Nonperson wrote:
INTP, but this stuff is bunk. The "dichotomies" have normal distribution. In other words, people mostly fall near the middle of all the scales, so most introverts are only slightly more introverted than most extroverts, most "thinkers" only slightly different from most "feelers", etc. (which explains why test results tend to change with moods). My result was always INTP, though.
I agree with you about the "normal distribution" comment - most people (68%) lie within one standard deviation of the mean, and the mean for these "dichotomies" is "I don't have a preference" or "I'm both in equal amounts". So most people are weakly I or weakly E, or undecided, etc. But some of us do have more pronounced leanings. I score strongly on I, N, and T - well outside the average or mild range. I only fall inside the mild range for J/P.
So I don't mind saying that I am INTx, but I cannot make up my mind between INTJ or INTP. I usually score as INTJ (mild J, strong everything else), but I think I fit the INTP description better.
I find MBTI useful precisely because I have strong preferences and this typology helps me to understand other people a little better. So I don't think it is "bunk" (useless) if you are in the 32% who lie outside one standard deviation from the average. Even the "mild" people are different to me in many respects - and then there are the few people who are strongly the other way (e.g. strong extroverts): they feel like people from another planet. I know someone who is a strong ESFx, and MBTI helps me understand why I react so much to him. At least I can work on understanding his (perfectly legitimate) differences compared to my personality.
27 Apr 2013, 10:52 pm
