Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: MBTI personality type

[Moz (list]

Elizabeth Magill said:
> For example, I might report XNTJ instead of INTJ because I know that
> I sometimes test as an E.

And related to what Sharon said, how we are in one situation might not
be how we are in another. Many people have public personas that are at
odds with their private ones (or their self-image). My experience with
these tests is of regularly failing to convince people that I'm
introverted (my housemates, on the other hand, are shocked when I do
go out and socialise... by which we mean "out of my bedroom").

> But be sure to make space for people who feel that personality tests  
> are not a good descriptor of people. You'll have a happier meeting  
> talking about it if you do.

Especially for those who have been forced to do this sort of thing at
work, and have failed to game the metric to their boss's satisfaction.
Partly it also rests on having a good explanation of what you want to
do the test for, and how you're going to use it. INTJ's are often
skeptical but if it's put as "this will help other people think they
understand you, so they will come and bother you less often" it works
better.

Oh and why do people with "good social skills" so often completely
fail to cope with people who don't have said skills? Isn't the whole
point of "good social skills" that they're *better* than average at
that? Alternatively, why are extroversion and empathy not often found
together?

Moz