EXTRAVERT!! THATS ME! :)

(Johnny Depp, pictured above, also has the "Teacher" personality.)


According to the Carl-Jung Personality test, I am “very expressed extravert, moderately expressed intuitive personality, slightly expressed feeling personality, slightly expressed judging personality” [1].

One of my first experiences with personality typing was “True Colors,” (shown to the left) a test with questions similar to those on the Carl-Jung test, however rather than answering “yes” or “no,” you are given four different options on a topic and you rank them in terms of which you identify most with. After ranking all of the options, you would add up the scores for each column (each column identified with a certain color) and the highest scoring color would be your personality type. The four personality types/colors are orange, gold, green and blue.

An orange personality type is very outgoing, adventurous, and strives to have fun in every situation. A gold personality type is extremely organized, goal orientated and likes to have a structured life. A green personality type is the intellectual, analytical thinker who strives on finding out “why?”. And finally, the blue personality type is the caring, compassionate, “let’s all be friends” personality. Now these are all very basic, shallow descriptions of the personalities, however, they provide much more information, such as what aggravates each personality type, how they work best, what they need to be successful, etc.

When I took this test, I was primarily orange, with green, gold and blue following in that order. I found this test to be quite accurate and fit me very well. I identified closely with the orange personality type and felt the descriptions were surprisingly accurate.

When reading the description of my personality type, I found that I could identify with some but not all of the personality traits, as expected. The test classified me as a “Teacher,” which I wasn’t sure fit when I first read it. I view the teacher figure more as a sympathetic, caring person, more introverted and soft-spoken. The normal teacher figures in our lives are extremely good at relating to us, coming down to our level to ensure that we understand and see if we need any assistance. I don’t view myself as someone who acts this way. I find myself to sometimes by more “my way or the highway” orientated rather than “let me help you out” oriented. But my view of the teacher is not the same view of the teacher that the personality test presents. Although they begin by saying that the ENFJ (the category I fall into) people are “benevolent 'pedagogues' of humanity,” they continue on to describe that “ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it's usually not meant as manipulation -- ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.” When I first read this, especially the line about wanting to be a helping, my thoughts immediately went to what I described as my passion in class: helping children, especially those who have come upon difficult times. Perhaps this personality test is far more accurate than I had imagined.

I feel that I identify most with the extraverts out of the four different categories I was put into, which it what the test indicates as well. Extraverts “talk in class,” which all of us know I do very well, “have short attention span[s],” can get bored during “just lecture” (392). These all fit me exactly. One of the reasons I want to be a doctor is because many other jobs would become too monotonous for me. A doctor is constantly dealing with new situations and difficulties, a challenge I will thoroughly enjoy. As for getting bored during lectures, this is the story of my life. In high school, I fell asleep during numerous government classes and even now in college, I have a very difficult time staying awake in lectures. (This is about what I look like during some of my classes.)

As for writing styles, it fits perfectly!! I didn’t read an extravert’s approach to writing until right before I started this paragraph. According to this personality analysis, extraverts “leap into writing; outline later” and “write from lived experience,” (397) which is exactly how I write and even how I wrote this paper! I also “become blocked as a result of having generated shallow ideas or too many ideas” (398). Sometimes I find that I jump around in my paper or fail to develop any points very thoroughly; rather, I develop them a whole bunch of them on a shallow level. This is something that I really need to work on in terms of my writing.

I really enjoyed this personality type test and am going to share it with my friends. As I wrote this paper, Kristin, my best friend, became interested in what I was saying and decided she is going to take the test tonight!! It is an interesting way to get a little more introspective and really discover strengths and weaknesses.

[1] http://keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=3&c=teacher