to pay the most attention to your strong scores and the least to your weak or slight scores.

[sagesoph]

High I, medium to high N, medium T, and borderline J.

[animalcule]

I'm not too INTJ although I've consistently been scoring as one since I first took the MBTI around age 12. High I and N, mid-low T, 50/50 J/P.

[Straylight]

Originally Posted by nharkey To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I think you are absolutely on the right track. I am a retired psych prof and I know that psychology's strongest criticism of the MBTI is that idea that the number of scores for a preference do not matter. That is just throwing away information. There have also been some serious studies in the Journal of Psychological Type that criticize the MBTI people for this. And when you spend the money to take their Step II test you find that in subtle ways, the number of responses does matter. They split each preference into facets and, of course, the more scores in one direction, the more facets you endorse. When we designed our feedback for our online sorters (at Parentingbytemperament.com) we built in advice to pay the most attention to your strong scores and the least to your weak or slight scores.

I feel too old to use a site called Parenting by temperament .com. Thanks for the thought though.

[Bluesea]

I think the % scored and gradient tests, are better indicators of the variation among INTJ's, in terms of the strengths of each function. I think it is also important to note that these can change over time, as people develop capacity in different areas, so is not a frozen truth about you. If there is an imbalance in an area, you can identify it through the test, and seek to learn how and when this imbalance, is part of the set of problems you would identify and those that cause stress for you socially and personally. Growing and developing yourself, can result in being more versatile and being able to use other preferences in situations that require these, rather than rigidly operating across all situations with one static set of preferences.

For me there is a situational effect. I think in my situation I was an INFJ as a child and became more TJ over time through early life experiences with high ee people that made me recognise the value of rational responses over an emotionally driven process coupled with reasonable natural intelligence that led me into academic areas and strengthening my T. I have a pretty even T and F less than 10% into T and sometimes on some tests test FJ and definitely see where both operate depending on the type of activity I am engaged in and the nature of the problem I am working with but the f is never not present just the T comes in to add perspective and find a solution alongside it and incorporates the information from f in that process. I think it depends on what I am focussing on when doing the test what comes out and my answer to one or two questions that swings it either way. So would agree that the individual answer scores do alter the facets being supported.

My I and N are more stable and consistent but not 100% and the J fairly strong but at about 70% so also not absolute. So there are times where I could choose other preferences and may appear different to others because of this. Also, although J is something that I prefer in many ways as order makes me feel more settled and peaceful than chaos, there is also a lot of downside to it that I don't like, so do not want to blindly operate from it, and this, I think leads over time to changing your preferences where they don't really work. From this awareness and this process occurring for me, it makes me consider whether you could test as a different type in 10 years or different % strengths within each indicator, if you continued to work on seeing where the preferences work and don't and choose to operate differently across more situations over time.

Jung believes that I and E are genetic but not sure about the others; however even then you can work on becoming more ambivert as an introvert, and maybe even to learn how to do the things that come naturally to extroverts over time, if you need to. Whether this changes how you feel inside or not, I guess depends on whether you are forcing yourself through the experience, or learning how to enjoy operating in a new and different way?

Still learning about all this informally though, so interested in anyone's experiential understanding if they work with the MBTI in a work setting across a lot of people and are seeing how to understand the functions, inferior functions, and whether they are responsive to dynamic change over time.

[Dominus]

The operative letter in judging someones "INTJness" would seem to be the N. If that's the criteria I am a moderate INTJ, I generally score extremely high on I and T, while moderately high on N and J.