This morning as a team building exercise, the Engineering Team at Justia took personality tests at the website 16 Personalities and shared our results. In the early days of this blog (was called Cap's Log back then) I took some online personality tests from time to time and posted my results here, so I thought I'd do the same here.
This is a much more modern take on the Personality Test system than the ones I did between 2003 and 2006. Instead of focusing on a large number of attributes they focus on 5 characteristic pairs, and represent each pair as a scale between the 2 extremes.
The pairs are categorized as:
Mind: Introverted vs. Extroverted
Energy: Intuitive vs. Observant
Nature: Thinking vs. Feeling
Tactics: Judging vs. Prospecting
Identity: Assertive vs. Turbulent
They then summarize these attributes into one of 16 personality types (hence the name), a code, a role, and a strategy.
After taking the test I was graded overall as follows:
Summary
Type: | Turbulent Mediator |
Code: | INFP-T |
Role: | |
Strategy: |
Mind: Introverted (82%)
The mind category is the one personality characteristic everyone knows, "Introverted" vs "Extroverted." I'm not surprised to find out that I'm graded as mostly an Introvert, 82% Introverted, and 18% Extroverted. Being an introvert doesn't mean I don't like people or that I don't like being around people, quite the contrary. As an Introvert I make relatively few friendships but those friendships I do cultivate are very deep friendships.
Energy: Intuitive (73%)
In the energy category, I came out as 73% Intuitive and 27% Observant. An Intuitive person is described as being imaginative, open-minded, and curious. I think this describes me very well. When I'm faced with a challenge, I look at things from multiple angles, keeping an open mind, and am able to come up with creative and inventive solutions to problems. I also love when I'm faced with something new, which really does energize me.
Nature: Feeling (86%)
This one surprised me a bit. At 86% Feeling versus only 14% Thinking, I clearly come across as more emotional than I expected. The description however does make sense. I am generally sensitive to what people are thinking and I can't stand people putting each other down competitively rather than working together cooperatively.
Tactics: Prospecting (61%)
Compared to the other categories, I'm much closer to the center on this. My 61% Prospecting score still clearly beats out the 39% Judging, but I think I do have aspects of both in this. In general Prospecting individuals are good at improvisation and spotting opportunities. It is my ability to be flexible that is one of my strongest traits, as well as my strongest weakness. Fortunately, I do have a fairly strong Judging trait as well, which insists on getting things right.
Identity: Turbulent (90%)
This one is no contest. 90% Turbulent easily demolishes the 10% Assertive. I feel this is something I need to actually work on, being slightly less Turbulent (which is self-conscious and sensitive to stress) and more Assertive (self-assured and resistant to stress). I insist on success and when I fail (which I do) I beat myself up about it, which raises my stress level.
Life as a Mediator
The Introverted Intuitive Feeling Prospecting life of a Mediator means I always want to find the good in people, and I want to help others succeed, and this is true about me. I'm creative and filled with passion, guided by my principles. I'm a perfectionist who wants things to be perfect and works to get there.
One of my favorite parts of the personality assessment is where it compares my results with famous real and fictional people to indicate others who share characteristics like me. Other historical and celebrity Mediators include William Shakespeare, J.R.R. Tolkien, Johnny Depp, and Julia Roberts. Fictional Characters who match the Mediator personality type include both Frodo Baggins and Arwen from The Lord of the Rings, Anne from Anne of Green Gables, and Fox Mulder from The X-Files.
With some thought, I can see how these people, both real and imagined, have characteristics that match me, and perhaps it is why I'm drawn to some of these specific characters often. In the Rings Trilogy, I'm drawn to Arwen more than any of the other elves (even Elrond), and while I thought my reason for being fascinated with Frodo was because he is the central character, I realize it is really because of the way he acts in situations being familiar to me. And with Tolkien being a Mediator as well, it makes sense that his central character would have similar characteristics. Shakespeare was the master of understanding the emotion behind his characters. And in a similar way, Johnny Depp is so creative and quirky, he chooses roles that require him to express emotion, his characters all tend to be loners (Introverts).
Life as a Turbulent Mediator
The Turbulent trait on top of the Mediator means I am driven by success not just for me but for others as well, and I don't take failure well. This is true and something I need to work on.
It was an interesting experiment to take this personality disorder quiz and see how I stacked up against my colleagues. I'll have to take this again sometime and see if any of those percentages have changed.