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Another Typologically Ambiguous Sort

DoctorYikes

New member
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
31
MBTI Type
ISTP
In celebration for finally getting the cast off my hand and getting back to work (I am an admittedly horrible patient. Sit still? For more than an hour? Hah!), I figured I'd fire up a 'What is Up With THIS Guy?' thread of my own.

As I've mentioned, I've been studying various personality authors for about fifteen years, now. I have a strong dislike/mistrust of any self-reporting instrument, and the subject matter is sufficiently open to interpretation that I've never really settled on a type.

I suppose I could lock into a few of them more naturally than others, depending on the Role Du Jour... and, there are certainly differences between my internal states and what the average person sees, and so on and so forth. All of these shifting interpretations and contexts coupled with the Subjective Bias blinders make it difficult to settle. These days the tests are pretty useless, as I know what they're trying to test, thus I can't trust myself to answer objectively. (Not that I care to deliberately angle for any given result, mind you...)

So, here's the current run-down. My first-ever online test was Ye Olde KTS. It called me an INTJ. A few years and a couple paradigm shifts later, I took the actual MBTI -- It went with ENTP. These days, I tend to test more toward the 'S' side of the N/S spectrum. ISTP is a pretty common result.

E vs I: Coin toss. If you're talking about pure sociability, I'd lean Introverted. I'm pretty asocial. I am, however, -very- interactive and externally-focused. Broken hand month was torture to me because I couldn't play the guitar, blather online, participate in martial arts, play golf, go fishing, etc. My wife notes that I'm just physically incapable of staying around the house for a day. However, get me in a crowd and I have some pretty vicious social anxiety (Which strikes me odd, as I tend to err on the side of overconfidence rather than insecurity).

S vs N: Now I start throwing functions into the mix a bit. Ne/Ni... really hard to say. If backed into a corner, I'd go with Ni. Se/Si is far easier. Just look at my quick-list of 'Things I Wish I Could Have Done' from the last month. Se, Se, Se, SE! My first thought is that a Tertiary Nx/Ni could be likely.

T vs F: Pretty strongly T, I would say, with quite a few caveats. Despite being socially averse, I am well-versed in the Art of Schmooze (If we've been talking for a couple minutes, I've probably already got a good handle on what makes you tick). I'm big on being civil and respectful. I am a lover of small fuzzy animals. I am a Defender of the Underdog. I'm kind of a hard-ass. Analytical to a fault... I think the only question here is Te versus Ti. I lean toward Te only because I think I'm so decisively Fi over Fe.

P vs J: Ain't even something that's real, to paraphrase Fred Simmons (Foot Fist Way).

Looking over the Double-Check thread, I'm still hanging out on the fence -- Directing vs Informing? Maybe -naturally- directing, though I've learned enough social savvy over the years that it's more or less a last resort. If I'm brutally honest with myself, I'd say 'Directing', but keenly sensitive to how people tend to get all difficult to deal with when told what to do. (Heh)

Initiating v Responding: I'm -really- having problems with this one. In the interest of brevity (I'm really rambling on beyond most people's interest level, I know), let's say I'm 'Responding' in terms of initial contact, but 'Initiating' in terms of defining roles.

Abstract v Concrete: -Probably- abstract, though it is hard to say. My memory for detail is pretty ridiculous, and I can get a bit too literal at times.

Affiliative v Pragmatic: Most likely pragmatic, though again, as with the 'Directing/Informing' stuff, I've developed quite a bit more of the nice-nice. (But, when you dig right down to the bottom of it, it's pragmatic reasoning for doing so. Things work more smoothly when people aren't getting all bent out of shape.)

So? Thoughts?

From the starting point, I think I'm wavering around between ENTJ and ISTP.

(For context, my wife's most recent MBTI was ENTJ. We both tend to think we both get into 'Know-it-all-bossy' territory when we get on one another's nerves, heh!)
 
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