Recently, at the last staff meeting we had at work, our Senior Deputy Principal was relating how she now has to slowly change from an 'I' to an 'E' etc. in order to adapt to her new role in the new academic year. This led to my Director digging up her decade-and-a-half-year-old soft copy stack of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire and other relevant information on all the possible 16 personality types, photocopying them and handing them to my manager and I. For the next hour or so at work, we embarked on a trip of self-realisation. Co-incidentally, within the next few weeks, I would come across friends on Facebook also posting articles about INFJs and just today, read about a blogger who also shared about being an INFJ.
So what exactly is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)? It essentially is one of the most widely-used personality tests worldwide, consisting of a psychometric list of questions (the test I did had 70 questions, but according to Wikipedia, depending whether you do the North American English version or the European English version, they have 93 and 88 questions respectively). I don't know what version mine is, but erm, always trust your boss. I remember doing this test a few times before, and if memory serves me right, I have always been an INFJ - Introversion Intuition Feeling Judging. Incidentally, that makes me one of the rarest types of people on Earth (less than 1% of us exist on the planet!).
Below are excerpts taken from the decade-and-a-half-year-old yellowed stack of Myers-Briggs information from the boss.
"INFJs focus on possibilities, think in terms of values and come easily to decisions. The small number of this type is regrettable, since INFJs have an unusually strong drive to contribute to the welfare of others and genuinely enjoy helping their fellow men. This type has great depth of personality: they are themselves complicated, and can understand and deal with complex issues and people."
(I make hasty decisions, if that's what constitutes to making decisions easily. I do love helping people - if it's within my means, why not, right?)
"It is an INFJ who is likely to have visions of human events past, present, or future. If a person demonstrates an ability to understand psychic phenomenon better than most others, this person is apt to be an INFJ. Characteristically, INFJs have strong empathic abilities and can be aware of another's emotions or intents even before that person is conscious of these. This can take the form of feeling the distress or illnesses of others to an extent which is difficult for other types. INFJs can intuit good and evil in others, although they seldom can tell how they came to know. Subsequent events tend to bear them out, however."
"INFJs are usually good students, achievers who exhibit an unostentatious creativity. They take their work seriously and enjoy academic activity... exhibit qualities of over-perfectionism and put more into a task than perhaps is justified by the nature of the task. They will generally not be visible leaders, but will quietly exert influence behind the scenes."
(I enjoyed school, though my results weren't overly fantastic, they weren't too bad, to say the least. People have always told me to work smart and not work hard, but I tend to lean towards working hard, because that's the only way I know how to get the job done, my way *stubborn*. Yes, during projects, I'm usually the one compiling everything in the end, clearing up shit and making sure we meet the deadlines *must be in control*.)
"...hard to get to know. They have an unusually rich inner life, but they are reserved and tend not to share their reactions except with those they trust. Because if their vulnerability through a strong facility to introject, INFJs can be hurt rather easily by others, which perhaps, is at least one reason they tend to be private people. People who have known an INFJ for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that INFJs are inconsistent; they are very consistent and value integrity. But they have convoluted, complex personalities which sometimes puzzle even them."
(It's as if the author who wrote all this about INFJs knew me personally! I am highly sensitive and get hurt easily, exactly why I tend to be private, and exactly why my not-too sensitive hubby finds it absurd at times when he says things that to him, didn't meant to come across negative or hurtful, but it does to me.)
"...like to please others and tend to contribute their own best efforts in all situations. They prefer and enjoy agreeing with others, and find conflict disagreeable and destructive... ...have vivid imaginations exercised both as memory and intuition, and this can amount to genius, resulting at times in an INFJ's being seen as mystical. This unfettered imagination often enable this person to compose complex and often aesthetic works of art such as music, mathematical systems, poems, plays and novels. In a sense, the INFJ is the most poetic of all the types..."
(I'm a YES person! Genius? Haha, might be an overstretch.)
"INFJs often select liberal arts as a college major and opt for occupations which involve interacting with people, but on a one-to-one basis. For example, the general practitioner in medicine might be an INFJ, or the psychiatrist or psychologist. ...INFJs may be attracted to writing as a profession, and often they use language which contains an unusual degree of imagery. They are masters of metaphor, and both their verbal and written communications tend to be elegant and complex. Their great talent for language usually is direct toward people, describing people and writing to communicate with people in a personalised way..."
(I love language; love writing.)
"...whatever their choice, INFJs are generally successful in (their) fields because their great personal warmth, enthusiasm, insight, depth of concentration, originality, and organisational skills can all be brought to play."
"At work as well as socially, INFJs are highly sensitive in their handling of others and tend to work well in an organisational structure. They have a capacity for working at jobs which require solitude and concentration, but also do well when in contact with people, providing the human interaction is not superficial. ...as employees or employers, INFJs are concerned with people's feelings and are able to provide in themselves a barometer of the feelings of individuals and groups within the organisation. INFJs listen well and are willing and able to consult and cooperate with others. Once a decision is made, they work to implement it."
(I'm not really apt at small talk, hate it, in fact. But I enjoy listening to people talk, sharing about their lives. Selfish? Hmm, not really. If you ask me, I'll say. Otherwise, I'll just keep quiet. :))
"...they value staff harmony and want an organisation to run smoothly and pleasantly, themselves making every effort to contribute to that end. They are crushed by too many criticism and can have their feelings hurt rather easily. They respond to praise and use approval as a means of motivating others, just as they are motivated by approval. If they are subject to a hostile, unfriendly working condition or to constant criticism, they tend to lose confidence, become unhappy and immobilised, and finally become physically ill."
(This so explains why I was so unhappy at my last job and why I got so sick the last week or so at work!)
"As mates, INFJs are usually devoted to their spouses, but may not always be open to physical approaches. They tend to be physically demonstrative at times, but wish to choose when, which is when they are in the mood. This may be quite confusing to an extraverted mate... Their friendship circle is likely to be small, deep and long-standing. As parents, INFJs usually are fiercely devoted... good friends with their children, while firm in discipline. They are usually concerned about the comfort of a home and most especially the comfort, physical health, and emotional well-being of both mates and children."
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