I am an INTJ (and you're probably not)

Back in the late 1980s (sheesh, does that sound like forever ago?), when I was working for Dr. Black and when our staff had grown huge and unwieldy, and developed lots of tensions, he brought in a psychologist to give all of us the “Meyers-Briggs” test.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, the M-B is a Jungian personality traits/typology test. You take it and it categorizes you as belonging to one of 16 temperament groupings. The theory is that whichever group you’re in has a lot to do with how you approach and interact with the world and how the world can best approach and interact with you.

It’s actually a well-documented process. It works! Back in our working group, knowing each other’s M-B types and doing some simple exercises in how that affected our approach to one another made a huge difference.

So, here’s the interesting thing. Back then I was a solid ESTJ—pillar of society type and among the most common of the types. In a nutshell, ESTJ said that I was an extrovert, that I relied on common sense versus intuition, that I relied on thought and logic over feelings, and that I tended to favor judgment over perception.

The other day, the M-B came up in one of my classes. One of the revelations was that the M-B could change over time, as you and/or your life experiences changed. And this sent me scampering back to the Internet, wondering if I could find another M-B test to take there. (Ordinarily testing is a very expensive process.)

I found a test here. I retook it….and Lo and behold: I’m now an INTJ, also known as a “Mastermind Rational.” Supposedly I'm uncommon. One source said that INTJs make up only 1-2% of the general population. Here’s a short blurb about what it means:

Rational NTs...are proud of themselves in the degree they are competent in action, respect themselves in the degree they are autonomous, and feel confident of themselves in the degree they are strong willed. Ever in search of knowledge, this is the "Knowledge Seeking Personality" -- trusting in reason and hungering for achievement. They are usually pragmatic about the present, skeptical about the future, solipsistic about the past, and their preferred time and place are the interval and the intersection. Educationally they go for the sciences, avocationally for technology, and vocationally for systems work. Rationals tend to be individualizing as parents, mindmates as spouses, and learning oriented as children. Rationals are very infrequent, comprising as few as 5% and no more than 7% of the population.

Albert Einstein is the iconic example of a Rational.

Thomas Jefferson and General Ulysses S. Grant are examples of Rationals.

It’s also interesting that my once extroverted ‘E’ has changed to an introverted ‘I,’ which certainly goes with my increasing writerly life—much of which is an inner life of solitude.

And, my ‘S’ has turned to a more intuitive ‘N,’ which goes along with my growth in magickal intuition over the last decade.

So, I’d like all of you to now scamper to this site and take the test. Then, share your results!

P.S. And just for fun, go here. Couldn’t believe this when it came up a few days ago. I have an ISBN!