I took the Jung Typology Test, and if you’re interested in knowing a little bit more about my personality (if my bio page did not already reveal enough), stick around.

I am of the personality type INTJ, which means that I am 67% introverted, 75% intuitive, 88% thinking, and 1% judging. All this translates to my being a Rational Mastermind. I like that title! It makes me feel like an evil little mad scientist!

Masterminds will adopt ideas only if they are useful, which is to say if they work efficiently toward accomplishing the Mastermind’s well-defined goals. Natural leaders, Masterminds are not at all eager to take command of projects or groups, preferring to stay in the background until others demonstrate their inability to lead. Once in charge, however, Masterminds are the supreme pragmatists, seeing reality as a crucible for refining their strategies for goal-directed action. In a sense, Masterminds approach reality as they would a giant chess board, always seeking strategies that have a high payoff, and always devising contingency plans in case of error or adversity.

That pretty much sounds like me. I am not fond of loud, bossy types who equal nothing but fluff and connections. To me, they are shallow and emotionally unbalanced people who compensate for their lack of quality by being loud and bossy. Quite honestly, I usually find myself annoyed when in the company of said people and even though I don’t normally enjoy confrontation, I find that I continuously clash with these types both verbally and intellectually. I am really loud and obnoxious when irritated, and I like how that surprises these people every time.

I am more on the calculating side of things than on the shove-myself-down-people’s-throats type. I am not boasting when I say that when I assume a position of leadership, the outcome is always stellar. That said, I usually avoid working in groups because I feel that group work usually sucks individualism away and I like to stand out and take credit for my work without associating with less-than-brilliant people. Is that uppish?

To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of “definiteness”, of self-confidence. This self-confidence, sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, is actually of a very specific rather than a general nature; its source lies in the specialized knowledge systems that most INTJs start building at an early age.

This practicality that is very much a part of who I am is not always pleasant. I am both practical and passionate about certain people and things, but not enough to lose my balance, which in turn has earned me a reputation of being impersonal, aloof, or heartless. This goes for my position on relationships, work, religion, and basically everything else. It is not easy being an extremely rational person in a society that always asks you to take concepts and practices for granted. My mom calls my attitude “3anjaheyyeh,” while I call it “thinking for myself.”

To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. :-) This sometimes results in a peculiar naivety.

I am not an extremely private person, on the contrary, I am ultra-friendly with people whom I perceive to be on the same “wavelength” as I am. With other people, well, I don’t see why I should be as friendly to them and so I keep my distance. This goes mostly for my behavior in a work environment and in forming new friendships. It’s very functional.

Interestingly, both Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling are INTJs. No wonder I love the Silence of the Lambs trilogy and its characters so much!

You can take the test too and post your results here. For now, this Rational Mastermind bids you adieu.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 4:53 pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.