I'm an ENFJ

My brother recently urged me to take the Myers-Briggs psychology test to get an in-depth snapshot into my personality. According to Wikipedia, "the Myers-Briggs assessment was developed from the work of psychiatrist Carl Jung in his book Psychological Types. Jung proposed a psychological typology based on the theories of cognitive functions that he developed through his clinical observations."

Anywits, I took the test and and it was eerie how true my test results turned out to be. Apparently I'm an ENFJ and we only account for 2-5% of the population! (This is probably a good, sane thing.)

The four personality categories break down into:

• How one focuses their attention or gets their energy (extrovert or introvert)
• How one perceives or takes in information (sensing or intuition)
• How one prefers to make decisions (thinking or feeling)
• How one orients themselves to the external world (judgment or perception)

 Therefore, I'm:

• E – Extraversion preferred to introversion: ENFJs often feel motivated by their interaction with people. They tend to enjoy a wide circle of acquaintances, and they gain energy in social situations (whereas introverts expend energy).
• N – Intuition preferred to sensing: ENFJs tend to be more abstract than concrete. They focus their attention on the big picture rather than the details, and on future possibilities rather than immediate realities.
• F – Feeling preferred to thinking: ENFJs tend to value personal considerations above objective criteria. When making decisions, they often give more weight to social implications than to logic.
• J – Judgment preferred to perception: ENFJs tend to plan their activities and make decisions early. They derive a sense of control through predictability.

All so true! And it gets even spookier:

"Extraverted feeling types seek continuity through harmonious relationships and collective values. They excel at picking up on the tone of a situation and acting accordingly, adding warmth to a cool setting or turning sour into sweet. They naturally seek to know what people do well, what they enjoy, and where and how they work. They seem to have an infinite number of acquaintances from all walks of life and are always on the lookout for people in need and those who can help out. ENFJs weave and strengthen the collective fabric of social conventions and interactions. Inclusiveness is important and they are particularly sensitive to those who are excluded.

"ENFJs focus on others, feeling a glow when those around them are happy, and troubled when something is amiss. They are natural cheerleaders, often expressing support, gratitude, and encouragement, and heaping praise onto those they appreciate. They take note of what is being done and what needs doing, offering their assistance wherever necessary.

"ENFJs enjoy organizing group activities and tend to take their commitments seriously. In general, they are reliable and do not like to disappoint others. As team players and project leaders, they have a gift for rallying their players, focusing on what is being done right and each member's strengths. They are loyal and they expect loyalty. They carry conversations well, finding common ground with their speaker. They tend to find the correct and gracious way to respond in any given situation, no matter how tense or uncomfortable it is.

"Types with dominant extraverted feeling may uphold a wide range of values, simply because shared values are what create harmony. Some will profess the importance of tough-minded logic, justice and scholarly debate because their environments have these shared values. They tend to adopt the collective values of those in their social group."

I never realized it till now but I do have a wide range of values, and they fluctuate depending on what groups I'm with. It's always felt so organic that I never bothered dwelling on it, but now it makes sense -- I am this way because I do feel that shared values are what create harmony. Everything else in my personality profile is spot on as well. Fascinating.

Have you taken the Myers-Brigg Test? Which personality are you?