PERSONALITY TEST

George, Martin, Joseph and Myers-Briggs

2008-04-02T17:11:00.000-06:00

The things being said by political candidates these days are almost more than I can take. (Since when is a "baby" a punishment? ...ETC) I'll keep it safe and move on to, what else...personality!

One request that I had was to consider the pesonality of George Washington. Well, I did by doing a google search on George Washington and the Myers-Briggs personality test. I found two sites that claim he's an ISTJ and two that claim he was an ESFJ. Hmm...how do they assess it anyway without his input? I've always wondered how reliable that is. I mean we can make a guess considering his and others writings but the questions on the personality evaluation are really something rather personal. Some could be answered by others quite accurately who know you, but I find that some are pretty close personal to the way we feel or think inside--something that may not be so evident to those on the outside. Besides that, there isn't anyone who knew George Washington.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an INFJ according to the google search (several sites said so anyway) and Joseph Smith was maybe (according to one I found) an ESFP. Great leaders, those with vision, those who are brave and stand for something come in all personalities. What a mess if that weren't the case.

Personality Tests and Interests

2008-03-29T21:48:00.000-06:00

I went to a 3 hour class this week on the Neurophysics of Human Behavior. It was taught by a cognitive neuroscientist. This is a new field of Science: came on the horizon around 1999. Absolutely fascinating! I'm not always a big talker but when I got home I couldn't contain myself. I went on and on about what I had learned to my husband for what probably seemed to him like 3 hours. It is a topic he is able to listen to for awhile, but barely interested in. On the other hand he can be quite the talker when it comes to utility transformers, switchgear, remote meter reading, the yard, the car, the house being built down the street..."things."

Do personality tests determine our interests? Not really. Most teachers are SJ's, but there are quite a few NF's and some of the other types that become teachers. Actors can be just about any personality type but an NF is the one that will actually "become" (for awhile) the person they're portraying. Many personality tests are used as a basis for determining the right profession for you. Certain personality types do gravitate more to one thing than another but you can usually find at least a little of every personality in most professions. That's probably a really good thing if you think about it.

Each personality has strengths that add to any arena. It could become a real "us against them" mentality if "like" people always flocked together. There couldn't be much progress if we didn't have some that are great leaders, and some that are great followers in the different areas of life. So where do our interests come from? Maybe I'll get closer to that answer as I dig deeper into the neurophysics of human behavior!

Personality Test That Says Your Love is Worth It

2008-03-26T14:04:00.000-06:00

Your love is worth it, is what the Persogenics for couples claims. Persogenics is a type of personality test that explains our personality differences in terms of communication styles: dominant, expressive, amiable or analytical. Again, like all personality tests I've run into, these ways of being are with us from the beginning and stick throughout our lives.

What persogenics seeks to do is establish a common language between couples. This depersonalizes conflicts and focusses discussion on actions and words rather than on us. "The heart of Persogenics for Couples is modification, understanding and temporarily modifying behavior to communicate to others without diminishing the self," so says Michael Cheney developer of Persogenics for Couples.

Once you understand your partners communication pattern you can modify your behavior in relation to it. This understanding of how I see things and therefore communicate vs. how my partner does is VERY enlightening and helpful.

Those personality tests that help me understand others better and increase someone's understanding of me are terrific tools. Life would really stink without at least a few close relationships and understanding is the key.

Easter and Personality Tests

2008-03-24T12:12:00.000-06:00

Personality tests and Easter don't seem to have a lot to do with each other. To me Easter is a wonderful celebration of LIFE! I live in a place where there are four seasons. One good thing about experiencing a cold winter each year is watching the earth come to life again each spring, year after year. This is all symbolic of the Creator's greatest gift of life to us. Not only did God give us our physical lives, but he saved our spiritual lives from darkness by paying the ultimate price--through suffering and death he paid the price for our sins. Some people believe it, some don't. But truth is never based on numbers. It just is.

Because of my interest in personality, I have given thought to the personality of God. No surprise: I don't know...I can't explain what His personality is. Obviously, it must be perfect because so is He. I imagine that perhaps that means that God incorporates all the attributes and temperaments we have, but uses the positive strengths of each of them at any given moment, calling upon that attribute that is best fitting for the situation. So on the Myers Briggs
personality test would he give the exact same weight to all letters and not favor any certain assessment over another? On the color test would he be a little (or a lot) of all of them? On others would he just be a harmonious blend of dominant, amiable, anyalytical and expressive?

Or maybe God has none of the tendencies toward temperaments that we have that often cause us to handle situations less than perfectly. Maybe He had attributes and temperaments while living here on earth and now all tendencies toward weakness have been overcome so personality becomes a mute point. Like I said, I don't know. But it's an interesting exercise in thought and wonderment.

Bottom line is, it doesn't matter. Maybe personality tests are just a way for mere mortals to understand themselves and life a little better. Nothing that applies to God. Perhaps each question on a personality test would be too shallow to render anything significant if a perfect being were to take it.

I'm grateful that I know that in sunshine and shadow He is there to assure and smile upon us.

Personality Test and "Obamanations"

2008-03-19T15:06:00.000-06:00

They've been called Obamanations: these mis-steps of Barack Obama in supporting an extremely controversial preacher for 20 years, a website that carries new black panther party endorsement, etc. There's plenty in his personality type that may be revealing (according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, MBTI). Consider this:

According to David Keirsey in Please Understand Me II, a book which explores the MBTI personality test, Obama (an ENFP) "consider(s) intense emotional experiences as being vital to a full life." Whew, everyone's heard clips by his pastor Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Obama must feel his life is full!

Keirsey goes on to say, "ENFP'S are the (most) keen and penetrating observers of the people around them, and are capable of intense concentration on another individual. Their attention is never passive or casual, never wandering, but always directed. .. seeing life as an exciting drama, preganant with possibilities for both good and evil....[W]hat might be is always more fascinating than what is."

Did you ask someone to perform your marriage and baptize your children that you had serious reservations about? Maybe, but I doubt it even if you're one of the far less observant types, but it's hard for me to believe that Obama would ever do such a thing. There's something of great concern here if you ask me. Obama's support of his reverend says a lot!

No Personality Test Needed to Tell Me That

2008-03-17T10:59:00.001-06:00

Coming from a fairly large family, and now having six children of my own, my understanding that people are born acting and thinking differently has been an up close and personal, first hand experience. It doesn't take a personality test to confirm that.

No, duh--Families are not a group of people that think and act alike. Some children come out kicking and screaming and do so (in one way or another) throughout their lives while a sibling seems placid and pretty content with life from womb to tomb. No family is perfect but when a reasonably functional, loving family that puts high priority on family relationships is thrown for a loop by a stubborn, demanding child, it can be, in some cases, just a matter of perspective.

Misbehaving can simply be a cry of "please understand me." Sometimes the best thing a family can do to improve relationships is increase understanding of the way each one views the world. Parent-child relationships get better when parents and children learn and communicate about different personality types. It's a way to pro-actively parent. Knowledge of personality increases patience with individual differences. Personality assessments open our eyes and take us to a new level of enlightenment in a fun, interactive way!

Upside Down, Rush, OReilly, Ferraro and Penguins

2008-03-14T09:11:00.002-06:00

If you had told me that someday conservative talk show hosts like Rush and O'Reilly would defend Geraldine Ferraro I might have said something like, "yea, and did you know that we had a penguin living in our backyard in L.A.?" It's an upside down world if you ask me! So what does this have to do with personality tests? I'm not sure. Perhaps it will come to me before I'm finished.

As an impressionable twenty-something year old many years ago--frankly, Ferraro scared me. She was a loud, brass, outspoken Lib: leader of N.O.W. (National Organization for Women) and that wasn't an organization that represented this woman in any way. What a funny thing...in view of her comments she now has the conservative giants backing her statements about Obama. You knew she had to be let go after Obama's mishap with Powers, who called Hillary a monster and was let go from the Obama campaign because of it.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergartan, by Robert Fulghum just came to mind. I wonder if anyone reads that anymore or if most of us just missed those lessons. Sometimes I wish all those who missed the lessons could go back and redo Kindergartan.

I really didn't start this blog with the intention of dwelling on politics. It's just that this is the season. I will change the subject...someday. Right now the greatest nation bar none ever to exist in the history of man is facing another important election and I'm concerned. I love America! I want it to stay great. I want it to be the nation that all others can look to as the ideal; something to strive for so that they too can be great and offer liberty, opportunity and justice for all within their borders. I want us to be able to put down oppressive threats in the world and help those who are willing to help themselves. But I see our power and greatness slipping away.

Our nation is great because it was established under God with his hand guiding its formation. We are not responsible for our country's greatness--He is! It was a miracle. But we are now stewards of this gift and have a responsibility to keep it great, and I'm concerned. God has been generous in giving what he has because we have been far from perfect. But we can do better, if we just will.

Okay, now I know what this has to do with Personality Tests. You just discovered my personality--in part anyway. I will tell you (according to the MBTI) that I am an NF: an idealist with an unusually strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others. Personality tests can be amazingly accurate!

Same Personalities: McCain and Bush

2008-03-12T12:50:00.001-06:00

According to Emily Yoffe in an article entitled Profiles in Personality that she wrote eight years ago, when we were facing another Presidential election, she claims that applying the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI--personality test) to George W. Bush renders him an ESTP. This is the same as John McCain. Since there is a chance that an ESTP may once again occupy the White House what do these letters stand for anyway?

Of course every personality type has criminal and saint within it's boundaries (and I'm not suggesting that either of these men are either of these, or that they're not:) Within the same personality type you can find people with different interests, habits and beliefs. For example JFK and Lyndon Johnson according to David Keirsy, a famous author of books about the MBTI, were also ESTP's.

The MBTI is a way to assess psychiatrist Carl Jung's belief that personality is composed of four poles of temperament preferences. So, what do we know about E, S, T, and P?

A simple explanation of the Bush and McCain personality is this. They are extroverted or expressive (E), observant or sensing (S), tough minded or thinkers (T), and they look for alternatives and like to keep their options open (P). One thing Keirsey has to say about this personality type; "They are decisive and little bothered by second thoughts and self-doubt...." Since [they] do not reflect very much on their errors or analyze their mistakes to any great extent, it is difficult for them to learn from their errors, and so they can become caught in a loop, repeating their mistakes." (resource: http://www.slate.com/id/2184696/pagenum/all/)

Great...I'm not really looking forward to this election. Not just because of personality (it's not really something to base an election on!) but because of several things. As I see it, my option to choose a good Presidential candidate come this Fall is just not there.

Personality Test, Rush, and the "Dream Ticket"

2008-03-10T13:17:00.003-06:00

Rush Limbaugh has been criticized for his statement that the so called "dream ticket" (Hillary and Obama as running mates, not necessarily in that order) is nothing of the kind. He claims it's a way for the dems to lose the election. Different liberal democrats speaking out about Rush's assessment have each mentioned that whatever Rush has to say is of no consequence anyway and shouldn't even be considered. Then why are they talking about (i.e. considering) it? What Rush has to say is always considered in political circles. And a personality test offers evidence as to why.

According to the personality test I like to refer to most--the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator--Rush is an ENTJ. This is what Myers calls The Fieldmarshal. They are the "leaders of leaders....superleaders...They are super efficient in marshalling forces in the service of a clearly defined objective....the basic driving force of these Fieldmarshals is to command forces that promise to be effective in achieving the objectives that they are able to visualize."

"[ENTJ's] base their self-image on being ingenious, autonomous, and resolute...[they're] hungry for achievement, seek knowledge...they are prone to practice strategy far more than diplomacy, tactics and logistics." With a minimum waste of effort and maximum progress these leaders "cannot not push to implement their goals." They are unusually good at communicating their vision to others.

Like him or not, it's apparent that Rush has an uncanny ability. He was born with it and it will be with him to the end: that's what personality experts say--temperament or personality traits are set: they are who we are in one sense . What Rush has to say will most likely always be of consequence because he has marshalled and will continue to marshall MANY forces in the field and effectively communicate a vision!

Personality Test and Barack Obama

2008-03-07T11:02:00.004-07:00

One cool thing about personality tests is that they have something to say about everyone. I mean everyone has a personality! Right?

The race for the democratic nomination is heating up (or is it already at boiling point?) Who is this passionate, eloquent speaking, good looking, youthful, energetic black man that seemed to appear suddenly? Had you ever heard of Barack Obama before this campaign?

He certainly got quite a following quickly. He seems to appeal to the young voters in this country in a way that no one else has for quite some time now. It's not hard to see why when his declared "vice" is staying up too late every night to watch Sports Center, as opposed to others (old men compared to him) admitting to a vice of smoking cigars. I mean how cool is that!

In Katherine Mangu-Ward's article entitled Myers-Briggsing the Candidates she sums up Hillary's thorn in the side this way:

"Barack Obama—no one will be surprised to learn—is an Idealist. His specific type is an ENFP, what Keirsey [author of books about the personality test called the Myers-Briggs] calls 'the Champion.' ENFPs, says Keirsey, are 'filled with conviction that they can easily motivate those around them.' Champions work to 'kindle, to rouse, to encourage, even to inspire those close to them with their enthusiasm.' Idealists 'usually have a tongue of silver' and are 'gifted in seeing the possibilities' of institutions and people...."

Now is that not true? Personality tests are fun!

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John McCain's Personality Assessment

2008-03-05T14:11:00.002-07:00

Last night John McCain secured his position as the republican nominee in the November election. So what kind of leader can we expect him to be should he become President? Turning to a personality test we can gain insights and can put words to the temperament this man possesses. Again, turning to the article mentioned before by Katherine Mangu-Ward entitled Myers-Briggsing the Candidates she sums up John McCain this way:

"John McCain is an Artisan, and his specific type is an ESTP, what Keirsey [author of books about the MBTI] calls the Promoter. The ESTP is, according to Keirsey, 'practical, optimistic, cynical, and focused on the here and now.' If the ESTP portrait gives you a feeling of déjà vu, it's because George W. Bush is an ESTP, too. They are a common presidential type: Both Roosevelts, JFK, and LBJ were ESTPs. 'Artisans need to be potent, to be felt as a strong presence and they want to affect the course of events,' writes Keirsey. They hunger to 'have a piece of the action,' 'to make something happen' whether 'on the battlefield' or 'in the political arena.'"

Again I ask...is this any surprise? Personality: it's just written all over us. What's the big whup about personality tests then?

The benefits of personality assessments are that they give accurate description--put words to and give explanation of--a dimension of who we are, and most of us kind of like that. We enjoy learning about ourselves (and being amazed what others who have studied such things know!), but when we learn about others, real understanding begins and everyone benefits.

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More About Hillary and a Personality Test

2008-03-03T08:51:00.002-07:00

I will comment on the personality test results of Myers-Briggsing Obama and McCain later this week because I just couldn't resist staying with Hillary today considering a comment I heard on the radio this morning. It is a true show of her personality type! The radio host mentioned that Hillary said her leadership is all about solutions, not feelings. Hillary, no doubt, was contrasting her ability to "get the job done" as commander and chief (or would that be commanderess and chiefess?) to Obama's less effective (according to Hillary) use of passion.

This is so perfectly in line with Hillary's personality (termperament) type, ESTJ, assessed by the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. Focus on the "T". She is a thinker. In opposition to her preference for thinking, Obama (an ENFP) is guided by feeling, focus on the "F". Hillary values "thinking" over "feeling." She seems to be implying that "thinking" translates into getting things done far better than "feeling" ever could, and she's letting us know that!

I think (or more accurately for me, should say feel!) that personality tests are incredibly and fascinatingly (is that a word?) right on! ...some of them anyway, and certainly the MBTI. It's a fun thing to observe others behaving in ways that are very predictable and not at all surprising.

Tomorrow's Primaries should be very interesting.

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Personality Test and Hillary

2008-02-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

When considering the well known personality test the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, one can assess the temperament tendencies of famous people. Keirsey and Bates, authors of Please Understand Me (I and II) can offer the following insights.

In an article by Katherine Mangu-Ward entitled Myers-Briggsing the Candidates she sums up the ESTJ "Supervisor" Hillary Clinton in this way:

"..." Supervisors are...steadfast, cautious, methodical. They are the reliable, detail-oriented people without whom organizations and society fall apart—which is something ESTJs won't hesitate to point out. '[T]heir first instinct is to take charge and tell others what to do...' They are 'devoted public servants, seeing their role in government … in almost sacred terms of self-sacrifice and service to others.' This service is an obligation, not given 'freely and joyously.'..."

Now then, was this really enlightening or not a bit surprising?

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Personality and the Presidential Candidates

2008-02-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a personality test that determines inborn temperament types, we can explore leadership styles and tendencies of the three leading presidential candidates. Besides their voting records, through personality testing we can know a little more about the one who will reside in the Whitehouse someday.

According to the article What psychological personality tests reveal about Clinton, Obama, and McCain by Emily Yoffe, "Hillary Clinton is a Guardian, and her specific type is an ESTJ, what Keirsey calls 'the Supervisor'... Barack Obama—no one will be surprised to learn—is an Idealist. His specific type is an ENFP, what Keirsey calls 'the Champion'...John McCain is an Artisan, and his specific type is an ESTP, what Keirsey calls the Promoter. "

Well now, what does all that mean--Supervisor vs. Champion vs. Promoter when it comes to the type of leadership we could expect from each? More about that later.

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What do Personality Tests do for Me?

2008-02-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

The point of Please Understand Me by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates is to give up our pygmalion project of trying to change others into people we'd like them to be. Personality tests help us understand each other; our differences, abilities and limitations. Considering that, they can be an interesting study when it comes to celebrities, politicians and great leaders.

There are few people more on the minds of many than those campaigning for the Presidency of the United States. What would a personality test say about Hillary, Obama, and McCain? That would be fascinating if you ask me!

What do you think? How would you describe the personality of these candidates? Would a personality test say introverts or extroverts, do they rely on intuition or experience more, on what they feel or what they think....? I'm going to report on what one personality test tells us about these candidates in coming blogs.

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Personality Tests--How Many?

2008-02-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, What color is Your Parachute, Persogenics, The Big 5...the list of personality tests goes on and on. You can assess your communication style, employees/manager's working style, driving personality, your optimism, resilience, ability to handle stress, best career choices, extroversion, hostility, sensuality, locus of control, compatability...and so on, in the many different personality tests out there. But which personality tests are valid?

The Myers-Briggs is a personality test (or more accurately a "temperament" type indicator) widely recognized and used in career guidance, areas of business, and so on. You can take this personality test and learn all about the 16 different temperament types in Please Understand Me by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates. It is highly valid.

According to a higher power (college professor at a leading university) The Big 5 is the most valid personality test out there for determining five broad dimensions of personality.

Most personality tests are just for fun and may (or may not) have some benefit. At any rate, if you want to get educated, do some research to find out just how valid these personality tests are. If you want to have some fun, google personality tests and you'll find plenty of them to tell you just about anything you want to know about yourself!

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Why Personality Tests?

2008-02-21T10:11:00.000-07:00

Personality tests are very popular. Why? Is it because a major part of life is wondering and discovering who we are? We come into the world with little awareness of things beyond physical sensations of cold, hot, hunger, fullness, pain, love, etc. And then suddenly we begin to emerge...realizing that we are somebody!

Different personality tests offer results that lead to theories about inborn temperaments or tendencies: ways of behaving that come naturally. The results of a personality test offer fascinating information about ourselves that we know deep down inside, but have never thought of putting words to. Through a personality test you discover how to explain how life is for you (in one sense anyway) It's fascinating and sometimes shocking to discover through answers and conclusions from these personality tests that life for others is very, very different!

So what do you think about personality tests? Admittedly there are those who find them annoying, and they're very skeptical of any attempts by someone else to "define" who they are. For some it's as if a personality test is an infringement on privacy and it makes them uncomfortable. But, everyone likes to talk about themselves (at least sometimes) and pondering your innate way of being and how you view the world must hold at least a little curiosity, whether you want to admit it or not.

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What say ye about personality tests?