The purpose of this page is to try to describe how I see myself using temperament models and theories. It would be convenient if we could all easily fit into a specific MBTI temperament type, but we all develop differently and very few people will clearly fit all the descriptions of a specific temperament, but most people will be able to find one that they identify with more than the others. One of the first questions that comes to mind is “why does it matter?”

Why is it so important to get to "true type"?
In our understandings and research about personality, we have come to recognize that to behave in ways not consistent with one's inborn pattern takes a tremendous amount of energy. In fact, it is highly related to stress. Temperament and type dynamics theory states we have favorite abilities that help us meet our psychological needs. These are specific to each temperament. When we get to use these "intelligences," we not only tend to excel, we also feel good about ourselves and are energized. In fact, it seems we find ways to use these talents even when they are not part of the job.

In my case, there are several types that I identify with and it is my goal to describe what aspects of each temperament I identify with and which ones I do not identify with to paint a picture of how I think and what things motivate me. These pages will reference aspects of temperament theory. If you are not already familiar with it, here is a pretty good basic description and a link to the page that it is from. That page uses different names for the same things talked about by other temperament theory authors. Since I may be using some of these descriptions interchangeably, here are the equivalents.

NF	Intuitive Feeling	Idealist	Catalyst
NT	Intuitive Thinking	Rational	Theorist
SP	Sensing Perceiving	Artisan	Improviser
SJ	Sensing Judging	Guardian	Stabilizer

Temperament theory describes four organizing patterns of personality and is based in descriptions of behavior that go back over twenty-five centuries. It tells us the "why" of behavior, our motivators, and sources of deep psychological stress. Knowing our temperament patterns tells us our core needs and values as well as the talents we are more likely to be drawn to develop.

I would say that I identify more with the values, needs and desires of the Catalyst/Idealist but think a lot like a Rational/Theorist. I have a few things in common with Artisan/Improviser and very little in common with Guardian/Stabilizer. For the rest of this, I’ll pretty much be ignoring SP and SJ types and focusing on the distinctions between NF and NT. I have used bold on the parts of these descriptions that I feel I most closely identify with, but keep in mind this is just how I see myself and I may be delusional. J

People of the Catalyst™ Temperament . . .

Want to be authentic, benevolent, and empathic. Search for identity, meaning, and significance. Are relationship oriented, particularly valuing meaningful relationships. Tend to be idealistic and visionary, wanting to make the world a better place. Look to the future. Trust their intuition, imagination, and impressions. Focus on developing potential, fostering and facilitating growth through coaching, teaching, counseling, and communicating. Generally are enthusiastic. Think in terms of integration and similarities and look for universals. Often are gifted in the use of metaphors to bridge different perspectives. Usually are diplomatic. Frequently are drawn to work that inspires and develops people and relationships.

People of the Theorist™ Temperament . . .

Want knowledge and to be competent, to achieve mastery. Seek expertise to understand how the world and things in it work. Are theory oriented. See everything as conditional and relative. Are oriented to the infinite. Trust logic and reason. Want to have a rationale for everything. Are skeptical. Think in terms of differences, delineating categories, definitions, structures, and functions. Hunger for precision, especially in thought and language. Usually are skilled at long-range planning, inventing, designing, and defining. Generally are calm. Foster individualism. Frequently gravitate toward technology and the sciences. Tend to be well suited for engineering and devising strategy, whether in the social sciences or physical sciences.

Needs and Values

The core needs are for the meaning and significance that come from having a sense of purpose and working toward some greater good. They need to have a sense of unique identity. They value unity, self-actualization, and authenticity. People of this temperament prefer cooperative interactions with a focus on ethics and morality. They tend to trust their intuition and impressions first and then seek to find the logic and the data to support them. Given their need for empathic relationships, they learn more easily when they can relate to the instructor and the group.

Needs and Values

The core needs are for mastery of concepts, knowledge, and competence. People of this temperament want to understand the operating principles of the universe and to learn or even develop theories for everything. They value expertise, logical consistency, concepts, and ideas and seek progress. They tend toward pragmatic, utilitarian actions with a technology focus. They trust logic above all else. They tend to be skeptical and highly value precision in language. Their learning style is conceptual, and they want to know the underlying principles that generate the details and facts rather than the details alone.

Talents

They tend to be gifted at unifying diverse peoples and helping individuals realize their potential. They build bridges between people through empathy and clarification of deeper issues. They use these same skills to help people work through difficulties. Thus, they can make excellent mediators, helping people and companies solve conflicts through mutual cooperation. If working on a global level, they champion a cause. If working on an individual level, they focus on growth and development of the person.

Talents

They prefer using their gifts of strategic analysis to approach all situations. They constantly examine the relationship of the means to the overall vision and goal. No strangers to complexity, theories, and models, they like to think of all possible contingencies and develop multiple plans for handling them. They abstractly analyze a situation and consider previously unthought-of possibilities. Researching, analyzing, searching for patterns, and developing hypotheses are quite likely to be their natural modus operandi.

A different way to look at it rather than comparing how much of a temperament is a match is to ask what of those would be the most difficult to give up.

Source: http://www.infj.com/INFJ_Temperament.htm

Be careful when exploring the notion of Temperament to release thinking "we're all alike underneath." That's an ineffective approach with this model. If you believe all four of these patterns describe you to some extent, that's okay -- but don't take anything for granted. Explore these descriptions from a mindset of what you can't live without instead of "adding" elements on top of the way you are. In other words, Theorists are not people who crave a unique identity and meaning and significance in their lives who coincidentally are trying to accumulate knowledge besides. And vice-versa for Catalysts! To discover your best-fit Temperament, you must decide which values you can't live without. Let's face it -- many people accumulate knowledge and seek meaning in their lives, and INFJs crave both. The key is to determine what you must have in order to live. As Dr. Berens says, "Theorists would be psychologically dead if they could not pursue knowledge, and Catalysts would be psychologically dead if they could not pursue meaning." So don't consider how you would like to be in a perfect world -- instead, consider what would destroy you if you couldn't pursue it anymore (or you pursue it so automatically you don't even think about it!).

And from the same page, here’s another twist to consider.

Here's a metaphor by way of example: do you suppose Olympics swimmers are better at swimming or walking? My hunch is they're better at walking, but they don't spend much time thinking about walking since they are unconsciously competent at it. In a similar way, we may satisfy our core needs so unconsciously that we're unaware of them, and may fool ourselves into thinking we want to satisfy a different need entirely.

A helpful principle is to recognize that Theorists are interested in uncovering the operating principles of the universe, while Catalysts are interested in relationships. So the question to ask yourself is which of these interests do you devote more time and energy to?

Ok, so I think about it and decide that it would be much more difficult to give up my need to apply meaning to the things I do than to than pursuit of knowledge, but is that just because my pursuit of knowledge is so subconscious and automatic that I don’t think about it? So I think a bit more and reflect on the last decade or so and see that there were at least several years there where I didn’t really do anything that would qualify as pursuit of knowledge on its own (when I did it was always to get information to make informed decisions or to help complete a task) but I can’t think of any time where I wasn’t constantly evaluating my emotions and trying to dream up ways to fulfill my emotional and relationship desires. Results and desire/intent definitely do not match up there (the fact that very few of my ideas were practical enough to even consider acting on might also seem a trait of idealism), but in the sense of what I devoted my energy to (and continue to) it would seem that I should exclude NT on the basis of it being a much lower priority even if some of the descriptions fit well.

So… now onto more specific types.

NF can be further divided into INFP, INFJ, ENFP and ENFJ.

Since I see myself as introverted (the I vs E part) that eliminates half of those. Of the remaining types, I will include text from several sources doing the same thing as above.

Here are descriptions from http://www.mbtitoday.org/typechars.html.

INFJ	INFP
Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm values. Develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common good. Organized and decisive in implementing their vision.	Idealistic, loyal to their values and to people who are important to them. Want an external life that is congruent with their values. Curious, quick to see possibilities, can be catalysts for implementing ideas. Seek to understand people and to help them fulfill their potential. Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a value is threatened.

Ok, still not very conclusive there, so here is a look at two comparative self descriptions from each type from http://www.bestfittype.com/

Most of this fits pretty well for either, so I’ll try to focus on what stands out the most.

INFJ

INFP

What’s it like to be you?

The quest for more knowledge, the meaning of life, the philosophical questions—my mind is always occupied, and what’s exciting is when I get to follow through with an insight and do something. I am an abstract future thinker, looking at things from different perspectives. I’m about the relationships and possibilities and enjoy anything with deeper meaning that leaves me wondering, with more questions to ask and things to untangle. Connecting for me means being able to intuitively ask questions of people to get them to go deeper into the things they are talking about.

Inspiring others, helping them find their purpose or meaning, being a different kind of leader from what’s traditional—that’s really gratifying. I just do that naturally. The challenge is opening up people’s minds to have their own original thoughts. I’m a listener and guide.

I think I am a mystery to people. They never really understand me and part of me enjoys that. More often though, I long to be understood.

I tend to approach my day with a structured way of getting things accomplished. People see me as organized, thorough, and easy to get along with, pulling my own weight and eager to help out when called upon. But I’m not as outgoing or as critical as I may sometimes appear. I need a balance between people contact and working on creative projects and will break away from interactions when I get tired out. If I don’t have some long-term goals, then what’s the point?

I tend to intuitively read people very quickly, but I have to be cautious not to make assumptions. I’m an observer. I get a feeling when people are interesting, and I watch from a distance, make some assessments about the situation, and then approach them and engage in conversation. I put a little bit out and a little more and see how that goes. Do I trust and like them, are they who they say? I have a few deep friendships. A friendship comes best when it is worked to develop that investment. I quickly pick up on sincerity and withdraw if the person is superficial or obviously doesn’t care. When I see people who abuse their power or won’t stand behind what they say, that ticks me off. It’s about integrity. I feel other people’s feelings, and taking on that burden can make me too intense and serious, where I can’t be spontaneous and fun loving.

I like whatever gets us to think beyond the box, where people can function better because they are not afraid to say things they really feel. I have a lot of imagination and by and large can amuse myself. I love independent projects and reading and writing. I do my best thinking alone, and I like getting out in nature, being alone to go inside and center myself. I have always been drawn to the spiritual. Everywhere, I see life in symbols. Symbols give me focus. Sometimes the connections and perceptions in my mind are so abstract there are no words to explain. A lot of times I just know something and can’t explain it—a premonition that’s hard to articulate. If it’s strong I usually say something or explore where it’s coming from, but I will keep it to myself if people don’t seem to understand. Informed decisions require lots of information and looking at a situation from as many different points of view as possible. I find it amusing, the absurdity in everyday situations.

It is painful when there is conflict or when I offer advice and someone chooses not to take it. For me, I have to prepare myself for what is going to happen so I can either support people in a positive way or get away and wait out the inevitable heavy duty stuff before returning to fix things. How will it impact me and the people in my life? Will it put me in another place or another level where I can grow more? Not knowing the right thing to say and do is stressful.

Everything revolves around growth. Caring is about the ability to help others grow. What I bring is caring about people, not things. If we spent more time trying to understand each other’s point of view, to communicate more effectively, we would grow. In an honest, open, sincere relationship, I can accomplish anything. My challenge is to create those kinds of relationships. I respect most the person who is willing to come forth and be an individual—to make the world a better place, or make a difference in a person’s life, where we reach each other’s hearts.

What’s it like to be you?

I have a very internal focus. I think I look at myself through other people’s eyes, but sometimes I can lose touch with how things work for me. Then I can get introspective, going very deep and staying there, not coming out too quickly or easily. Somehow I find it very difficult to put into words and communicate the things that really matter to me. Most people don’t have the foggiest notion about what goes on with me.

I like harmony and seek consensus and do well with the deep issues. My values and the things that are important to me often feel outside the mainstream in the sense that I feel impinged upon and uncomfortable with so much of what goes on. I’m too private to push my values on to other people, but I am convinced that one ought to be congruent in their own life if they are going to expect congruence from others. In a sense I hold other people to that standard, and I worry about my own incongruities, inconsistencies, and contradictions. Groups can be hard. I can put myself in the group process so rapidly and so completely, and it’s important not to get sucked in. I need to be predictable about what I believe.

I am a global thinker and I like to learn interactively. My thoughts need to be connected with some person or value. On reflection, don’t all thoughts have to be connected to something? I feed new information into other things I’ve read and my thoughts, and I can have a marvelous time just sitting with ideas. And I like to discuss or write things because I seem to have a lot in my head and I’ve got to get it out. I love bringing together different eclectic ideas and seeing what’s similar. I like to have my own ideas, hear others ideas, and have ideas challenged, bantering back and forth. Chitchat has no interest for me. I tend to do a lot of mental rehearsal and play in problem solving, and the fun part is figuring out how to do something. Motivation comes when something has real meaning or value for me, and while I enjoy ideas I don’t like having my values challenged.

For me, asking questions is just a different form of being quiet, a way to explore an inner thought stream or check out of reality and back into my thoughts. Sometimes I chuckle at myself that there is really no sequential way that I work though tasks.

I have always trusted my intuition, even before I was aware of it. I enjoy talking to people. It’s interesting to learn about them, where they’re coming from and how they invent their reality. And I have an innate talent for reading between the lines—to hear what hasn’t been said—and a sense of what needs to be said and done. I tend to form impressions right away about people, and most of the time I feel pretty good about my impressions but sometimes I am way off. At least if the people have good intentions, I can relax.

I enjoy seeing people enjoy who they are, and I get a lot of joy helping others discover that they have value. Being able to help someone in their darkest hour, to communicate across differences and find common ways of working together, that is very satisfying because then there is a real sense of closeness and acceptance and a genuine pursuit of helping people heal and achieve their goals. I hold on to relationships even though we may go long periods without seeing each other, and I cherish those long associations.

I’m concerned about how others feel when they are around me. Lack of honesty or ethics or integrity in interactions—when someone is saying one thing but doing another—really puts me off. So does when someone doesn’t honor, or accept as valid, my communication or feeling as I try to talk to them about something that matters to me. And I don’t need to talk about myself. I don’t enjoy it. Sometimes I’m frustrated trying to communicate, and sometimes a metaphor or a joke or a story is a way to effectively express myself so what I’m saying can be heard by someone who hears or experiences things differently.

I don’t know what I am going to do next, but I trust in myself that something will come in as a new idea, with challenge and inner meaning. Whatever it is, it will be right. Although I would never actually say it, it feels as though I am grounded in the very being of who I am when I talk like this.

And so things would seem to point to me being an INFP. I’ve got a few more books on my shopping list I want to read before making a final decision, but for now I’ll just say I seem to be an INFP with a few anomalous traits that would be more likely to show up in INFJ or INTP.

In the time since I first wrote that (summer of 2007), I have read several more books, and still feel that I relate more to INFP than the other types, but still see similarities to other types including a much stronger connection to ENFPs than I would have expected for how introverted I perceive myself to be.