The personality types thread

Blade Runner said:
I'm trying to find a balance or distinguisher between the extrovert/introvert thing. When an explanation comes like "E focuses on people while I focuses on thoughts and ideas" it makes it sound like Es are more feminine, since men are far more interested in ideas.
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The Introvert vs. Extrovert thing originated from Jung (which is a red flag to me, by the way. I don't like this stuff).


It looks to be split out:

- Extraverted sensation / Introverted sensation;
- Extraverted intuition / Introverted intuition;
- Extraverted thinking / Introverted thinking; and
- Extraverted feeling / Introverted feeling.
 
Blade Runner said:
I'm trying to find a balance or distinguisher between the extrovert/introvert thing. When an explanation comes like "E focuses on people while I focuses on thoughts and ideas" it makes it sound like Es are more feminine, since men are far more interested in ideas.
Click to expand...

Broadly speaking, extroverts tend to be energized by social situations and seek them out. Introverts conversely tend to expend energy in social situations and need to be alone to "recharge."
 
Blade Runner said:
I'm trying to find a balance or distinguisher between the extrovert/introvert thing. When an explanation comes like "E focuses on people while I focuses on thoughts and ideas" it makes it sound like Es are more feminine, since men are far more interested in ideas.
Click to expand...

Iacobus said:
Broadly speaking, extroverts tend to be energized by social situations and seek them out. Introverts conversely tend to expend energy in social situations and need to be alone to "recharge."
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I agree with Iacobus. Introvert vs. extrovert is less about people vs. ideas and more about how much stimulation your brain can handle. Introverts seem to have more sensitive brains/nervous sytems that become overwhelmed by sensory and social stimulation more quickly than do extroverts, and hence need to be alone to recharge themselves more frequently and for longer periods. Conversely, extroverted people tend to actually require high levels of sensory and social stimulation to feel "alive" and engaged with the world, and easily become bored and depressed if denied this.

You saw this very clearly during the COVID lockdowns, which were nightmarish for highly extroverted people (to the extent that many of them actually became so depressed they committed suicide) and which motivated tens of millions of them to take the jab to "get back to normal" (read: to resume a life filled primarily with external stimulation/socialization). These are broad generalizations, and most people fall somewhere in the middle. But they are useful categorizations for helping to understand our behavioral inclinations.
 
Blade Runner said:
I'm trying to find a balance or distinguisher between the extrovert/introvert thing. When an explanation comes like "E focuses on people while I focuses on thoughts and ideas" it makes it sound like Es are more feminine, since men are far more interested in ideas.
Click to expand...
E vs I isn’t so much about focus but about where you are more comfortable and get passion/energy. Would you rather spend 4 hours straight at work focusing on tasks, or solving problems somewhat independently or spend 4 hours straight in back to back meetings that you need to lead and facilitate?
 
I’m INTP / INTJ / ENTJ depending on how social I feel and I agree that introverts are mostly overrepresented on certain forums. This one and it’s predecessor for several reasons, one of which as introverts it’s more difficult to socialize and then get married.
 
Blade Runner said:
I'm trying to find a balance or distinguisher between the extrovert/introvert thing. When an explanation comes like "E focuses on people while I focuses on thoughts and ideas" it makes it sound like Es are more feminine, since men are far more interested in ideas.
Click to expand...

Here’s a simple test I’ve heard about that’s accurate for me.

When you’re social for a period of time say a social gathering for several hours or being around a lot of people for another reason, do feel like you need to be alone to ‘recharge’ for a while? Then you are an introvert.

On the other hand, if you are alone and you absolutely need to be around people because they give you energy, you are an extrovert.

Obviously there are spectrums to this and it’s not that simple, but basically being around people tends to drain the energy of introverts and gives energy to extroverts.
 
Rational1 said:
When you’re social for a period of time say a social gathering for several hours or being around a lot of people for another reason, do feel like you need to be alone to ‘recharge’ for a while? Then you are an introvert.
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Thanks. I do not have that at all. I've come to realize it is part of my no BS, loyalty or efficiency/common sense point of view, which becomes more and more obvious as you age, that I won't be interested in doing a lot of things just to do them though. I think it's just a super logical way to look at things as you obviously don't have as much time, or you've come to realize that a lot of time and energy are wasted in "finding things out" for the first stages of your life. I do not like the prospect of being isolated, which I find unhealthy, which means I think I'm just a healthy extrovert who loves ideas and being alone unless I can find others that are on a similar level, which is rare. The funny thing is that that is one of the reasons I come here, although it is often also related to isolation and "alone time."
 
Rational1 said:
Here’s a simple test I’ve heard about that’s accurate for me.

When you’re social for a period of time say a social gathering for several hours or being around a lot of people for another reason, do feel like you need to be alone to ‘recharge’ for a while? Then you are an introvert.

On the other hand, if you are alone and you absolutely need to be around people because they give you energy, you are an extrovert.

Obviously there are spectrums to this and it’s not that simple, but basically being around people tends to drain the energy of introverts and gives energy to extroverts.
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It's only groups of people you are not well familiar with that drains the introverts energy it seems. Adaptation to living in smaller isolated groups maybe? Seems to be fewer introverts amongst Asians and blacks for example. (hailing from more populated areas going far back)
 
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Johnnyvee said:
It's only groups of people you are not well familiar with that drains the introverts energy it seems.
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Perhaps for some introverts but as @Rational1 noted, it’s probably more likely a spectrum and not everyone lumped exactly into the same set of boxes that are checked. I think there is a stereotype that people who score as an Introvert prefer to be alone and are shy or stand-off-ish. The kids back in school who would go sit in the corner in the lunch cafeteria and read a book vs socializing with others and such. That is probably the extreme end of the Introvert spectrum (and perhaps they were dealing with some major stuff in their lives) but probably represents a small percentage minority of everyone who scores as an I.
 
Hey guys, just FYI but the Myers Briggs test is complete horseshit. The 8 distinct "archetypes" were originally invented by Jung, who later said it was impossible to categorize people that way. A few decades later, two charlatan women (Myers and Briggs) with no formal education took his archetypes and made them into the Myer Briggs test. For some reason, ever since then it has stuck around. It's literally on the level of horoscopes, it has absolutely no empircal predictive utility in psychometric testing (eg personality correlations with job success). T

People like the Myers Briggs test because it places people into a box. We like categories because it's psychologically easier to differentiate people. And many MB lovers undoubtedly go around thinking they can what someone is. But people are far more complex than that. I have taken the test about a dozen times over the past ten years and I always get a different result (except being Introverted). It's a complete joke.

If you want to know a real test that actual clinnical psychologists use and take seriously, it's the Big Five. You can take it here: https://drj.virtualave.net/IPIP/index.html

It gives you percentiles in each of the five categories rather than simple binaries, and in even breaks down the sub categories in each of the 5 (for instance, a sub category of Conscientiousness is Orderliness). People hate the Big Five though because it's complex and people are retarded and don't understand percentiles/statistics. I have found the Big Five immensely useful in understanding myself.




Here are my results. My Neurotisicm and Openness have lowered since I took it years ago, and my agreeableness has lowered substantially. The one thing I'm unsure of is why my Morality is so low, I'm not a manipulative type at all. But I do break the rules constantly so there's that. Maybe they think laws=morality.

I find it highly amusing I'm in the top 99 percentile for Introversion (or bottom 1 of Extraversion, same thing) yet my "Excitement seeking" subcategory is 62. Another interesting quirk, my Conscientiousness is also 1, but Orderliness is quite high seomhow. I'm not sure how that breaks down like that.
 
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Batman said:
Hey guys, just FYI but the Myers Briggs test is complete horseshit. The 8 distinct "archetypes" were originally invented by Jung, who later said it was impossible to categorize people that way. A few decades later, two charlatan women (Myers and Briggs) with no formal education took his archetypes and made them into the Myer Briggs test. For some reason, ever since then it has stuck around. It's literally on the level of horoscopes, it has absolutely no empircal predictive utility in psychometric testing (eg personality correlations with job success). T

People like the Myers Briggs test because it places people into a box. We like categories because it's psychologically easier to differentiate people. And many MB lovers undoubtedly go around thinking they can what someone is. But people are far more complex than that. I have taken the test about a dozen times over the past ten years and I always get a different result (except being Introverted). It's a complete joke.

If you want to know a real test that actual clinnical psychologists use and take seriously, it's the Big Five. You can take it here: https://drj.virtualave.net/IPIP/index.html

It gives you percentiles in each of the five categories rather than simple binaries, and in even breaks down the sub categories in each of the 5 (for instance, a sub category of Conscientiousness is Orderliness). People hate the Big Five though because it's complex and people are retarded and don't understand percentiles/statistics. I have found the Big Five immensely useful in understanding myself.




Here are my results. My Neurotisicm and Openness have lowered since I took it years ago, and my agreeableness has lowered substantially. The one thing I'm unsure of is why my Morality is so low, I'm not a manipulative type at all. But I do break the rules constantly so there's that. Maybe they think laws=morality.

I find it highly amusing I'm in the top 99 percentile for Introversion (or bottom 1 of Extraversion, same thing) yet my "Excitement seeking" subcategory is 62. Another interesting quirk, my Conscientiousness is also 1, but Orderliness is quite high seomhow. I'm not sure how that breaks down like that.
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I took down my screenshot its way too personal to be up on here
 
I have no idea how reliable this test is, but it's kinda fun.

Every time I take it, I get the same result, E/I NTJ. Always NTJ, but 50/50 on E/I.

The extroversion scale matches my experiences very well. I am perfectly capably of spending years in a cave reading books, then going outside the next day to deliver a speech in front of millions while talking to people constantly for years afterwards.

No idea why, but it makes no difference to me how many people I am around.
 
Batman said:
I took down my screenshot its way too personal to be up on here
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I took the short version. Was a really interesting summary/analysis of me. But that definitely isn’t the kind of test I’d ever recommend for a workplace. Way too much exposure of how a person “ticks”. It’s better analysis than MBTI but I think MBTI is set up more for how to effectively work and function cohesively with different personality types.
 
Samseau said:
Every time I take it, I get the same result, E/I NTJ. Always NTJ, but 50/50 on E/I.
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Your E/I score probably lands near zero every time, so a slight variation in your answers between tests could flip that part of the result. From what I've seen scores deep in negative or positive territory don't flip between tests.
 
I took one of these tests with a bunch of friends back in the end high school. I forget the exact breakdown, but I got "the thinker," which everyone said fit pretty well. Can't remember the capital letters for the personality type, but I do recall reading things about being introverted, philosophically inclined, and having trouble being understood. These are accurate for me.

That said, my personality is also
alike to any detailed horoscope. Kinda between the Scorpio and the Aquarius, which are my sun and moon signs, respectively. I am also kinda like the Chinese Horse, I find that one fits well enough in a way. There are always some details that are a bit off, but I ignore them, since that would debunk the accuracy of these personality gauges. ;)

Luckily I know myself well enough not to take it all too seriously. You never know what someone else's personality might bring out of your own- until you meet them and find out, of course.
 
I want to add: personality is not something totally static through life. Events can change you.

In example, I have always been a quiet type. In high school, I barely spoke with anyone at all. But by the end of it, I knew I wanted to play bass in a rock band. Couldn't keep living silently solo if I wanted to do that! Stage fright was hard at first, but eventually I learned to use the nerves to buckle down and focus. It worked; people eventually knew me by the way I would move on stage. I made a lot of friends in my local music scene.

From there, I wanted to be a yoga teacher. Again, had to get used to being the one talking in front of a room full of people(not just silently performing behind my bass guitar now). Had to actually touch strangers, too, to give them adjustments. I'll never forget my teacher telling me boldy to "get in there."

I am still an introvert. I still dislike confrontation. But I am no longer the kind of shy guy would never introduce himself, talk to strangers, travel, or take risks.
 
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