For this exercise I took two test batteries, the Jung Personality Test as well as the Personality Profile Test in order to arrive at complex profile of my own personality with some contrasting data. In what follows I give an overview of the two test instruments before comparing and contrasting the results. I conclude with some personal reflections on validity and soundness.
The Jung Personality test and the Personality Profile test each make a set of assumptions about what people are like and what a theoretical view of personality should accomplish. Each of these profiles emphasize certain aspects of one's personality, and by doing this draws a set of assumptions about human nature (McCrae, 140).
The Jung Personality Profile is commonly understood according to four Preferences, which are shortened to first-letter groupings to describe a particular profile. For each Preference, there are two results, which taken together form a complete whole. The Preference assessment indicates how each Preference is cut on your personality, with the more influential trait being dominant. So, in a series of 4 trait differences, between a) Extraversion or Introversion, b) Sensing or iNtuition, c) Thinking or Feeling and d) Judging and Perceiving. (Funder, 38). What the Personality Assessment tells you is which trait of each Preference is greater in you. The ratio dominance between the identified trait and the other trait is generally considered to be around 70 to 30 percent (Funder, 46).
My results on the Jung Personality Test indicated that I am an ENTP. As an extrovert, I find energy in things and people, as well as being an on the fly actor and enjoying active engagement in the world. My second trait finds that I am intuitive rather than sensing. This characterization is meant to reflect how I gather information about the world, and whether I collect data in an abstract literal fashion as a sensing person, or if I am predominately oriented towards pattern recognition, meta-analysis and generating possibilities about the world rather than remaining stuck in the literal observation of what things are. I found this aspect of my character to be amazingly true. As predominately a thinker rather than a feeler, I am more inclined to seek a rational, empirical basis for my judgments rather than making subjective assessments based on my current mood. This, also, I found reflective of my personality as I am more inclined to do things based on logical analysis (which I find more trustworthy) as well as my own values (which reside as objective criteria). As a trait-dominant perceptive person, I am spontaneous but also adaptible. I am able to flexible in how I act in the world, and often will take action with little preparation but will force ahead. This is exactly how I recognize myself.
As an ENTP, one interpretation describes me as “clever” and emphasizes my mental dexterity, ability to multi-task, and the fact that I may be dynamic and even on the disorganized side in terms of planning (Funder, 47). Interestingly, my Personality Profile test described my dominant trait as “Driven”, which gives a slightly different qualitative emphasis to this picture. As one who is driven, I am action-oriented, goal seeking and find personal motivation within myself. Internally, I feel driven yes. What I found intriguing about the Jung Test was its ability to pull out some ambivalent tendencies that exist in my own behaviors. The aesthetic quality of the person in the description for an ENTP reflects a person who is not entirely linear in their thinking and whose charisma may sometimes conflict or interfere with direct pursuit of goals. My drive finds pleasure in intermediate steps and sometimes is focused on means rather than ends.
Works Cited
McCrae, Robert R., and Paul T. Costa Jr. "A five-factor theory of personality."Handbook of personality: Theory and research 2 (1999): 139-153.
Funder, David C. The Personality Puzzle. WW Norton & Company, 2015. Web. 4 February 2016 https://books.google.com/books?id=DEreCgAAQBAJ&lpg.
