Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Pygmalion Project

A friend recommended a book to me: Please Understand Me 2.  It is all about personality types.  Throughout history, people have divided personalities into 4 main types.  More recently, those 4 types have been subdivided, each, with 4 of their own subtypes.

The book includes a test to determine which type you are.  You can take an online version of it here:

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

At the end, you will get a four letter type.  There is also a link to a description of your type, along with its common name.

I took it and found that I am a Rational.  More specifically, a Fieldmarshal.  Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?

http://www.keirsey.com/4temps/rational_overview.asp

http://www.keirsey.com/4temps/fieldmarshal.asp

At first, the book was pretty dry.  But then I got to the chapter on Rationals.  Wow, it really hits the nail on the head!  It says that Rationals are obsessed with efficiency and refuse to expend effort on something that does not have a correspondingly valuable result.  Check!  It goes on to say that Rationals can get absorbed in things and so often appear to be cold and uncaring toward others.  Double check!  Here are some more:

"Some Rationals are seen as using a vocabulary which their listeners find pretentious and pedantic."
"Because of their focus on long-range strategies, they may, at times, be unware of the feelings of others."

I love it!

You might enjoy taking the test and then reading your type description.  Let me know what you think!

9 comments:

  1. I am ISFP! that's no good haha
    but I liked the comments from the Doctor
    :) see yah

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  4. I cant believe I am an ENTJ!!! Am i a slightly expressed extravert, moderately expressed intuitive,slightly expressed thinking and a moderately expressed judging person??? Wow the test has helped me a lot to find out my inner person. I really needed it!! GIl:)

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  5. I can't believe it either! I am an ENTJ. This might give you some more perspective:

    http://www.keirsey.com/4temps/fieldmarshal.asp

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  6. ENFP http://www.keirsey.com/4temps/champion.asp

    I guess that means we could not be more different X...Funny we seem to get along well enough. Thats the whole point of the book, is not that one type is better than the other, but that if you recognize the different paths that people take in their minds to get to a conclusion, you will better be able to get along, and get things accomplished...

    P.S. I think Gilda needs to retake the test after she reads the book. I think it will give her a little bit more accurate result...

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  7. opps...I forgot, ENFP is an Idealist - Champion. I thrive off of experiencing the widest range of human emotion. So give me plenty, I need to feed...Ok that was disturbing....

    http://www.keirsey.com/4temps/champion.asp

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  8. There is nothing that could describe you personality better than this extract, especially this part: "Champions can be tireless in talking with others, like fountains that bubble and splash, spilling over their own words to get it all out". Haha.

    Yeah I will take the test again after reading the book. I dont feel like an ENTJ although I agree with some of the features.

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  9. Woohoo....speaking of first impressions - my guess was the you were a rational, especially after hearing about your super cool computer program. That's just the sort of thing that makes a psych nerd very happy ;))
    Oh, and after reading Dominick's blog on tango dancing, i suspected he was an ENFP. This is so fun, I love trying to guess people's type!

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