Friday, June 20, 2008

Extroverted Sensing Feeling Judging

That's me! I've been curious about my personality type since one of my friends back home revealed her results after taking a test. Semper Fi Wife posted a link to a Myers-Briggs personality test on SpouseBuzz and I was inclined to take it! I looked up the definition of an ESFJ here

ESFJs at their best are warm, sympathetic, helpful, cooperative, tactful, down-to-earth, practical, thorough, consistent, organized, enthusiastic, and energetic. They enjoy tradition and security, and will seek stable lives that are rich in contact with friends and family.

One interesting point that I find to be true in my case, and that made me feel so flaky and indecisive

The ESFJ's value system is defined externally. They usually have very well-formed ideas about the way things should be, and are not shy about expressing these opinions. However, they weigh their values and morals against the world around them, rather than against an internal value system. They may have a strong moral code, but it is defined by the community that they live in, rather than by any strongly felt internal values.

For the most part, my values have remained unchanged, but there is a different emphasis on certain issues here in this "red" state than I experienced in the "blue" state of Washington. I feel like I've seen perspectives of both "liberals" and "conservatives" and seen both extremes, and I'm confused about where I stand more than ever. But I'm still pretty much moderate.

As I was reading the profile of an ESFJ, I was floored by how true the characteristics were to myself. I usually take these tests with a grain of salt, but then again if I read about this particular profile on a different website it might say something different. One thing that worried me, however

An ESFJ who has developed in a less than ideal way may be prone to being quite insecure, and focus all of their attention on pleasing others. He or she might also be very controlling, or overly sensitive, imagining bad intentions when there weren't any.

I'm not controlling, but I can be overly sensitive about things. I haven't gone as far as imagining bad intentions, but sometimes I have a hard time accepting that people genuinely like me and like being around me. I can get in the mindset that they're just acting out of pity. And really I just want people to like me so maybe sometimes I can get a little caught up on pleasing others due to my insecurity. The more I make them happy, the better they will like me, right? 

So, what personality type are you? Take the test and post your results in the comments!

2 comments:

Momily said...

I'm an INTJ: "Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging", with the "Intuitive" and the "Thinking" parts being weaker than the other two, closer to the "Sensing" and "Feeling".

The site you used for your description gets me pretty spot-on on some things, but I think it is kind of an extreme version of my personality. I think (I hope!) I am a little softer and easier to communicate with than the INTJ is described. But I am very much a problem-solver, and I do have a big thing for efficiency, so it's got me right on those points for sure.

Momily said...

I read up on the ISFJ, too, to be sure; I'm probably actually about halfway between the INTJ and the ISFJ.