personality

Almost every person who has a blog writes the token post about personality, so I might as well toss mine into the internet pot, too. I am so fascinated by personality types. Over my 29 years, I have become a student of human nature. I LOVE observing people: their emotions, reactions, facial expressions, personalities, behavior, attitudes, etc. I enjoy people-watching at airports, waiting rooms, and social gatherings. Maybe you notice me studying you and maybe you don't. I try to be discreet. And I try really hard not to put you in a box and slap a label on it because it's presumptuous to claim that you have someone else completely figured out. I think many of us don't even have our own selves figured out let alone know the inner workings and motivations in other people's minds. With that said, human nature can be pretty predictable. We are either sad, mad, or happy and deal with these emotions in our own way.

We usually describe others as either introverts or extroverts. That is a semi-helpful way to start describing someone, but still very vague and general. There are many misguided stereotypes for both categories like introverts are shy, don't like to talk, rude, and extroverts are loud and attention-seeking and like to be with people all the time. A helpful way of understanding the difference, although in no way exhaustive, is this: extroverts, for the most part, are energized by interaction with people and introverts, for the most part, are energized by time spent alone. I am somewhere between introversion and extroversion, but I definitely describe myself as an introvert. I love being alone with my thoughts or a book, a tv show, or even shopping. Most of the time I just want to be left alone or to spend quality time with one other person, just the two of us. The remainder of the time, I enjoy bigger group gatherings so that I can observe people interacting with each other and I also don't have to talk as much as I would if I were hanging out with just one other person. Talking can be very tiring for me. I would much rather listen to you talking especially if you are saying something interesting.

When the topic of personality comes up, it's not uncommon for the Myers-Briggs personality assessment to make its way into the same sentence. I have taken this test a few times and the result is INFJ. This description explains me pretty well. (In case you're interested, read this about INFJs).  Although the Myers-Briggs personality profile is certainly helpful, I still think its assessments are pretty general. I have heard good things about StrengthsFinder. (If you have taken this, please tell me about it in the comments section).

Would you describe yourself as introverted or extroverted? Have you taken the Myers-Briggs personality assessment? If so, what is your personality type? What do you want others to know about your personality? What frustrates you about your personality? What do you like most about your personality?

September 2010 having an introspective moment