What is a Myers Briggs personality test?

Have you taken the Myers Briggs personality test? Do you know what your personality type is?

I recently sent my friends and family a link to the Myers Briggs personality test. Having taken the personality test a few years back, discovered my personality and went ahead to learn as much as I could about it, I thought it would be great if I knew the personalities of those around me, and if they could know as well.

I often say that understanding your personality is one of the major steps towards self-awareness. My friends humored me and sent me their results and I was surprised by how much close I was when I had guessed about their personality, from my study in this area which I am obsessed about.

I asked them to identify their personality type, and simply google the characteristics of their personalities. I received responses from some saying, wow, I now understand why I am so impatient.

Others told me they didn’t like how much they obsessed with details but now they understand. Others mentioned how they had made efforts to be organized and realized they were just of perceiving personality not judging and accepted themselves

Self-awareness is the first step of self-acceptance

My INFP cousin even sent me this meme:

It was great to see individuals have a better understanding of who they are, seek to know more about why they behave in a certain way and even make fun of their shortcomings

My personality is ISTP.

The Myers Briggs test even gives a percentage of the levels of different personality traits. Such as how much of an introvert in a spectrum one is. A couple of my friends had a really low introversion level and therefore happily branded themselves ambiverts.

What is a Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator?

A Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) is an introspective test developed from theories proposed by psychiatrist Carl Jung.

The categories of the test are Introversion/ Extraversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling and Judging/ Perception. An individual has one preferred attribute in each category.

The test, therefore, shows 16 different personalities perceptions of a person.

Myers Briggs types, Myers Briggs personality test free online printable,

(Before you get to the Myers Briggs personality types, here is what the characters in the personality types stand for:)

I-INTROVERT
E-EXTRAVERT
N-INTUITIVE
S-SENSING
F-FEELING
T-THINKING
J-JUDGING
P-PERCEIVING

The 16 Myers Briggs personality types are

INFP
ENFP
INFJ
ENFJ
ISFP
ESFP
ISFJ
ESFJ
INTP
ENTP
INTJ
ENTJ
ISTP
ESTP
ISTJ
ESTF

Once you take the test, you will identify four letters that represent your personality. To take the Myers Briggs personality test online, click here.

However, the personality test available on the website is not free. To access the free personality test, check here.

Below is a breakdown of the characteristics of each of the personality temperaments.

Extroverts

They’re more sociable and thrive in social situations
The presence of people energizes them
They’re great at meeting people and initiating conversations
They like action and are basically active most of the time
They are not comfortable with complicated procedures
They are often impatient with long or slow work
They don’t mind interruptions
They are quick in action sometimes without putting too much thought
They communicate easily and freely
They like to be surrounded by people

Introverts

They are territorial and desire personal space
They thrive in solitude and will often retreat to solitude to recover from human interactions
They draw their energy from solitude
They prefer solitary activities such as hobbies and working alone
They may feel lonely in crowds or feel as if they don’t belong
They will often disconnect from crowds and talk to specific individuals similar to them
They don’t like stereotypes
They put thoughts into things before taking action
They are content with being alone and prefer silence to concentrate
They are practical

Sensing type

They work with facts, trust facts and tend to remember facts
They are ground firmly in reality
They are interested in other peoples pasts, history, and experiences
They deal with matters as they are now, as per the current situation
They are realists
They deal with what is rather than what could have been
They are observant and keen to details
They use their senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste
They enjoy utilizing acquired skills more than they enjoy learning new ones

Intuitive types

They find appeal in the imagination world
They often daydream and enjoy fantasy
They have a vivid imagination
They like new things and dislike doing the same things repeatedly
They learning new things
They can be impractical
They work with bursts of energy and slacks in between
They are fast at reaching conclusions

Thinking type

They make decisions based on how they think not how they feel
They are often perceived as cold, heartless or stony-hearted
They don’t show emotions easily and are often with other peoples emotions
They may be too direct and hurt the emotions of others unwillingly
They are logical and like analysis
They don’t easily pay attention to other peoples feelings
They can easily reprimand others
They make logical and objective judgments
They’re mostly objective and less bias

Feeling type

They have a personal basis and approach to events
Their decisions are emotionally driven
They are often soft-hearted and can have trouble taking a firm stand
They don’t depend much on logic but depend on feelings
They wear their hearts on their sleeves
They are aware of the feelings of others and empathic
They tend to be people-pleasing and they love harmony
They’re uncomfortable telling others unpleasant or hurtful things
They are people-oriented and the occasional praise is good for them

Judging type

They feel a sense of urgency in making decisions
They take deadlines seriously
They plan their work to the detail and expect the same of others
They may be too quick at making decisions
They may focus so much on the current project that they fail to notice new things that need to be done
They are satisfied once they finish a task or reach a judgment of something
They are decisive and organized
They prefer closure and hardly leave tasks uncompleted

Perceiving type

They are not quick to make decisions and prefer getting more information before they make a decision
They don’t mind leaving things open for future alterations
They don’t take deadlines seriously and can ignore deadlines or perceive them as guidelines
They may start more than one project at the same time
They’re curious and welcomes other insights
They prefer to keep their options open
They’re spontaneous and flexible

Let me explain my personality so you can get a better insight on what the initials stand for once you take the Myers Briggs personality test.

An ISTP stands for Introvert, Sensing, Thinking and Perceiving personality.

Once you take the test, you develop an understanding of the reasons behind your temperaments. You understand why you behave the way you do.

For example, as an ISTP (Introvert, Sensing, Thinking and Perceptive), I am uncomfortable with social events; I tend to be practical rather than imaginative; I solve problems mostly on how I think rather than how I feel and I am also highly spontaneous and flexible.

The explanations I have offered here for each personality type are not exhaustive, I suggest that you read as much as you can about your personality.

When I read about ISTP, I learn that we crave for freedom and independence, and dislike structures which explains a lot about the decisions I make in life. As a thinking type introvert, I have been perceived as a distant and cold person.

Your personality is as a result of your genetics as well as your environment. How you grew up, your childhood and upbringing, the society you grew up in contribute to your personality. This is the basis of the nature vs nurture argument.

Keirsey personality sorter

Another way to look at the personality types is according to the Keirsey personality sorter. Using the same 16 personalities, it looks at whether you are an artisan, guardian, idealist or rational. To find out your temperament type, take the Keirsey personality test here.

Once you log in, the site will give you more information about your personality temperament leading to better self-understanding and self-awareness.

MBTI Step II

This is an extended version of the MBTI which provides some characteristics of the different temperaments

Extroverting individuals are said to be initiating, expressive, active and sociable.
Introverting individuals are receiving, contained, intimate, reflective and quiet.
Sensing temperament individuals are concrete, realistic, practical, experimental and traditional
Intuiting persons are abstract, imaginative, conceptual, theoretical and original
Thinking individuals are logical, reasonable, questioning, critical and tough
Feeling people are empathetic, compassionate, accommodating, accepting and tender
Judging personality is systematic, planful, early starting, scheduled and methodical
Perceiving people are casual, open-ended, prompted, spontaneous, and emergent

As an ISTP, I can use some of the above to describe my personality as intimate and reflective, realistic and practical, logical, reasonable and critical, and casual, spontaneous and emergent.

Now that you know your personality, seek to understand as much as possible about your personality. Note that not all characteristics described under your personality type describe you. Every personality is a spectrum. For example, introversion and extroversion is a spectrum such as below

E_____________________________________ I

We fall at different positions in the spectrum. Extreme introverts and extroverts are rare. When you take this test, it will show you % of every temperament. For example, I am a 70% introvert, someone else can be a lesser introvert or more.

It’s also possible to find that you fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum in some temperaments. For example, I am an ISTP but depending on the test, sometimes my results show INTP (although ISTP is more prominent). In a spectrum of I vs S, I fall somewhere in the middle.

Even though I am an ISTP, my sensing is not that high and sometimes I exhibit the characteristics of intuitive. I have taken purely Intuitive vs Sensing tests to get a clear picture on where I lie.

Enjoy your self-awareness journey or explore these self-awareness exercises that will help you gain a better perspective of who you are.