Understanding personas at home & at work
The Myers-Briggs personality types have come up several times over the past week, so I guess I'll write about it and then perhaps it can stop popping up and I can move on to other synchronicities.
In this morning's therapy session my analyst said I am the first ENTP she has worked with. It is a rare personality profile, but she is the introverted version, so she's pretty familiar with the quirks, and we discussed the benefits and frustrations of being NT's (intuitive abstract thinkers, comprising 3% of the population) in a world dominated by more concrete-thinking doers. One of the hardest things for me is that since most people really want to be understood, they assume I am driven by the same need. But I don't have that desire or expectation, instead, my drive is to understand, which often requires a lot of information-gathering and analysis and contemplation--things most people just don't seem to have the time for these days.
Stas, the master of Googling, pulled up the ENTP profile on Craig's Myers-Briggs site and sent me the following blurb: "In terms of their relationships with others, ENTPs are capable of bonding very closely and, initially, suddenly, with their loved ones. Some appear to be deceptively offhand with their nearest and dearest; others are so demonstrative that they succeed in shocking co-workers who've only seen their professional side. ENTPs are also good at acquiring friends who are as clever and entertaining as they are. Aside from those two areas, ENTPs tend to be oblivious of the rest of humanity, except as an audience -- good, bad, or potential."
After doing some reading of the ENTP page, which seemed fairly on-target, I am surprised he didn't send me this excerpt: "For ENTP's, sensuality also has much to do with imagination and creativity. Just as they are open to discovering their universe, they thrill at discovering nuances of their sexuality and new avenues of sexual behavior. The messages that ENTP's send to their partners become more complex with time, as their overtures to the sexual encounter become threaded with subtleties and symbolism. Moreover, the degree of sexual satisfaction of the relationship, will be correlated with the mental closeness of the relationship, and normally the sexual act is given meaning beyond mere playfulness or release from sexual tension."
I am sure everyone who knows me well will agree with this: "Both at work and at home, ENTPs are very fond of "toys" - physical or intellectual, the more sophisticated the better."
When I was on break at work, I took the test that Craig's site links to and it classified me as an INTP. But then I realized that I was at work, where I tend to be more introverted and private.
Interestingly enough, last week we had a corporate trainer in the office. One of the training sessions was on learning to improve communications with co-workers by developing an understanding of their Myers-Briggs personality types and how their minds work. I was unable to take the seminar, but was given the paperwork. As people often have different personas in their professional lives than in their personal lives, the instructions stated to take the tests with WORK in mind. When I took the test that was provided by my employer, with work in mind, I tested out as INTJ and when I took Craig's test with work in mind, I also came up INTJ. Funny, that.
In this morning's therapy session my analyst said I am the first ENTP she has worked with. It is a rare personality profile, but she is the introverted version, so she's pretty familiar with the quirks, and we discussed the benefits and frustrations of being NT's (intuitive abstract thinkers, comprising 3% of the population) in a world dominated by more concrete-thinking doers. One of the hardest things for me is that since most people really want to be understood, they assume I am driven by the same need. But I don't have that desire or expectation, instead, my drive is to understand, which often requires a lot of information-gathering and analysis and contemplation--things most people just don't seem to have the time for these days.
Stas, the master of Googling, pulled up the ENTP profile on Craig's Myers-Briggs site and sent me the following blurb: "In terms of their relationships with others, ENTPs are capable of bonding very closely and, initially, suddenly, with their loved ones. Some appear to be deceptively offhand with their nearest and dearest; others are so demonstrative that they succeed in shocking co-workers who've only seen their professional side. ENTPs are also good at acquiring friends who are as clever and entertaining as they are. Aside from those two areas, ENTPs tend to be oblivious of the rest of humanity, except as an audience -- good, bad, or potential."
After doing some reading of the ENTP page, which seemed fairly on-target, I am surprised he didn't send me this excerpt: "For ENTP's, sensuality also has much to do with imagination and creativity. Just as they are open to discovering their universe, they thrill at discovering nuances of their sexuality and new avenues of sexual behavior. The messages that ENTP's send to their partners become more complex with time, as their overtures to the sexual encounter become threaded with subtleties and symbolism. Moreover, the degree of sexual satisfaction of the relationship, will be correlated with the mental closeness of the relationship, and normally the sexual act is given meaning beyond mere playfulness or release from sexual tension."
I am sure everyone who knows me well will agree with this: "Both at work and at home, ENTPs are very fond of "toys" - physical or intellectual, the more sophisticated the better."
When I was on break at work, I took the test that Craig's site links to and it classified me as an INTP. But then I realized that I was at work, where I tend to be more introverted and private.
Interestingly enough, last week we had a corporate trainer in the office. One of the training sessions was on learning to improve communications with co-workers by developing an understanding of their Myers-Briggs personality types and how their minds work. I was unable to take the seminar, but was given the paperwork. As people often have different personas in their professional lives than in their personal lives, the instructions stated to take the tests with WORK in mind. When I took the test that was provided by my employer, with work in mind, I tested out as INTJ and when I took Craig's test with work in mind, I also came up INTJ. Funny, that.
posted by KR | 4/18/2005 11:36:00 PM
6 Comments:
Hello from another ENTP. Very High N, Borderline E.
oh, and I am more INTJ at work.
Hi Kelly, judging from this , I would say that I am a INTP. But I'm not sure, I would need someone else to validate my assessment and let me know.
Hah. Sorry... most blogs are not worth reading. Yours... well, it is but I get an immediate sense of how conceited you are. You put a lot into what others think. It's funny how conceit equals low self esteem. The opposites in the same person.
Anyway... just trying to help. I may keep reading this, but your personality is kinda grating. Learning that you are all about appearance with little substance might make you step back and look deeper. Or, more likely, it'll make you angry at me so that you can reject what I say and look for more sycophants to feed your esteem and save you from facing substance.
Umm... this really does sound mean. Hmm. I'm often an ENTP as well. I shift a lot. Well, I hope this helps. You can be a good person without thinking you're smart or trying to appear better than others. Good luck.
CuriousDragon-I read what you wrote and it made me smile. I was concerned that I might have been misunderstanging your intent, so I re-read and gave your post some serious thought, and here is my response:
Actually, I think that in my case, the word 'conceit' should be substituded with 'narcissism'. A tendancy toward narcissism does seem to be an unfortunate consequence of psychotherapy, one which I have discussed with my analyst (see my 3/18/05 post)
As to the opinions of others: People are social mirrors, they reflect their perceptions of ourselves back at us. There are very few people whose opinions matter to me, and those are the ones I love, who know me best, who are my supporters and my detractors and keep me in line. The rest of the world doesn't matter.
And I know I'm smart. Its like knowing my eyes are brown and my feet are too big. I despise false-modesty as much as I do 'airs'. I am aware that my ..hmmm.. how did Soundboyz phrase it... "straight-forward and logical mindset" can be off-putting. Some people might read a statement of 'fact' as bragging, but generally, I think people who read it that way are themselves insecure people. I'm an introspective person. I am acutely aware of my strengths and my weaknesses, and I've been far more revealing about my fears, weaknesses, and concerns than I have about my strengths and my opinions.
Lastly, this weblog is written for me, not you :) Its Musafir's fault that there are so many people reading it. It started out as my journal, and it remains as such, regardless of who is reading it.
Thanks for the response. I am mostly in agreement with what you said. :-)
I don't think it's insecurities that drive my thoughts on the topic though. Knowing one is smart doesn't relate to the constant expression thereof. I think it's more than knowing strenghs and weaknesses that makes one attempt to display them. Anyway, you have a good attitude and are very interesting, I'll keep checking your blog out. :-)
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