MBTI and Dating!

Dating. I don't know about you, but the process of finding a suitable person to live with for the rest of your life is not something that I am looking forward to going through. For most people, there will be a lot of blunders and crushing failures along the way, as well as a lot of time and money spent. Some people don't find someone who is perfect for them and end up getting divorced! What if there was a way that you could quantify and compartmentalize somebody's personality to see how they tend to behave, and then compare that to how you behave in order to find a perfect match?

There is a way to do this, and it is through the MBTI test. This type indicator is very good at finding personalities that you will be compatible with. It draws slightly upon the common notion that opposites attract, but also upon the idea that you should find somebody similar to you. This boils down to a good indication of who your ideal partner should be. For example, say you are an ENTP like me. In that case, your ideal romantic partner would be an INTJ. Why an INTJ? Well, for starters, it is good to have one extraverted and one introverted partner. Studies have shown that this matchup works very well, as they cancel each other out and minimize conflict. Also, a partner who is J will counteract the indecisiveness and carefree attitude of the P partner, whereas the P partner will bring flexibility and compromise. The other two dichotomies, however, must be the same. If you match up with a Sensor and you are an Intuitive person, there is little chance that you two will ever truly be on the same page when communicating. This will lead to conflict and bad communication, which are two things that kill a romantic relationship. Also, you must either be both Thinkers or Feelers. A Thinker will often get annoyed by the apparent "irrationality" of the Feeler, whereas the Feeler will dislike the Thinker's occasional disregard for feelings. Again, this match is meant to minimize conflict and make sure you are on the same page as your partner.

If any of you enter the dating scene any time soon, try to make your partner take this test! It is by no means gospel, but if you follow the rules of the MBTI, your relationships could potentially improve drastically. This way, you could minimize the crashing and burning during the dating game, which would be very nice. Thanks for your time, and if you have any questions just shoot them into the comment section.

The Power Of Introverts!!!!

Since we are learning about TED talks in class, I decided to incorporate one into this blog, remembering one that I had watched a month or two ago. This is a talk about introversion and how it is received in our culture. You can watch the video here:

If you self-identify as an introvert, I applaud you. You often times have stigma working against you in the professional world, as well as in the social world. I remember one incident that I personally experienced in 10th grade that pointed to a dangerous stereotype of introversion. It took place in my driver's education class, which was full of kids that I was not friends with, nor that I had any semblance of desire to be friends with. Consequently, my usual extraversion didn't show its face--for most group projects or assignments I worked alone. I specifically remember one girl indirectly calling me creepy. After I reacted apathetically, she started saying things like "Don't freak out!" and "You aren't going to shoot up the school now, are you?". Apparently, at least to her, every quiet person is a ticking time-bomb of violence and psychopathy.

While I am not even an introvert myself, I have experienced some of the stigma first-hand. While hopefully most introverts aren't being accused of wanting to carry out a school shooting, there is a sizable amount of discrimination toward them, be it in school, the workplace, or in social circles. In this TED talk, Susan Cain talks about how a teacher's image of "the perfect student" would be a child who works well in groups and reaches out to other students. This is contrary to the fact that introverts get better grades AND score better on standardized tests. She also cites the fact that introverts are often passed up for leadership positions, even though they are (usually) more focused, more detail-oriented, and less likely to take ill-advised risks.

One thing that I thought was interesting was when she brought up the time frame of the rise of extraversion. In an agricultural society, we worked with the same set of people our entire lives: family, close friends, and neighbors. In this setting, one had no need to be extraverted, and in fact, might benefit from introversion, since large parties and gatherings were almost non-existent. Extraversion did not really become a quality until people started moving to the city, in turn coming into contact with hundreds of people a day. When this became the norm, people who could navigate social settings and converse relatively easily were in higher demand.

In closing, I would like to say that many of my closest friends are introverts. I've always liked them because, unlike me, they think things through before they do them. My one introverted friend always points out the logical inconsistencies in the remarks I make--inconsistencies that I surely would have filtered out had I just shut up and thought for a second or two. I think that it is a shame that they are still the subject of bias in today's society. In my experience, introverts are some of the most adept and interesting people in the world.

MBTI and Learning Styles: Response to An Article

We are all first-year freshmen here, and I'm sure most of us are still figuring out how to succeed in college academics. If you get the chance, read this article. If you know your personality type, you can then correlate it with a certain kind of learning style that would most benefit you as a student. Knowing the ways you learn best can have a very positive impact on your GPA, as well as your overall academic career. If you don't have time to read the article, I will outline some of the main points made here:

Most extraverted students will benefit from pairing off for homework assignments and group projects. This is because most extraverts like to think out loud, running their ideas by their peers and coming to conclusions that way. Introverts, on the other hand, will run their own ideas through their internal logic systems to determine whether or not they are correct. Introverts will, more often than not, opt to work alone on group projects because, to them, spending time listening to many other people's ideas is exhausting and takes too much time.

Sensing students will benefit from taking a hands-on approach to learning. These are the kind of students that like to do practice problems, like to go out into the field, and like to work through things themselves in order to learn. Also, Sensing students benefit from an organized, concrete approach to learning, where they are given evidence to support claims made by the teacher. Intuitives, on the other hand, are able to make connections based off of seemingly abstract concepts. These students may not benefit as much from real-world applications, but sometimes you can almost let them teach themselves. An intuitive will enjoy trying to connect different ideas together on their own.

Thinking students tend to learn better with numbers and other logical concepts. Thinking students tend to do better in classes such as math and science. Feelers like to orient their learning toward people, much like an extravert. However, feelers focus on the impact that things have on people. That is why feelers do better in subjects like English and sometimes Social Studies. Feelers many times are also better at putting their thoughts into words.

Judging students will benefit from concrete deadlines and set goals, as it will fit in with their regimented lifestyle. If a lecture or assignment seems like it is going nowhere, they will wonder why they are participating in such a dead-end task. Perceiving students, on the other hand, will benefit from progress checks and breaks in monotony. Perceivers like to gather information for a while before they complete tasks, so simple prodding to keep them on the right track will help them succeed.

After reading the article, I definitely see much of myself in a lot of the points made. Progress checks are the only thing that keep me from starting every assignment the night before the due date. Do these learning/teaching tips help you understand the way you learn? Do you agree with them? Comment below if you have anything to say about this subject.

Big Five Personality Test

The Myers-Briggs (which you can take here) isn't the only personality test that many people know about and live by. Another popular type indicator is the Big Five Personality Test. This test asks the user many questions until it comes up with percentages for each of the "Big Five" personality traits. These 5 traits include Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. These 5 traits are much easier to understand than the MBTI dichotomies because they are commonly used descriptors in the English language.

Openness: Openness is a person's willingness to accept new and abstract ideas into their way of thinking. People who score high here tend to think very philosophically and can be very creative. People who score low prefer to think about concrete ideas that they can see with their own ideas. Those who score low in openness are often more rooted in the real world and more cynical/practical.

Conscientiousness: This is, to make a long story short, a person's ability to force themselves to do things. For example, I am showing unusually high conscientiousness (for me at least) by getting this blog post done early. Those who are conscientious are able to stick to schedules better, have better time management skills, and practice good amounts of self-control. Those who score low may sometimes be unproductive and impulsive. People with low conscientiousness also may be more prone to addiction. However, a low score also correlates with more flexibililty and adaptive capabilities.

Extraversion: I hope you know what this means by now. Extraverted people are sociable, non-extraverts (introverts) prefer not being social a majority of the time.

Agreeableness: This percentage shows how well you get along with others. A high score in agreeableness indicates that you prefer to put others' needs ahead of your own. You like to please others, and tend to sympathize with their needs. Somebody with a low agreeableness score will often times be competitive, self-serving, and unsympathetic.

Neuroticism: Neuroticism is simply the tendency of a person to have negative. Someone who is highly neurotic will have many negative thoughts throughout the day, and vice versa.

You can take the Big Five Personality Test here. I believe this test is a good supplement to the MBTI, because it brings forth attributes that were not tackled by the test that this blog gets its name from. When I took the Big Five Personality Test just now, I got these results:

Openness: 90%
Conscientiousness: 25%
Extraverted: 75%
Agreeableness: 60%
Neuroticism: 62.5%

I definitely agree with the results I got. While I expected a high amount of openness and a low amount of conscientiousness, I did not know what to expect for Neuroticism and Agreeableness. The moderate results I got for those two categories, however, fits me perfectly. I encourage you to take some time out of your busy days to take the Big Five Test, as well as the MBTI. It will take 10 minutes tops, and, with some research, it will greatly help you understand the way your own mind works, therefore helping you understand yourself. Who doesn't want that?

MBTI of your typical PSU student?

We have a pretty big campus here in Happy Valley. There's a decent amount of people, I'd say. The size of our student body is conducive to large amounts of diversity. This includes ethnic, ideological, personal, and many other forms of diversity. Despite this, I believe that, somewhere, there is an archetypal Penn State student. Naturally, I decided to run this archetype through the MBTI personality test. Here is a rundown of a typical Penn State student through each type dichotomy in the test.

Extraverted/Introverted
This one is pretty obvious. Penn State is an annual contender for the #1 party school in the nation, after all. We are known across the country as a very social school. Even in the cafeteria, almost everyone is eating with someone else, yelling, and having a good time. Obviously, this isn't to say that every single Penn State student is a social butterfly. It is just the prevailing stereotype among our students.

Intuition/Sensing
This one should have been difficult, but after a bit of thinking, the prevalence of Sensing as opposed to Intuition in our student body. Penn State is a school absolutely boiling in tradition. Our most famous employee, Joe Paterno, was head coach for 45 years, for God's sake. Also, from personal experience, Penn State students tend to live in the moment. This also ties into the party-school stereotype that we definitely hold. Many kids here will do anything to have fun, sometimes at the expense of future goals. An Intuitive, especially a strong one, would often be too caught up in the past or the future to be able to handle the party-every-day lifestyle that many lead here.

Thinking/Feeling
This dichotomy is probably close to an even split, but I think it may SLIGHTLY lean toward Thinking. While there is a prevailing athleticism that many students have here, which points more toward Thinking, some parts of our culture are steeped in emotion. For example, the death of Joe Paterno brought more than one man in my family to tears, men who I had never before seen cry. Despite our emotional attachments, I think that we as a school tend to be a little more rational and facts-oriented than people-oriented. This is showcased by one of our most famous departments, the School of Engineering. Engineers are almost exclusively Thinkers as opposed to Feelers, and the fact that engineering majors are so popular here points to the notion that we are more of a rational campus.

Judging/Perceiving
Can we revisit Penn State's athletic focus? Athletes are overwhelmingly Perceivers, and,since many students here either are/were athletes or are interested in sports, we can make a conclusion. Not to say that we don't have Judging characteristics; PSU kids are definitely hard workers when it comes down to it. I just feel like the majority of the student body tends to be a little more lax about things in their life, among other attributes, therefore preferring Perceiving over Judging.

After this step-by-step analysis, I have come to the conclusion that the archetypal Penn State student is an ESTP. This makes a lot of sense, since ESTPs are adventurers, partyers, and, overall, people who like to experience life through their senses. This description makes me think of a typical student here, especially many of the ones I have met. I've also taken into account that the people that I find in the honors courses I am in--including this one--do not represent the population as a whole. If you have any thoughts, or just flat-out disagree with me about the assertions I made about a regular Penn Stater's personality, shout at me in the comment section!

Shifts in Your MBTI type

A common problem people have with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is that you can get a completely different type each time you take the test. If you are receiving a different type sequence each time you take this online quiz, it is you who is answering the questions poorly or incorrectly, not the test that is broken. However, many find that their type sequence makes gradual changes over time, and this is very common. According to the theory, you are born with your type, since it is a temperament. However, the way you see yourself can change over the years, which will influence the way you answer questions. 

When I first took the test, I received an INFP result, which I thought was very fitting. I used to be a LOT quieter. This doesn't mean I didn't have my naturally extraverted temperament; I was just too shy and self-conscious in middle school and early high school to go out and make a lot of friends. Later in high school, I broke out of my shell and became much more extraverted. Nowadays, I'll start conversations with randos all the time. After this shift, I started typing as ENFP. I know now that the Feeling temperament doesn't fit me as well as Thinking, but in high school I was much more emotional than I am now. This was probably due to the cocktail of hormones boiling within me just like every other high school kid. Now my emotions have settled down and I have started thinking more rationally, which led me to the ENTP temperament that I believe (at least, at the moment) fits me the best.

This shift in my typings, as well as many other people's, parallel personality theories made by prominent psychologists. Many psychological researchers firmly believe that personality develops over the entire lifetime due to certain events and occurrences. The MBTI covers this by having certain type-specific functions develop over time--functions which I will talk about in a later blog post. In short; while you are given a set of traits to work with at birth, your personality won't stay completely the same your whole life! If you believe yours to be bad in any way, there is still time to change it :)

Choosing Your Career Using Some Stupid Personality Test

So guys, we're in college now. This means that we need to start making choices on what we're going to be doing for the rest of our lives. Scary, right? LUCKY FOR YOU, I've got one of the best indicators right here. That's right, many people use the MBTI test to give them some guidance in their career choices! Your type sequence strongly correlates with the types of careers that you will excel in.

The most obvious example would be the fact that Extraverts function best around people, whereas Introverts are better left alone at certain parts during the day. Now, this isn't to say that Introverts can't possibly work with people. Of course they can! Introverts just get the most benefit out of a work day that allows them to be alone an recharge their batteries. The opposite is true for Extraverts. If an Extravert is alone too long, they start to get restless and unproductive. Extraverts are energized by group projects and collaboration in the workplace. Again, this does not mean an Extravert can't work alone sometimes. They need breaks wherein they can talk to people and socialize.

When it comes to the S and N dichotomy, things get a little trickier. The best way to explain it is saying that a Sensor would prefer to do tasks that take place in the real world, i.e building things, keeping track of records, managing a workplace, all things medical, etc. An Intuitive, on the other hand, lives inside of their own mind, so they have better luck dealing with abstracts and theoretical things. Most scientists are Intuitives, as well as mathematicians, economists, and lawyers.

This next one is obvious. Thinkers love to deal with rational choices and decisions, and are better at dealing with numbers. Feelers, on the other hand, love working to improve other people's lives. While these trends aren't very strong, and there is always overlap, there are some professions that better suit a Thinker than a Feeler, and vice versa. For instance, your typical "ruthless" business man or woman will be high on the Thinking scale, whereas almost all therapists and social workers are Feelers.

In the world of Judgers and Thinkers, there is a lot of overlap. The only correlation I can think of is that, in a job that requires you to put your nose to the grindstone, being J would probably benefit you, whereas an occupation that requires open-mindedness would receive a Perceiver well. Your boss will almost always be a Judger, whereas your favorite musician or actor is probably a Perceiver.

The MBTI and Harry Potter

Hey y'all! In today's installment of my totally radical blog, I'm going to be applying the concepts of the MBTI to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you didn't know, I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan, so it when I started to understand the Myers-Briggs test, I immediately thought of which type some of my favorite fictional characters would be. If you've read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies, you know of the concept of the four different houses of Hogwarts: Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw. When they are first admitted to the school, each prospective student is placed underneath a sorting hat, who makes a judgement based on their character. When I first learned about the MBTI, I immediately hearkened back to my Harry Potter knowledge, and compared both personality tests. I've taken the sorting hat quiz many times, usually oscillating between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but this time I settled on Ravenclaw.

This got me thinking; which MBTI types would fall under which house? I deliberated on this issue for a while and I eventually came up with the answer:

Gryffindor - Gryffindor kids would definitely fall under the SP category of personality sequences (Sensing and Perceiving). Gryffindor contained most of the adventurous and spontaneous kids, as well as the best athletes. The SP's penchant for living purely in the moment is basically the Gryffindor mantra. The lion also best symbolizes the temperaments of your typical SP. Also, your typical action hero in any work of fiction is almost always an SP. If Harry didn't have the kind of spatial awareness and courageousness that he did, he would've never survived throughout the series. This being said, I do not agree with Hermione Granger's placement in Gryffindor.

Ravenclaw - This is the house that I believe that Hermione actually belongs in. Ravenclaws are inquisitive and knowledge-seeking. That is why I believe that type sequences with the letters N and P fit the most into Ravenclaw (this is why I, as an ENTP, have been placed in here). NPs are often somewhat aloof and unattentive, which very well fits the Ravenclaw description. Wittiness is also a shared trait amongst both groups.

Slytherin - This one was hard because Slytherins are typically seen as villains, but I believe that NJs are the best fit for this house. NJs are the best planners in the world; they carry out their motives efficiently and with vigor. While this trait can certainly be expressed deviously, as is the case with most Slytherin kids, it can also be a force for good. Don't fret if I put you in this villainous house; it is mostly just a nod toward your knack for planning.

Hufflepuff - Last, but certainly not least, we have Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs are an easy fit for the SJ temperament. Both groups enjoy the status quo and keeping things in order, just the way they have been for a long time. Hufflepuffs are known as the most genuinely kind house, which fits in with the SJ's disdain for any kind of conflict.

If you're a Harry Potter fan like me, I'm sure you've already sorted yourself into one of these houses, and I'm curious to see whether my proposed relationships match up with the results you guys have been receiving. Any feedback is welcomed below, even if you're just telling me that my article is dumb.

Celebrity Typing!! and the Four Main Temperaments

Hey, all.

Believe it or not, interest in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is not only reserved for a special breed of nerd. Many celebrities have taken the test, or have been typed by enthusiasts such as me based on their behavior. Here I will list a few celebrities or historical figures who have been identified as each type. I will also link to a description of each sequence to help y'all further understand how each respective personality behaves. Who knows, you may have the same personality type as your favorite famous person! In addition, I will describe the four main temperaments below to give you a better understanding on how these different types behave.

ESTJ:
Henry Ford
Hillary Clinton
Bill O'Reilly

ESFJ:
Elton John
Pope Francis
Sarah Palin

ISTJ:
George Washington
Warren Buffet
Robert De Niro

ISFJ:
Kate Middleton
Mother Teresa
Rosa Parks

ESTP:
Theodore Roosevelt
Ernest Hemingway
Madonna

ESFP:
Hugh Heffner
John F. Kennedy
Katie Perry

ISTP:
Tiger Woods
Steve Jobs
Harrison Ford

ISFP:
Brad Pitt
Ryan Gosling
Marilyn Monroe

ENTJ:
Napoleon Bonaparte
Julius Caesar
Bill Gates

ENFJ:
Martin Luther King Jr.\
Nelson Mandela
Oprah Winfrey

INTJ:
Isaac Newton
Karl Marx
Ayn Rand

INFJ:
Mahatma Gandhi
Thomas Jefferson
Adolf Hitler

ENTP:
Leonardo da Vinci
Benjamin Franklin
Jon Stewart

ENFP:
Mark Twain
Walt Disney
Robin Williams

INTP:
Albert Einstein
Abraham Lincoln
Charles Darwin

INFP:
William Shakespeare
Edgar Allen Poe
J.K. Rowling

Hopefully looking at famous examples of each type will give you a slight idea of how each of them behave. To help you understand even further, I will outline each of the four temperaments (which are based on two of the letters in each type) below.

SJ - THE GUARDIANS
The Guardians include the ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, and ISFJ sequences, Guardians delight in order. They love sticking to what they know, and revel in family traditions and routine, I'm not saying that these guys never like trying anything new, but they just prefer everything the way that it always is, if you know what I mean, Because of this, Guardians are, above and beyond, the most organized of the four temperaments.

SP - THE ARTISANS
Artisans include ESTPs, ESFPs, ISTPs, and ISFPs. These types live to experience the world around them.They are usually the most accomplished athletes and performers. Have you ever known someone who seemed to party all the time, always living in the present? They are mostly likely an SP. While Artisans undoubtedly have a lot of fun, they sometimes can get forget out future plans or goals due to being too caught up in the here and now,

NT - THE RATIONALS
You probably get the pattern by now, but Rationals include ENTPs, INTPs, ENTJs, and INTJs. The main goal of an NT is to seek knowledge. There is nobody more inquisitive, more interested in seemingly useless bits of info than your typical Rational. NTs are also very skeptical, and don't take part in traditions or beliefs unless there is a sufficient logical reason behind it.

NF - THE IDEALISTS
NFs include ENFPs, INFPs, ENFJs, and INFJs. Idealists are easily the most personable type. They live to interact with other people and gauge their development and growth. That friend that is always wanting to talk about your feelings and always helping others? Most likely an NF. Idealists also are very in-tune with their own identities. They have morals and principles that they will stick to no matter what, and don't let many people challenge this identity.

Thanks for reading the second installment of this passion blog. I guarantee that, with the understanding of this seemingly unimportant personality test, one can better understand themselves as well as everyone else. As an ENTP, I like to analyze literally everything I come into contact with, so researching this type indicator helped keep my mind occupied by letting me analyze everybody's personalities into oblivion. Wooooooooo fun

What is the MBTI????

Many of you are probably asking the same question that the title of this post poses. Well, I'm here to answer your prayers. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is more than your typical share-on-facebook personality test. This assessment can be used to choose a career, choose friends, and even choose a spouse. Nowadays, the MBTI test is used by millions, and is very popular among Internet lowlifes like the author of this post.

The MBTI tests the variation between four different dichotomies, which I will outline below:

Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
This is probably the most straightforward of the four dichotomies. As many of you know, Extraverts live for social interaction. They like to spend most of their free time engaging in activities that involve members of their wide circle of acquaintances. They also are almost always more talkative than their opposite, the Introvert. The Introvert, as you can probably deduce, likes to stay at home more often than not, and tends to get exhausted after prolonged socialization. When socializing, they prefer small groups of their close friends. About 75% of people are Extraverts, and the remaining 25% are Introverts.

Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)
This attribute is a little harder to explain. Sensors tend to live more "in the moment". Their attention is always focused on the present, and they tend to have good awareness of their surroundings. They also deal better with concrete absolutes as opposed to theoretical alternatives. Sensors usually tend to stick with what they know, and are almost always better athletes. Intuitives, on the other hand, spend most of their time inside their own heads. Instead of focusing on the present, Intuitives can often times be caught daydreaming about the future or some other idea that they've been playing around with in their heads. Intuitives are also more open-minded, and can grasp new concepts with ease. To make things easier, let's say you have two students who are very good at math, but one is S and the other is N. The Sensor will likely become an engineer later in life, whereas the Intuitive would be more inclined to become a theoretical physicist or mathematician. Sensors are, by far, more common
than Intuitives.

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
This one is easy. Thinkers make decisions based on logic and rational thinking. They take in information and run it by their internal systems of logic before making any judgements. Feelers, on the otherhand, tend to make decisions based on their emotions. Feelers also think about how their decisions will affect other people, and tend to have heightened senses of empathy and sympathy when compared to Thinkers. Overall, a Thinking preference is much more common in men, while a Feeling preference is the norm in women.

Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)
Judgers are your ultimate go-getters. Judgers are organized and like to make quick decisions. They also tend to become aggravated when things don't go their way. While still prone to procrastination, Judgers usually try to finish tasks quickly and efficiently so they can move on to the next activity. Perceivers are, as you can probably predict by now, are the exact opposite. Perceivers like to gather as much information as possible, taking their time before they make a decision. They tend to be more adaptable, and usually have a go-with-the-flow mentality. While Judgers are more common in today's society, they have less of a majority among men than women.

After taking the test, you are presented with a sequence of four letters, which is determined by your preferences in these four categories. This is accompanied by a percentage, which indicates the strength of your preference. Here are my test results:

As you can see, my preference of Extraversion over Introversion is only slight, whereas I am a 100% Intuitive. I'm basically in la-la land at all times and rarely pay attention to what is around me.

I encourage you all to take the test here and comment the results. If you have any other questions, feel free to bombard the comment section with those as well. Sorry for this monster of an introductory post. Peace out.