ENTP…INFJ…ISFP. What in the world??? What’s that?
I know I’m an introvert and there are different kinds, but I did not know how far science/psychology had broken it down. Seeing the four letters in conjunction with articles I’ve read about introversion brought my attention to it, but I only recently dove into the information to see what it’s all about. I only scratched the surface but what I read is pretty accurate if you want a general description.
History lesson! Long story short, there are currently 16 personality types and each one has its own 4-letter designation. The original idea of this is based off of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s Psychological Types back in 1921. He was the first to suggest that there are introverts and extroverts in his effort to find a compromise between the popular thought processes at that time, which came from Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. Jung deemed Freud the extrovert and Adler the introvert.
Fast forward to the 1940’s and 50’s, Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Briggs further researched Jung’s ideas and created a personality test called the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It’s kind of like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter and the results will place you in the house with your corresponding 4-letter classification.
After taking the MBTI and three other similar personality tests, it seems I’ve been sorted into the ISFP house (Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving), which has been characterized by nicknames like The Adventurer, The Artist, The Composer and The Creator. We are creative, colorful, and charming. We are down to earth, easy going, and peaceful. We are quiet and observant, and we absolutely MUST have alone time and lots of personal space.
Yeah, that sounds about right, generally speaking. I wonder if psychics use something like this when giving readings. In all seriousness, though, I do find this interesting and as I was reading about ISFP’s, there were more than a few times when I thought, “Ohhhh, that’s why I do that.”
Of course, this can only measure basic things and not every trait will coincide with who a person is or what they can do. For instance, I’m supposed to be aesthetically inclined. What? I have zero skills in decorating or arranging and couldn’t make an attractive display to save my life.
Some traits I had to think about for a minute to know if it really applied to me. The results say I’m artistic, but the only thing I can draw are stick figures. However, I can design a colorguard show and have a huge appreciation for the fine arts.
Other traits may have applied to me at one point in my life but not anymore, or only partially apply. I’m supposed to express my passions through risky things like gambling or extreme sports. Welllll…ok. I do enjoy a trip to the casino, but extreme sports? When I was younger, absolutely! I’ve been white water rafting, skiing (is that an extreme sport?) and bungee jumping and loved it! They can’t build a rollercoaster that I wouldn’t ride, and I always wanted to try sky diving and zip lining, however, I don’t know that I would do it now. That whole being over 40 thing makes stuff like that more scary, at least to me. Plus I have a healthy, rational fear of heights. Although I do love the feeling of free fall…weird huh?
Learning about the different personalities was a fun project and I may even dig deeper into it at some point. For now it’s good to know that there are psychologic reasons for all of my little quirks and irregularities, so I should never compare myself or how I do things to anybody else. No one can be me like I can and I am enough.
I was tested about thirty years ago and was INTJ. The more I read about it the more I know that’s the correct personality type for me, and it has helped me understand why I enjoy some things (like alone time!) and other things just wear me out. Great post!