As a Church Musician - What's Your NeoJungian Myers-Briggs Typology?
  • Ken of Sarum
    Posts: 406
    I am an INFJ. Supposedly, 0.02% of the world's males are this personality type (if I recall correctly).
  • irishtenoririshtenor
    Posts: 1,325
    I am an ENTJ, though I wonder how close I might be to an INTJ, depending on the situation.

    As someone who has been unjustly treated by some members of the clergy and school staff over the past 4 years, you might imagine that it would be easy to tend more toward "I" when you have so many negative interactions with people. It often is easier to avoid people altogether...
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    INTP
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700
    ENTP
  • INTJ
  • PolskaPiano
    Posts: 255
    ENFP- which I understand to be the most introverted of the extroverts
  • Hmmm... INTJ-A.
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 548
    INTJ, with one variant test giving ISTJ. Curious that per Wikipedia

    “According to Myers-Briggs the INTJ represents "The Mastermind". INTJs are one of the rarest of the 16 psychological types and account for approximately 2%[2] of the population.[3] Women of this personality type are especially rare, forming just 0.8% of the population.“

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTJ
  • Kathy
    Posts: 5,508
    Notice the Ns.
  • From the same article mentioned by Gamba:
    In her 1990 PhD dissertation, C.F. Gibbons of the University of Arkansas found that the INTJ type was one of the four most common among musicians, with INFP being the most common.

    Which is interesting as of 8 responses so far above, there are six types people have listed. INTJ is the only one so far with multiple selections as it is in 3 (or arguably 3.5 for IrishTenor) responses. Not that I'm being analytical or anything...
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    ISTJ
  • Although little attention is paid to personality type in liturgical disputes, I believe it can be an indicator of one’s leanings. In the Myers-Briggs classification I’m what some call either a “Defender” or a “Protector” (ISFJ), a feeling but analytical introvert who can be judging yet nonetheless open to change. Valuing inherited tradition while willing to engage newer insights contributes I’m sure to my willingness to straddle liturgical fences and confound expectations.

    As an example, though having been reared in a solidly democrat party household and being a graduate of a very liberal non-sectarian divinity school, I nonetheless feel more at home with the EF than the OF. Chew on that!
  • Ken of Sarum
    Posts: 406
    Yes Kathy - Ns - Intuitives. very interesting. And what's also interesting to me, is that I have traits of the Phlegmatic and Melancholic in harmony with one another coupled to my deep Intuitiveness.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    I haven't had a MB test since the early nineties, and don't even remember what I was. However, I am nice, but have no qualms about getting in your face if you get in mine. Add to that, I don't back down when attacked. My philosophy is somewhat akin to W.C. Fields who said, "I am free of all prejudice. I hate everyone equally."

    Basically, if you leave me alone, I will leave you alone.

    Sagittarius.
  • NihilNominisNihilNominis
    Posts: 1,021
    INFP.
  • Carol
    Posts: 856
    Is curmudgeon one the choices?
  • I am unfamiliar with this typology so can't participate.
    I can, however, offer that I am an introvert who is extremely averse to being put in a box and categorised.
  • Ken of Sarum
    Posts: 406
    If you wish, here is were one can take this short FREE test. This personality typology is for your information, enlightenment, consideration and reflection. Its based on the 16 personality types of humanity throughout the world. Of course individuals are multi-faceted and complex but this is a tool for better understanding one's self and others. In relating and managing choirs, ensembles and relationship as a person and professional or in some ministerial function, I merely suggest and offer it as a tool for help and understanding. It's not meant to pigeonhole.

    https://www.neojungiantypology.com/
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,164
    I had never heard of this until I went for my MBA. We took the Myers-Briggs test several of the classes I took. It has always come out the same.
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 387
    The test suggested by Ken of Sarum says INTJ.

    EDIT: I am, of course, no church musician.
  • Eons ago, I took this test. Unimpressed, even then.

  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Did the test. ISTJ.
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    Well, CharlesW, I guess I'm in good company.
  • canadashcanadash
    Posts: 1,501
    ESFP. I think successful musicians are most often Introverts because, in order to be good, you have have to practise... alone. I was always terrible at practising because I always wanted to be with people and hated being alone. That's why I loved choir and why I'm an awful organist. Oh well.
    Thanked by 2CharlesW PolskaPiano
  • francis
    Posts: 10,818
    I am a JMJ. It's an older code, but it checks out.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HJ-Y8YTo8Q
  • Thank you, Francis. That works.

  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    I happen to think my Missal is a weapon of mass instruction, so I guess that makes me an ICBM.
  • tsoapm
    Posts: 79
    I didn’t notice anyone pointing out that Myers-Briggs is often considered less than authoritative. It was apparently created by people with no formal education in psychology who were only self-taught in psychometric testing.

    So perhaps a step up from the enneagram, but...

    Anyway, in a spirit of fun: I’ve tested both INTJ and ISTJ.
    Thanked by 2CharlesW francis
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    Anyone can see through those questions and tailor their answers to get the results they seek.
    Thanked by 1CCooze
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    Took the test and came up with INTJ, but I'd prefer to be a JMJ, like Francis.
  • CCoozeCCooze
    Posts: 1,259
    I hate questionnaires that really only ask 4 questions in as many different ways as possible. It gets boring, and I can't take it seriously. I don't know if that comes out in the results, or not.
    This was my first attempt at this particular test, and I got ESTP - it said try again in a month to see what happens.

    "10. You are person with strengths and weaknesses"

    It's also hard to take things seriously, when they can't even phrase a question/statement in a way that makes sense... "you are person."
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • PolskaPiano
    Posts: 255
    CCooze- the "official" test takes at least 30 minutes to fill out. The testing takes longer to score. I took one my senior year in college, and 12 years later during a really hard time in mylife. Both results were the same. I was impressed.
  • TCJ
    Posts: 986
    I have test as multiple different ones, but I usually hover at the middle on a couple of the four categories. I believe I most commonly get INTP.
  • ELapisardi
    Posts: 31
    One of my professors had us all take the official Myers-Briggs test as part of a practicum course in sacred music; he believes that our personality types have a direct bearing on our leadership styles. My result was INFJ.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    If memory services, the middle two categories tend to be the core that change least over time or under different circumstances, while the outer two categories are more variable. That said, how people *present* to others (that is, how others interpret them) can be quite different from how they really are because people can by circumstance develop strong use of the other tendency (for example, I believe my middle two vary in presentation vs reality). So the categorization is not meant to be understood as a static thing (one might also say that of other widely used personality typologies).
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • nun_34nun_34
    Posts: 67
    INTJ.
    Would so many of us having similar personality types be part of our enjoyment of the conversations on this forum? Besides the more important factor of our love for the Church's music, that is.
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,467
    INTJ.
    Yes, birds of a feather etc. Note that scepticism is prominent among INTJ traits, so we are not likely to take Myers-Briggs too seriously.
    Oh, and church music is more important, not least because we are a subset of a subset - atheism is said to be very common among INTJs. Is there an emoji for scepticism?
  • Don't know to what extent it might be interesting... but here is a link with a summary of each of the 16 personality types from the test. https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types

    I would have done a pie chart, but the html... :)

    INTJ ..... 8.5
    ISTJ ..... 2.5
    INFJ ..... 2
    INTP .... 2
    ENFP ... 1
    ENTJ ... 1
    ENTP ... 1
    ESFP ... 1
    ESTP ... 1
    INFP ... 1
    ISFJ ..... 1

  • Carol
    Posts: 856
    Don't forget the old adage "Garbage in, garbage out." If a person is self reporting then YMMV as I learned from a wise one here.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • francis
    Posts: 10,818
    I don't fit in ANY catgegory... ever.
  • JonLaird
    Posts: 245
    Francis, along with all of the other unique people in the world, is squarely in the category of those who identify themselves with no particular category.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,215
    I'd answer this, but I'm too introverted to do so :-)
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,700

    I'd answer this, but I'm too introverted to do so :-)


    I went to the Google and asked it which personality type is most likely to the worst driver and got the answer INFP, so we'll go with that for you.
  • INTP.

    Interesting to note that Aquinas, Newton, and Einstein are typically regarded as INTP, as well as Data (Star Trek: TNG). A Star Trek meme says, "INTP (Data): the warmest machine; INTJ (7 of 9): the coldest human."
    Thanked by 1Carol
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,933
    Two thoughts, Strings:

    1. I remember a friend of mine (who happens to be INTP, surprise surprise) saying he realized he identified with Aquinas when he heard the following anecdote: Aquinas's fellow friars had a habit of playing a particular practical joke on him - they would go to the window and call for him to come and look at some spectacular sight - a parade, a change in the weather, etc. Each time he would dutifully come over to the window, to see that nothing was there. Finally, one of the friars asked why he kept falling for this prank. He replied, "I find it easier to believe that there would be something at the window than believing that my friends would ever tell a falsehood to me." Somehow, I could hear that reply in Data's voice.

    2. When I think of 7 of 9, "cold" isn't exactly the adjective that comes to mind. [Quite the opposite, actually! ;) ]
    Thanked by 1Carol
  • Drake
    Posts: 221
    I know this is now an old thread, but I had occasion to revisit the question recently. One thing I notice is that I test differently at different sites, and it depends on how well I understand the questions. With the original test linked above, I test INTJ ... barely (only -2 towards T vs F). On another test elsewhere, I come up INFJ. I had not really taken the time back in 2018 to do the research into what each type “means” but there are definitely times I seem to identify closer to the descriptions of INFJ than INTJ ... also depending somewhat on how a given site defines each. So, it does feel rather subjective, except I can probably safely accept the INJ part... FWIW, I felt like I understood the questions better on the test that came back INFJ.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,978
    We are beyond classification and description, and wouldn't stoop to it. LOL
    Thanked by 1Drake
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,193
    INTP, but I'm getting to be an old curmudgeon.
  • Schönbergian
    Posts: 1,063
    ENFJ.
  • Please post a list of meanings for all these initials.
    I'm not up on matters Jungian.