I got to thinking about my personality earlier today, as I believe I perform well and am well liked in social situations, but often feel the social anxiety Daniel Tosh claims to suffer from. I decided to take one of those short online introvert / extrovert evaluations available for a few cents in advertising dollars. By no means is a 20 question test the wholesome descriptor of my personality, but I thought it did a decent job describing this aspect of my life with the answers I provided.
For those knowledgeable in the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, I am an ENTP (Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking, Perceiving), although some of those labels were on the verge of falling in another camp. I share this evaluation with the likes of Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Tom Hanks, Teddy Roosevelt and Barack Obama.
Myers Briggs defines the ENTP personality as ”
Using their primary function-attitude of extraverted intuition (Ne), ENTPs are quick to see complex interrelationships between people, things, and ideas. These interrelationships are analyzed in profound detail through the ENTPs auxiliary function, introverted thinking (Ti). The result is an in-depth understanding of the way things and relationships work, and how they can be improved. To the ENTP, competence and intelligence are particularly prized, both in themselves and in other people.
ENTPs are frequently described as clever, cerebrally and verbally quick, enthusiastic, outgoing, innovative, flexible, loyal, and resourceful. ENTPs are motivated by a desire to understand and improve the world they live in. They are usually accurate in sizing up a situation. They may have a perverse sense of humor and sometimes play devil’s advocate, which can create misunderstandings with friends, coworkers, and family. ENTPs are ingenious and adept at directing relationships between means and ends. ENTPs devise fresh, unexpected solutions to difficult problems. However, they are less interested in generating and following through with detailed plans than in generating ideas and possibilities. In a team environment, ENTPs are most effective in a role where they can draw on their abilities to offer deep understanding, a high degree of flexibility, and innovative solutions to problems. The ENTP regards a comment like “it can’t be done” as a personal challenge, and, if properly motivated, will spare no effort to discover a solution.[citation needed]
A ENTP could consider everything above to be only ones personal interpretation.”
(Source: Wikipedia)
So how did my 5 minute introvert / extrovert test compare? Here were my results, but feel free to go out and take the test yourself:
YOU ARE MORE OF A PUBLIC EXTRAVORT AND PRIVATE INTROVERT
In public and at work you are a ball of energy perpetually on the move. You take the initiative, encourage others, hate waiting and are endlessly anticipating what’s going on around you. You take real pleasure in managing everything, much like the conductor of an orchestra. You enjoy being noticed by your work peers and your anxiety is linked more to the thought of leaving others indifferent. You need other’s attention to fully exist, but once you’ve crossed the threshold of your home, it’s another matter. You no longer take initiatives, but leave others to decide in your place. When your partner asks you to make a choice or give an opinion about holiday destinations, dinner menus or the children’s activities, you offer little or no input. You’re not comfortable and don’t know how to react and those around you often interpret your passiveness as a lack of interest or a certain reticence. The reactions of those around you may make you feel the need to revise your behaviour to close the gap between the two poles of your life. People feel that you compensate in one area of life (public), which you have trouble handling on the other side (private). The public over-activity into which you throw yourself prevents you from expressing your emotions and feelings. At work, rationality and efficiency is asked of you, but even there, emotions and feelings are unavoidable. It’s not by denying or pushing them out of your attention that they cease to exist. Instead, by forcing them out of your conscious mind, they govern you unconsciously. Why are you so afraid of your emotions? What are you afraid of finding deep within yourself? This over-investment in public and professional life could well be, to a certain degree, running away from whatever it is that you don’t master or control. You’d win some inner serenity if you accepted to walk the road of self-knowledge.
Source: http://www.psychologies.co.uk/self/are-you-an-introvert-or-an-extrovert.html
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by Taylor