This report is based on the results of the 'Mental Muscle Diagram Indicator'. This is a questionnaire that can help you find out your personality type. However, as with all such questionnaires, the results can be wrong.
To help you find out your type, we have matched the pattern of answers you gave to the MMDI questionnaire with the 'standard' patterns of the 16 personality types. The table below shows the percentage fit with each personality type.
|
ISTJ 39% |
ISFJ 31% |
INFJ 77% |
INTJ 85% |
|
ISTP 61% |
ISFP 44% |
INFP 65% |
INTP 82% |
|
ESTP 31% |
ESFP 23% |
ENFP 69% |
ENTP 77% |
|
ESTJ 43% |
ESFJ 26% |
ENFJ 47% |
ENTJ 64% |
From this table, you can see that the two highest scoring types are INTJ and INTP. This doesn't rule out the other types. But those are the two that are closest when we 'pattern match' your questionnaire results with each of the 16 personality types.
Differences between INTJ and INTP
It may help you work out your type if we compare the similarities and differences between INTJ and INTP.
One important thing to look at is which preferences 'dominate' the personality. Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers said there is a 'dominant function'. What this means, in simple terms, is that two of the letters in the type code are much more important than the others.
For people with INTJ preferences, the most important letters are I and N. For people with INTP preferences, the most important letters are I and T. This means that there is a very important difference between INTJ and INTP. The letters in the type code that are particularly important for them are different, or they have different 'dominant functions'.
The Dominant Function
For INTJ the most important preferences are Introverted Intuition. Your 'dominant function' is Intuition, oriented towards the inner world. You use your imagination to create new and different ideas and perspectives. You observe the world around you, and use your imagination to consider what you have observed from a number of different perspectives. You dream up new ideas and insights, often producing radical solutions to problems. You have a long term vision, and demonstrate an apparent understanding of what (as far as other people are concerned) cannot be clearly known.
For INTP, however, the most important preferences are Introverted Thinking. Your 'dominant function' is Thinking, oriented towards the inner world. You provide explanation of how and why things happen. You bring structure and organisation into the inner world of ideas and understanding. You analyse things, formulating hypotheses and explanations of how they function. You gather evidence to assess how true those explanations are. You produce mental models that replicate how particular aspects of the world work. You try to understand the full complexity of any situation.
Preference Differences
INTJ and INTP differ in Judgement/Perception. This preference is about your lifestyle. If you prefer your life to be planned, stable and organised then your preference is for Judging (not to be confused with 'Judgemental', which is quite different). If you prefer to go with the flow, to maintain flexibility and respond to things as they arise, then your preference is for Perception.
Everybody uses both sides of the preferences at times, depending on the circumstances. But the difference between the two personality types is your natural inclination. That is, which would you prefer to do in a situation of free choice?
'Whole Type' Differences
Another way to help decide between two (or more) personality types is to look at the descriptions of each one.
As an analogy, you can't always tell which country someone comes from by listening to the words they use. If they use French words when speaking, they might be from France or Belgium or Canada or many other countries. To work out where someone comes from you have to listen to the whole person: the language, the accent, the behaviour, etc..
In a similar way, sometimes you cannot tell someone's personality type by looking at individual behaviours. You need to look at the whole person. You can then work out your type by comparison with some descriptions of the personality types.
Final Notes
Carl Jung said: 'every individual is an exception to the rule'.
You are a unique individual. The personality types can help you to orient yourself as you find your way around your personality. They also provide a language (a label) that helps you explore your identity.
However, personality types are not meant to put you in a box. Some people misuse the concept of personality type by saying that if you are ABC type, then you must be good at doing XYZ. Some people also make judgements about others on the basis of their personality type, e.g.: in recruitment. Such judgements are mistakes, made through ignorance.