I tried out a new personality test website the other day called 16 personalities. I came up as an Advocate or an INFJ-A. This is a Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) type personality test for those who aren’t familiar with the letters:
- The I means I am an introvert (63%) more than an extrovert (37%) and can “get exhausted by social interactions”. It also means that I recharge my energy through solitary activities.
- The N means I am intuitive (58%) rather than sensing or observant (42%) and that I am “very imaginative, open-minded and curious”. Intuitive individuals “prefer novelty over stability and focus on hidden meanings and future possibilities”.
- The F means that I am feeling (72%) rather than thinking (28%) and am “sensitive and emotionally expressive”. Feeling individuals are “more empathic and less competitive than Thinking types, focusing on social harmony and co-operation”.
- The J means that I am judging (60%) rather than perceiving or prospecting (40%). This means that I “approach work, planning and decision making” in a “decisive, thorough, and highly organised” way. Judging individuals “value clarity, predictability and closure, preferring structure and planning to spontaneity”.
- The A means that I am assertive (65%) rather than turbulent (35%). Assertive individuals are “self-assured, even-tempered and resistant to stress. They refuse to worry too much and do not push themselves too hard when it comes to achieving goals”.
HOW HAS MY PERSONALITY CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?
Interestingly, I have taken the MBTI on several occasions and have achieved very different results. Way back before I sought any personal therapy, about 10 years ago, I was an ENTJ, which is a Commander. This does not seem to fit me anymore, but it did back then when I was much more competitive and egotistical. I was young and thought I had it all figured out. My father called me “un-coachable” when he was my basketball coach for 2 seasons, which isn’t great news. It might explain why I have one of the ugliest jump shots going around and no range from outside the key.
I became an ENFJ when I took the test about 5 years ago, which is sometimes referred to as a Protagonist. It meant that I was still an extrovert, but I had switched from thinking to a feeling subtype. Interestingly, this doesn’t seem to fit me too much anymore, as I really don’t try to lead others. Instead, I try to help them understand themselves and become the person they want to be, not who I think they should be.
IS IT WORTH COMPLETING A PERSONALITY TEST?
Normally, I’ve been fairly dismissive of the MBTI, as it doesn’t have much scientific evidence supporting it. However, the description of the Advocate personality type on the 16personalities website was creepily spot on in some regards for me, including:
“INFJs are not idle dreamers, but people capable of taking concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting positive impact.”
“INFJs tend to see helping others as their purpose in life, but while people with this personality type can be found engaging rescue efforts and doing charity work, their real passion is to get to the heart of the issue so that I need not rescue people at all.”
“It makes sense that their friends and colleagues will come to think of them as quiet Extraverted types, but they would all do well to remember that INFJs need time alone to decompress and recharge and not to become too alarmed when they suddenly withdraw.”
“The passion of their convictions is perfectly capable of carrying them past their breaking point, and if their zeal gets out of hand, they can find themselves exhausted, unhealthy and stressed.”
“One of the things INFJs find most important is establishing genuine, deep connections with the people they care about.”
“There is a running theme with INFJs, and that is a yearning for authenticity and sincerity — in their activities, their romantic relationships, and their friendships.”
“INFJs seek out people who share their passions, interests and ideologies, people with whom they can explore philosophies and subjects that they believe are truly meaningful.”
“People with the INFJ personality type make loyal and supportive companions, encouraging growth and life-enriching experiences with warmth, excitement and care.”
“INFJs don’t require a great deal of day-to-day attention — for them, quality trumps quantity every time.”
“First and foremost, INFJs need to find meaning in their work, to know that they are helping and connecting with people. This desire to help and connect makes careers in healthcare, especially the more holistic varieties, advantageous for INFJs — roles as counsellors, psychologists, doctors, life coaches and spiritual guides are all attractive options.”
“INFJs crave creativity too, the ability to use their insight to connect events and situations, effecting real change in others’ lives personally.”
“INFJs often pursue expressive careers such as writing, elegant communicators that they are, and author many popular blogs, stories and screenplays. Music, photography, design and art are viable options too, and they all can focus on deeper themes of personal growth, morality and spirituality.”
Other people may disagree with me, but these quotes were consistent with how I’d like to see myself and what I truly value in life.
RECOMMENDATION
If you’ve never taken an MBTI personality test before, check it out at 16personalities.com and let me know if it was as accurate for you as it was for me. If you’ve already taken it, I’d love to hear about if it has changed over time and if your description now feels more accurate than how it defined you in the past?
Dr Damon Ashworth
Clinical Psychologist
Damon Ashworth Psychology 
I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a moment: “…these quotes were consistent with how I’d like to see myself…” This is actually one of the biggest pitfalls of the MBTI. When you answered, did you answer based on your day-to-day as you live it or as how you wish it were?
In my 20’s, I typed as an INFJ. At the time, I felt as if the description fit me pretty accurately.Over the last 5-6 years, I’ve consistently typed as an ENFP with variations in my (N) and (F) percentages depending on what was going on in my life. I feel as ENFP truly fits me. I don’t forsee it changing again unless I go through a major life change or major trauma.
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I just went with my immediate instinct for each answer and didn’t try to overthink it too much. It’s how I generally answer all subjective quizzes. I agree that it’s not super scientific, but still found it interesting how personality can change over time, which you’ve found too. Maybe it stays more consistent once we get to a certain age. I look forward to seeing how mine continues to evolve over time!
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I took the test, I have done it before in a work environment. Today it is Advocate INFJ-A It was interesting.
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I have taken this test every two years, and each time I have ended up with ISFJ-A “The Defender”. I would say for me, it is very accurate. In regards to personalities changing – Absolutely. As we go through life we evolve and our perceptions can change, this is what makes us human and interesting (In my opinion). 🙂
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Definitely. I agree 🙂
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I got ESFP – The Entertainer! Pretty spot in I must say 😎
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I do a Myers-Briggs style test every year or two and the results are fairly consistent. I have noticed, though, the descriptions of the personality types vary in quality, from test to test. Personality profile descriptions in some tests were a bit wishy-washy, like a horoscope.
Years ago, as an experiment I read someone’s else horoscope for a month. The horoscopes began to read like they were for me. Perhaps we warm to the subject (ourselves) so much we read over the inaccuracies.
I tried this type of experiment on Myers-Briggs too. I read a friend’s personality profile and tried to see myself in it. While the result wasn’t quite as striking as the horoscope experiment, I could see a lot of my personality in my friend’s profile, despite us being almost opposite personality types.
This is not to say personality tests are not useful or are terribly inaccurate. I just make the point that we are probably biased in how accurate we assess them to be.
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Nice! I’m an INTJ!
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It resulted as me being an INTP. I would say that a lot of it is accurate except for the part about discounting others’ emotions.
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Hmmm. Yes, i think that contrary to what “everybody” says, the we can change our type. For example, suppose a young boy reeeea!ly loved Motorcycles or was somewhat of a daredevil and then got hurt. Lets say he recovered but lost his daredevil ways. That the desire for risk-taking thrills was no more. No, not depression. Just no longer a “craving for the RUSH or adrenaline”. Thats a change in who he is, or was. Likewise, take young girl who had some Acne and was kinda flat-chested in jr. High, never got asked to dances and was quite introverted, but then— suddenly in 11th grade her skin clears up, and she really starts to blossom and develop and now half the guys in school would love to be her boyfriend. And knowing this, her confidence siars! No mire introvert. It could happen. But there’s something else i think we should all be aware of:
While many people will say they took the test multiple times and came out the same, we can still ask:
Is that because they truly are the—– is it because they *want* to be an INFJ or INTJ (because they’ve been called The Mastermind and wouldn’t it be so Cool to be that, or— to be an INTP female because they are rare, or if you are rare, then you get to feel “special”…? Of course, this isn’t politically-correct or popular, but thats all the more reason we should pause and take a thoughtful look at things.
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Having taken the MBTI several times over the years I’ve only received on result that wasn’t INTJ, on that occasion it returned INFJ. I wonder if this result was just a blip given all other occasions I returned the INTJ and the characteristics I read for this personality almost entirely read as though they’d interviewed me.
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Not matter how much I think I’ve changed, I always get INFJ too,lol
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I’ve taken this test too. I got advocate INFJ-T and it told me it was the rarest type of personality. On one hand, I was motivated to go and do something with my life but on the other hand, should I really just believe a website and it telling me what personality I am from a small test?
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There is a lot of debate about the scientific validity or utility of the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, which is this test. I say if it helps to motivate you to make some positive changes, use it. If not, don’t worry about it too much!
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Hey Damon! Hmm, I love personality tests. I think they are super fun to take and guess on other people. But I don’t think they should be taken too seriously because people are so dynamic and change in certain settings and under certain circumstances. I don’t really think my personality (isfj) fits me any better than esfp or esfj. When I took the test I was actually xsfj, and had the option to read both and choose one. Haha. Don’t you think the descriptions are a weird combination of detailed and vague that can really describe a lot of people? I highly identified with multiple MBTI types. Maybe I’m just an enigma.
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