In previous entries of this series we discussed Extroversion and Introversion, Sensing and Intuition, Thinking and Feeling, and finally Judging and Perceiving. In this post, we bring those for preferences together to find your type.

Those four preferences are all you need to decide your Myers-Briggs type. If you are more introverted pick ‘I’. If you prefer Sensing pick ‘S’. If you feel (ahem) you are a Thinker pick ‘T’. If you decide you are a Judger pick ‘J’, if uncertain pick ‘P’ (ha ha!). Add it all together and you would be (in this case) an ISTJ or ISTP. That is the simply and quick way to type yourself (or somebody else).

You can try a more involved test online. The test asks 72 questions and will return your type.^[1]

It is important to note some things:

• Type may point to the reasons for communication difficulties or other misunderstandings.
• The map is not the territory. Knowing a person’s type only gives indications as to how they might be. Most people do not perfectly match type descriptions
• The various preferences (E versus I, S versus N, etc.) do not simply add together. They interact with each other to create the whole type.
• Type is not a prison. Phrases like “you can’t expect an XXXX to do that” are just excuses. Type points to preferences and motivations, it does not prevent you living a full and useful life. It does not mean you can never be polite, disciplined, creative, etc.
• It would be very rash to make decisions regarding employment (to offer or take), romance, education, etc. based solely on type.
• Without changing basic preferences, people adapt to different situations: individuals may present as a different type as they adopt to current need (e.g., a Feeling, Perceiving manager may present a Thinking, Judging face as required by his current role).
• Under pressure, such as stress or tiredness, people may even appear as an opposite type (the “evil twin” effect).

The simplest way to find out about a particular type is to perform a search using the four-letter code. Such a search will return many entries. However, because I am such a nice guy, I provide links to the Typelogic entry for each of the 16 types.

Notes:
As of the posting date, Typealyzer has my blogging style as INTJ (The Scientists). Typealyzer is wrong.

However, on various Internet discussion boards, INTJ predominates. While INTJs represent a small portion of the general population (perhaps two percent) they can make up the majority of posters at such sites (by simple poll). Indeed all intuitive types feature in far greater numbers than they do in the general population.

^[1] This test and others like it are not strictly a Myers-Briggs test. The proper name for that test is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. CPP Inc. holds copyright of the test. No version of that test is available online. This test, and others, like it may use terms like Jungian assessment. While their results should be similar to a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment, they are not the same thing. For convenience I, like many others, use the term Myers-Briggs to include all similar assessments. Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers based their theories on C. G. Jung’s Psychological Types, which is why derivative tests use the description Jungian. However, the theories of Briggs and Myers differ from Jung’s original ideas.
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Previously we discussed the different way in which people gather information about the world, their so-called Perceiving function. We also discussed how they make decisions, their so-called Judging function. We now look at how someone uses those two functions together.

The last letter defines whether a person prefers to use their Judging function (Thinking or Feeling) or their Perceiving function (Sensing or iNtuition) in the outer world. More correctly, it defines which function a person prefers to use in its extroverted form.
[We can use each function (e.g., Thinking or Sensing) in an introverted form or an extraverted form. For now though, the "uses in the outer world" description is good enough.]

Judging types prefer to use their judging function in the outer world. They want to bring order to their outer world. They will tend to seem more ordered and decisive because their decision making function is their public face. Perceiving types prefer to use their perceiving function in the outer world. They want to take in information from their outer world. They will tend to appear more flexible or questioning because their information gathering function is their public face. In conversation, judging types may prefer to argue (come to a decision) where perceiving types may prefer to discuss (find out more and understand their options).

While Judgers will use their Judging function in an extroverted manner, they will use their perceiving function in an introverted manner. Perceivers reverse this: they use their perceiving function in an extroverted manner but use their judging function in an introverted manner (bringing order to their internal world). This balancing of cognitive functions is what completes type. It also means that we tend to be aware of only one part of other people. We only see their extroverted public face (J or P), their private (introverted) function are not clearly visible to us.

Judgers

Judgers tend to like more order and schedule in their life. They are more likely to belief in a correct way to approach something. The will tend to have more “should” and “ought” in their beliefs.
What they seek: Stability or certainty.
Motto: Decide and schedule.
Complains about Perceivers: Messy, disorganized, unreliable, indecisive.

Perceivers

Perceivers tend to like flexibility and options in their life. They are more likely to believe that there are many ways to approach something. They will tend to have more “maybe” and “depends” in their beliefs.
What they seek: Discovery and options.
Motto: But what about . . .?
Complains about Judgers: Rigid, dogmatic, rushed, argumentative.

Notes:

It is important to understand that the J/P preference does not stand alone. How it appears depends very much on the preferred Judging function (Thinking or Feeling) but also on the other preferences (Extroversion versus Introversion, and Sensing versus iNtuiting). However, the basic dichotomy does still apply.

It is also important to note that we are talking of preference and basic motivation. Perceivers are capable of keeping to a schedule and Judgers are capable of exploring options. Neither type is stuck into a world of constant disorder or rigid steadfastness. However, each type will tend to be more comfortable in one type of situation over the other. Also, we all adapt to our current situation: A perceiver may appear more scheduled during the work day, while the judger may appear more relaxed on his day off.

In Sensors and Intuitors I discussed how people take in information. In this article I discuss how they make decisions. In Jungian terms this is the “judging” function. In Myers-Briggs typing, this is the third letter of the four-letter type (Thinking or Feeling).

Thinkers

as you might have guessed, prefer logic and objective analysis. They tend to seek the most correct answer. They will tend to use objective and measurable data. They may neglect human interest in order to promote efficiency.
Hospital room their brain is like: Operating theater because they are clean, cool, and organized for efficiency.
Star Trek character they are most like
-Old series: Spock.¹
-Next Generation: Data.²
Motto: But that is illogical.

Feelers

as you might have guessed, prefer to make decisions based on person-centered values. They tend to seek the fairest answer. They prefer to use empathy and compassion to guide their decisions. They may neglect purely factual concerns in an effort to promote harmony.
Hospital room their brain is like: Children’s ward because they are warm, friendly, and organized for harmony, empathy, and good feelings.
Star Trek Character they are most like
-Old series: Mc Coy.³
-Next Generation: Deanna Troi.
Motto: Very good, Spock. We may make a human of you yet.

Notes:

Yes, I did realize that I posted this the same weekend that Star Trek hit the theaters. It was all part of my plan (thinking) to give some of you a smile (feeling).
¹ Just like real life thinkers, Spock (as part human) would be able to access Feeling (emotion). He is far more extreme than most real life Thinkers.
² At some point, Data received an emotion chip. This means that he too would be able to access Feeling (emotion). This ability to switch from a preferred mode to a different one is more like real-life Thinkers.
³ Although McCoy disliked Spock’s cold logic, he was perfectly capable of using logic to solve a crisis. Just like real-life Feelers he could access logic (Thinking) but preferred Feeling.

Here is a stereotype for you: A guy with a blog is a geek while a girl with a blog is cool. As often happens, the stereotype has some truth. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

I recently discovered an interesting new web tool called Typealyzer.  Give Typealyzer the address of the blog and it returns the Myers-Briggs temperament type for that blogger.

By using my bookmarks, following links, and some random searching I found blogs where I could determine if the blogger was male or female. I then asked Typealyzer to render its opinion.

I found that the most common type for women was ESFP. In other words they were extroverted, friendly people that were less likely to be analytical or intellectual. If I had to pick a description for an ESFP it would be party-girl (or boy). A less popular type for female bloggers was ISFP. If I had to pick a description it would be “artsy” type (or maybe a quiet party girl).

For the male bloggers the majority (almost exclusively) were introverted thinking types. Indeed large numbers came back as introverted iNtuitors (e.g., INTP, INTJ). Given that iNtuitors are only 25 percent of the population (and introverted iNtuitors perhaps eight percent) that result is surprising. If I had to pick a description for INTx it would involve the words geek or nerd. [As a Philosopher Geek I sometimes must speak painful truths]

What stood out was that there were very few extroverted male bloggers, and that most male bloggers were intellectual types. The women, on the other hand, appeared to be mostly extroverted social types.  I should make clear that I did not rely solely on Typealyzer rendering its opinion; the content of the blogs tended to match the type given.

So it seems that some stereotypes are true. Male bloggers are geeky guys and female bloggers are party-girls. Hmmm! Maybe I should start attending blogging conventions; there might be some party-girls there.

Notes

Typealyzer does not (at the time of writing) have this blog correct. Indeed as I added entries it changed its opinion radically. It still has not settled on a verdict.

Typealyzer will sometimes change its opinion on a blog over time. But on many blogs is stable and (judging by the blog content) probably correct.

I did find some introverted thinking female and some extroverted feeling male bloggers (I think Typealyzer has a thing for ESFPs). They were a minority though.

These two terms describe how a person takes in information from the world. In Jungian terms this is the “perceiving” function. In Myers-Briggs typing, this is the second letter of the four-letter type (Sensor or iNtuitor).

Sensors

as the name implies prefer the evidence of their own senses. They tend to focus on the here and now. They prefer concrete information taken in through their five senses. They prefer facts and figures to ideas and theories. They prefer descriptive language to metaphors or more abstract constructs. They are more likely to learn things one step at a time, from start to finish. They focus on the details sometimes losing the big picture. To understand something they start at the smallest level and work up.
Focus on: What is.
See: The trees (But what about the forest?).
Their brains are like: The phone book because they are, ordered, sequential, factual.
Motto: Just the facts, please.

Intuitors

don’t exactly ignore the evidences of their senses but they rely more heavily on hunches or their gut. They link the experience of their senses to other things via memory and imagination. They focus on the big picture. They more interested in theories than facts and figures. They tend to focus on the future and possibilities. They tend to prefer metaphors to highly descriptive language. To understand something they start at the highest level and try to break it down to the individual pieces.
Focus on: What might be.
See: The forest (Hey! Don’t forget those trees).
Their brains are like: The Internet because they are connected but random. One thing links to the other but not in sequence.
Motto: That’s fine in practice, but what about the theory.

Apples and Oranges

You can see how communication breakdowns might occur if one of you is a strong sensor and one is a strong N. The S will be wondering when the N will actually get to the point. The N will be drowning in all that rich S detail. Both may have a clear perception of the topic but are using different languages (concrete versus abstract/metaphorical).

Notes:

Obviously most of us will be a bit of both. However, we all tend to have a preference for one mode or the other.
About 70 to 75 percent of the population are Sensors.
About 25 to 30 percent of the population are iNtuitors.
The ad-hoc way I am organizing these articles should give you a clue as to which (Sensor or Intuitor) I am.
If that is not enough then the “Their brains are like” metaphor should make it more obvious.
[I can see strongly sensing types going "But how can my brain look like the Internet. What the hell does that mean?"]
If you still can’t guess then I need to re-write the article.

Most people if asked to describe extroversion versus introversion would feel they have an understanding of what they mean. Most people do not mention the one thing that really differentiates the two. That difference is how they gather mental energy.

Extroverts

are like a self-winding watch. Self-winding watches are mechanical watches that use the movement of the user’s wrist to keep them energized. [younger readers may need to ask their parents about these] They need motion and action to keep “charged.” Left on the dresser for a day or two they will run down and stop, their energy depleted. The only way to bring them back to life is to shake things up and bring some motion into their lives. Likewise for the extrovert, too little stimulation drains them. They need to seek out activity to recharge their emotional battery.
[To introverts: Tying the extrovert in your life to the dresser may seem like the only way to shut them up, but I recommend you move to a quieter room]

Introverts

are like your cell phone. You can talk on your phone all day but when you get home you need to recharge its battery. If you don’t recharge your phone it may give up in the middle of the next day. On days when you do less talking you may be able to skip the charge that night but will need to watch your usage next day. Introverts are the same; too much activity drains them. They need time alone to gather their thoughts and recharge their emotional energy. Sometimes, the only way to bring them back to life is to stop talking and let them recharge.
[To extroverts: I don't actually recommend plugging the introvert in your life into the mains - even though you might be tempted]

It is this difference in energy flow that really marks the extrovert from the introvert. Introverts are not necessarily shy (afraid of people) or antisocial (dislike people). It is not even a given that they lack social graces. Introverts merely find socializing tiring.

Obviously this is hard for an extrovert to comprehend. “How can all that fun socializing be tiring?” One way for him to imagine it is, going for his customary five-mile jog after working until three AM. He enjoys the exercise. Five miles should be easy. Yet after two miles he is pooped and needs to go home. It is not that he cannot run. It is not that he dislikes running. The thought of five miles does not scare him. Thing is, he is just so dammed tired. A late night of socializing lowers the introvert’s social energy in the same way.

Now if only we could get the extroverts to shut up and the introverts to speak up how much easier things would be.

Notes:

I do not know what the correlation between introversion and shyness is. It is probably fairly high but not perfect. In other words not every introvert is shy (afraid of people) and not every shy person is an introvert (the shy extrovert might recharge themselves with loud music or as an observer at bustling events).

While it may seem that extroverts are more numerous, in the United States about half the population is introverted. A widely quoted figure put extroverts at 75 percent of the population. That figure, based on an unrepresentative sample from the early days of type/ temperament study became the basis for many authors and citations (including this page, at one point). Subsequent measurement showed extroverts and introverts to be closer in number.