Personality Type: Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging Lisa Guzzo Essay
The following pages will describe my Myers-Briggs Personality Score. I have completed the same if not similar tests many times and I always end up with the same score, Introversion, Sensing, Feeling and Judging. That being said my feeling category is always borderline on the thinking as well. It’s like a 52 to 48 % split so it depends on which questions the tests ask how close I am to feeling/thinker. To me that just shows that I make my decisions based on my feelings and by thinking through the consequences of my choice. Personality Type: Introversion, Sensing, Feeling and Judging.I have always agreed with my personality type scoring.
I used it as part of my explanation for our very first question when you asked us to describe our personality. I have come to understand my personality type and see how it affects my everyday life including my career. That being said I always remind people of what Thompson and Henderson (2007) discuss, the letters indicate the preference yes, but it’s actually the numerical score that indicates the strength of that preference. Therefore to say that I am a feeler is not 100 % accurate. My preference is feeling however that score is always just over the 50/50 mark.I would also consider myself a very logical person especially in particular areas of my life for example my career.
Overall my personality type matches me very closely. Heiss (2007) states, that the number one characteristic for ISFJ’s is the desire to serve others. I would have to agree with that statement as I can remember being as young as four years old and telling my mom that I wanted to work with kids when I was all grown up. I have always felt this deep connection with other people and found myself to be extremely empathetic almost to a fault. It can be extremely draining to feel all of the emotions of the people around me.If you look at my personality type in two main aspects of my life, personal and business you will see that I match the general traits of an ISFJ. Most importantly above all is my family which also coincides with the ISFJ subtypes. Before I heard of Jung’s Personality types I would make statements like, “I’m the friend that everyone goes to when they have a problem” or “I’m exhausted tonight, I think I am going to stay in and read a book and re-charge”.
Once I was introduced to Myers-Briggs Type Indicator I realized that what I was describing was the ISFJ personality type.I always had a few very close friends as I mentioned I was and continue to be the friend that others ran to when they needed support. I consider myself to be extremely loyal and I have friendship that span over two decades. I would chose to hang out with three or four people rather than going out to a club. I find it exhausting to be around a lot of people as a child I did not understand why I became so anxious at crowded events like parades or concerts. Now as an adult I understand and I am able to manage large groups of people.On the business side of things I just like most ISFJ’s can be depended on to complete things, I will and have worked long and hard to ensure all tasks get completed.
I have a very strong work ethic and have held a job consistently since the age of thirteen; I have never been without work. My previous job before this one I was at for 11 years. As most ISFJ’s I often felt unappreciated and overworked at home and work until I realized that it was mostly my own fault. I am horrible at delegating and every year I put it on my personal development plans at work to continue to work on delegation skills.If we break down each scale we can see how closely I fit into the ISFJ personality type. The first scale, Extravert/Introvert is the scale where most people guess wrong if asked to describe my personality. On the outside I am a very bubbly, happy and outgoing person. I find it easy to make new friends and speak in front of groups with ease.
These characteristics alone tend to confuse people when asked if they think I am extraverted or introverted. When I tell people that I am an introvert, they disagree and say things like, “How can you consider yourself an introvert you’re so outgoing and you take control of a room, you’re a born leader”.It is not until I explain to that person that the scale is actually looking for how a person gets renewed psychic energy that it they believe me that I am an introvert. I re-charge my energy by doing mostly solitary things or socializing with very small groups of two or three other people. I enjoy baths, reading books and talking walk alone. Do not get me wrong, it’s a scale and I am able to move more to the extroverted side when needed, I tell people I’m an introvert who’s very good at acting extraverted.Keep in mind after “acting extraverted” or presenting all day to a large group of people I am drained and require some alone time before I even want to talk to anyone.
The next scale, Sensing and Intuition I am definitely sensing. I am extremely realistic and prefer to focus on the facts. I joke with the youth that I work with that a pet peeve of mine is the words, “what if…” My husband knows not to use the words what if with me.
I feel that what if’s can go on forever and will just take people in circles. I prefer to focus on the concrete and present. I am very much a focus on the present type of person.I am very in-tune with my surroundings and I have an excellent sense of space and function. The fact that I am so observant comes in handy when working with youth, add to that the fact that I am a feeler and am highly observant and aware of other’s feelings makes me an excellent child and youth worker. I am able to notice slight differences in the youth’s demeanor, things as small as parting their hair a different way.
My co-worker use to tease me when I noticed such small changes until she witnessed me approach a youth about the changes in her hair and the connection to what was happening in her life at that time.On the next scale, thinking and feeling I am a feeler although, as I mentioned before this number is not far to one side of the scale. I sit more in the middle with this category. My preference is definitely to focus on the person. I am extremely empathetic and value based. However, when it comes to making decisions I am very logical in the sense that I make lists, I write out my pro’s and con’s before making any decisions especially if they could affect my family.
For example, I have stayed in work situations where I was unhappy because it was not realistic for me to quit.My emotions were screaming to leave the situation however I had to weigh the options and chose to stay until I had secured further full time employment somewhere else. Being from the feeler scale I am uncomfortable with conflict and confrontation and seek harmony. Again, this can go back to my role with my friends. I am the mediator.
I hate conflict and will do whatever it takes to “fix” the problem. I take great satisfaction in giving people what they need. Helping others is number one on my priority list just below my family of course.The fourth and final scale, judging and perceiving I fall more on the judging side. You can see how all of these scales overlap one another and affect one another. As mentioned earlier I like lists. I am extremely organized and thrive with structure and schedules. I have excellent organizational abilities which are not always seen as a positive thing.
It depends who you are working with, I can be known as a micromanager. I do not delegate well. If you were to look into the office I share with my co-worker you would see the polar opposites.My desk is extremely organized and colour coded. I use post it and label things when prepping for my groups. The co-facilitators literally pick up an agenda I have made for them and can run the group. I have post its on each paper explaining what it is and when to hand it out to the group. This works well for some people they enjoy my organization as they have come to rely on it and know how dependable I am.
I do not want you to think that I am against change, as I know how important change is; I would probably just require more time to adjust that is all.I love being organized and I can rest easily knowing that I have it all organized however I often yearn for spontaneity. I have been known to tell my husband about dreams where he planned an entire trip for us even as far as booking my time off work and packing my bag.
All he told me was to show up at the airport at this time. When I tell my husband this, he laughs because he knows it’s virtually impossible to surprise me and I would probably never be okay with not being involved in the planning and organizing of a trip, however the idea seems so romantic to me.In conclusion, I am the poster child for the ISFJ personality type. Even as far as the possible career paths for ISFJ, child and youth work, social work, teaching and counselling all of which I have done and continue to do are on the top of the list. I am extremely in tune with other people’s feelings and love to help. I am drawn to our vulnerable population, children.
What better career than a play therapist. I look forward to continuing my education and work experience and maybe one day having the opportunity to open up my own practice for Child Play Therapy.ReferencesFriedman, H. S.
, & Schustack, M. W. (2012). Personality Classic therories and modern research.
(5 ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson. Heiss, M.
M. (2007, August 20). Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging. Retrieved from http://typelogic. com/isfj.
html Thompson, C. L. , & Henderson, D. A.
(2007). Counselling Children. (7ed.
). Belmont, CA: Thomson. The following links were used when testing for my ISFJ Personality score prior to assignment: http://similarminds.
com/jung. html http://www. personalitypage. com/
