When I was in college, many years ago, at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, I took the Myers-Briggs personality test, and it indicated that I was an ESTJ. This meant that I was an extroverted, sensing, thinking, and judging sort of person.
If you can’t read what’s in the boxes below, the ESTJ one says: “Efficient, outgoing, analytical, systematic, dependable, realistic. Like to run the show and get things done in an orderly fashion.” Now, if you look at the ISTJ box in which the only letter that is different is the I for Introverted, you see “Responsible, sincere, analytical, reserved, realistic, systematic. Hardworking and trustworthy with sound practical judgment.”
The main differences between those two are the levels of being outgoing or more reserved.
By Jake Beech - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30859659
I just took the 16 Personalities free test — something that I do from time to time but that I haven’t done for a few years. I don’t recall the past results even though that ESTJ from that Myers-Briggs test I took as a nineteen-year old college sophomore has stayed with me all these years. Today, though, my 16 Personalities test results show that I’m an INFJ and an Advocate.
If that’s the case, then 3 of my letters have changed over the course of the past 36 years.
It shows that I am now 69% Introverted and 31% Extroverted.
Introverted individuals tend to prefer fewer, yet deep and meaningful, social interactions and often feel drawn to calmer environments.
I completely agree with this assessment of my level of introversion. Over the years, I have found myself going further and further inside of myself and wanting less to do with socializing, especially where large parties are concerned. These past years, since leaving teaching and all the interactions with others that that particular career entails to focus on writing and the deep thinking it entails, the introverted side of me has really come into itself.
It was always there, but I pushed it aside, and I think a lot of my misery as a teacher stemmed from that. I like being alone. I like a quiet house and being able to write and read in silence. I don’t miss a single thing about the noise of a classroom. This isn’t to say that I don’t like to have long, meaningful conversations with people because I do. I like that a lot, but I prefer those conversations to be one-on-one or with a small group of people, and I really prefer those conversations to be with other adults and not with teenagers.
In the Intuitive versus Observant portion of the 16 Personalities test, which the Myers-Briggs calls the Sensing/Intuition part, I’m pretty equal between the two — 52% Intuitive and 48% Observant. I think that percentage could swing easily in either direction on any given day.
In the Thinking versus Feeling portion, today I showed a larger percentage in the Feeling which does surprise me, but it wasn’t by much — 56% Feeling versus 42% Thinking.
In the final bracket, I still sit very firmly on the Judging side of things, versus the Prospecting or Perceiving side of things. I totally agree with that. I have a 76% in the Judging category as opposed to a 24% in the Prospecting side.
Judging individuals are decisive, thorough, and highly organized. They value clarity, predictability, and closure, preferring structure and planning to spontaneity.
I do like to “go with the flow” on many occasions, especially those involving some road trips and excursions, but for the most part, I am a Planner with a capital P. Anyone who knows me well knows this about me. As I write this, my daily planner is at my side.
The 16 Personalities has an additional category of Assertive versus Turbulent. Today I lean a bit toward the Assertive side but only a bit — 51%. I agree with this assessment.
So, if we go off the 16 Personalities free test that I just took and say I’m an INFJ and we look at what the above image from the Myers-Briggs test has to say about that type, then I’m “Idealistic, organized, insightful, dependable, compassionate, gentle. Seek harmony and cooperation, enjoy intellectual stimulation.”
I can definitely agree with that last part because I do enjoy intellectual stimulation.
I bring all this up today because I recently had lunch with a fellow writer, and she and I discussed how much we both enjoy working alone in our quiet houses and how much our partners’ (her husband and my boyfriend) love of TV watching gets on our nerves, especially when we’re trying to write or read. I told her that I once saw myself as an extrovert but that my assessment of my personality had changed a lot over the ensuing years, and I now see myself as firmly on the introverted side. She said that she’d always seen herself as an introvert, and we agreed that most writers are introverts. You have to be content working alone and even thrive on your own company if you want to write because writing entails long hours of working alone and “existing” inside your own mind.
I imagine that the two middle letters of my personality could easily fluctuate from day to day were I to take the test each day next week, but that first I for Introverted and that final J for Judging are locked in. I’m quite all right with my results from today, though, because the INFJ is the rarest of the personality type with only 1.5% (that’s ONE point Five) of the world’s population in that category. Personally, I like being unique, so I’ll take it.
This comes from the Conclusion of my test: “If you feel understood right now, it’s because you are. Years of research have given us deep insights into the unique strengths and challenges of INFJs like you. We understand your creativity and your passion and your commitment to doing the right thing, but we also understand the dark side of your personality type: the nagging fear that you might not reach your full potential and make the most of your one wild and precious life.”
That IS my nagging fear and why I finally left teaching, so I could focus on writing and making the most of my life. As a proud Introvert, writing is the way for me to do that.
If you care to take the free test and see where you fall, here’s the link: ;16 Personalities
Let me know your results if you do!
Since I just returned from a road trip where I did an appearance at a library in western Nebraska and then went to visit my daughter for a few days, I’m not yet ready to share the next portion of my work in progress, so this week’s “Tomes and Topics” is just this and it’s free to everyone, BUT . . . .
Next Friday, March 8th, will ONLY be for PAYING subscribers (so if you’re a FREE subscriber, you won’t hear from me next week) and will have a lengthy portion of my next novel for those subscribers to read and provide feedback. If you want to be able to read portions of the next book as I’m working on it, please upgrade to PAID now. As a paid subscriber, you can help me make the next novel better than the first six have been — at least, I hope to make it so. Please join me. Once you subscribe, you will also have full access to all the archived posts and can read what you’ve missed so far of the current novel.
Until next time.
Tammy Marshall
This is fascinating, Tammy, and pretty cool. I've been interested in the Myers-Briggs since college, but I've never known anybody who has moved from Sensing to Intuiting. I always thought that was the one area in which people stayed put. But it makes sense since you're pretty much in the middle. I'm IN F/T P.