According to Keirsey, I am an ENFJ, or a "Teacher", comparable to Mikhail Gorbachev, Oprah Winfrey, Pope John Paul II, Ralph Nader, John Wooden, and Margaret Mead. These people "often take for granted that their expectations be met," and care more about the development of others than anything else. [1]
Your Type is
ENFJ
Extraverted Intuitive Feeling Judging
Strength of the preferences %
22 75 25 67
Everyone so far, including myself, who has responded to this DB and taken this test before (Julie had not), has expressed that they receive the same results each time they take it. Hannah’s personal experience taking the test in middle school and receiving consistent results throughout her life reveal the astounding consistency of her personality throughout growth and development. And not only do the results seem consistent, Keirsey’s description of my personality type, a type in which only 2-3% of the population fall under,[2] aligns closely with my perception of myself. Keirsey’s definition what he calls “the Teacher” explains my personality better than I could explain it myself. Keirsey says Teachers “expect the very best of those around them,” “prefer to plan both work and social engagements ahead of time,” but also “have the ability to preside without preplanning.”[3] Though many personality types seem ambiguous and so general that they could describe anyone’s personality, this particular description impresses me because of its complexity. It almost seems to offer contradictions, claiming that a Teacher likes planning but also performs well without plans. But this statement portrays my qualities and characteristics perfectly, as I find myself perpetually making lists and I am often thrown into leadership positions whether I am prepared or not. And I usually do fine.
In high school, when a teacher assigned group work, the group would frequently designate me as the leader. Once, I asked one of my friends why he thought this happened, and he said, “You’re artistic and always have a good idea.”
This perplexed me because I never thought of myself as an artistic person. I don’t like to paint or draw, but I realized that I like to approach problems creatively. When given a choice between guidelines and open-ended prompt, I inevitably opt for the open-ended prompt so that I can pursue my own interests, whether or not it involves more work.
My high school US history teacher assigned a “timeline” activity as a review exercise for the AP test. She gave each group a set of themes to trace across a series of dates. Many groups whipped out the usual white butcher paper and marks-a-lots to make their timelines. But as usual, I wanted to do something different, and suggested to my group that we construct a puzzle for a timeline. Unwittingly, I had just designated myself the leader of the group as the rest of the project took place at my house, on my terms, and according to my time schedule. Though we undoubtedly spent more time working on the project than any other group, it turned out beautifully as an effective way to teach our audience and ourselves the assigned themes.
This is part of my group during a Sunday afternoon in March 2006 working on the puzzle in my garage. We carved puzzle pieces out of the big insulation board at the bottom left corner of the picture, decorated and color coded them according to their themes and dates, and secured them with velcro to a large piece of felt. The teacher kept the puzzle and uses it to teach her students the same themes today.
Thus, I am sure that throughout my career as a student, I have subconsciously volunteered myself for many of the leadership positions I have assumed because I love to teach. Keirsey’s name for my personality type surprised me because I had never thought of myself as a teacher. Indeed, to this day I loathe the thought of teaching children or high school students, but only because I find the public education system limiting. I want to pursue research, educate others through my writing, and discover new truths to teach.
Julie claims at the end of her DB that she finds the assessment of her personality interesting, but by no means plans to “let the Jung Typology Test” symbolize the center around which her life revolves.”
Nor did I plan to determine my life plans based on a personality test, but I have found that unintentionally my plans have aligned themselves with the goals of the Teacher! Last semester I toyed with the idea of becoming a professor, and since then, the idea has developed into a specific strategy. I am now applying for an Environmental Studies BDP (Bridging Disciplines Program, a way to concentrate in something not formally offered as a major by the university), and am working towards achieving a research apprenticeship in Germany when I study abroad my junior year.
As I aspire to educate masses in the dangers of global climate change through my writing, I find the assessment of “Intuition and Writing” especially valuable. The author says that intuitive writers “tend to forget to include concrete example and may not provide the reader with background information” (401). My generalizations often plague my writing. In assignments such as P4 requiring specificity, I have a hard time maintaining focus while providing sufficient examples. I need more P4-like exercises to strengthen my writing.
I agree mostly with the Meyers-Briggs test assessment of my writing, learning, and educating skills. I believe it has pegged my personality, and I also believe it accurately describes others, such as Hannah, Will, and Julie, though they may not agree themselves with the assessment in its entirety. Sometimes self-perception differs from an outsider’s perception. The tendency of human beings to categorize and compare things has resulted in the development of this kind of test. Scientists have grouped living things using the binomial nomenclature system for centuries. Numerologists like use names and birthdays to group people together and assess their personalities. Joseph Campbell, in Hero of a Thousand Faces, asserts that men have told the same fundamental story for centuries, and traces symbols and themes from the Bible to Star Wars. He says, “One knows the tale; it has been told a thousand ways” (43). Likewise, the billions of people who have lived on earth since the development of the homo-sapien have unifying similarities, and these allow for scientists and sociologists today to pinpoint traits and characteristics as they repeat themselves time and time again throughout the history of civilization.
[1] David Keirsey, "The Portrait of the Teacher," Keirsey.com, 18 Feb. 2008 http://keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=3&c=teacher.
[2] Keirsey
[3] Keirsey
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