I had the opportunity to take the Myer-Briggs type indicator test, which is a personality sorting tool that has been used since around World War II, and is based off of Jungian personality theory. It studies human personality across four paradigms and elicits a total of 16 personality varieties.
There aren’t any readily available copier machines, or I would post my exact chart for you to see (a more elaborate post will follow in the future). Basically, I was scored as being slightly more extraverted than introverted, moderately more intuitive than sensing, moderately more thinking than feeling, and slightly more judging than perceiving. Simply put, my personality type tends to be seen more in management and leadership roles, the business or corporate world. This amused and slightly concerned me, because while I tend to be more abstract and at times logical, I hold a deep set feeling of empathy toward others and altruism that I hoped would have shone through in the results.
There are several types of personalities that are stereotyped into counseling-related career paths. ENTJs are excluded from that grouping. However, my exact results did not denote me as a very strong ENTJ. The person who helped me to analyze the results said that because my individual results were slight to moderate that I am actually pretty flexible between each paradigm and that I more than likely have a balanced sense of both ends of the spectrum. Hopefully, this will only help me to bridge any gaps in communication, and won’t serve as a barrier or obstacle, a portal that would encourage an increase in client-related misunderstandings or alienation in comparison with other personality types. Even with reassurance that different types of counselors are needed in the world for the myriad of individuals inhabiting it, I can’t help but feel slightly nervous.
I guess I can’t read too much into this type of inventory, although a lot of what these sites say are pretty relative to who I am – I can definitely attest that I am in alignment with how they describe typical ENTJs – I am usually “mystified” at being placed in leadership roles. I do like efficiency and viewing an overall picture, but also account for detail. I can be a bit of a perfectionist and rationalist (see: my love for Kantian ethics). Yet, it’s how one utilizes his or her strengths and accounts for any weaknesses that determines future success or competence. I won’t place myself in a cage. Personality types are not restrictive, but malleable, developmental, and yes, dependent on many extraneous variables or environmental factors. If I stay reflective, self-aware, and focused on the client’s needs, then I am sure I will be fine. It’s interesting, nonetheless.
