Attention all introvert writers: Can you find success by tapping into your inner extrovert?
That’s the question I’m posing today in my guest post on Jane Kennedy Sutton’s excellent blog, Jane’s Ride. I provide a link to a site where you can take the Jung Typology Test. Answer 60 yes/no questions, and the site will tell you which of 16 personality types best describes you. So far, five of us writers have taken the test, and we all score as introverts. What about you? Go to www.humanmetrics.com and find out. Post the results in your comments on Jane’s blog, or you can leave a comment here. I’ll tabulate the responses from both blogs. Then, needless to say, I’ll blog about it.
If you’re not a writer, please take the test and post your results anyway, along with your line of work or anything else you want to share. We need a control group too!
The test tells me I’m an INFP. Those initials stand for introvert, intuitive, feeling and perceiving.
According to educational psychologist David Keirsey’s widely used Temperament Sorter, I’m an “idealist healer.” My type “can seem shy, even distant around others. . . Because of their deep-seated reserve, however, they can work quite happily alone. . . They have a natural interest in scholarly activities and demonstrate, like the other Idealists, a remarkable facility with language. They have a gift for interpreting stories, as well as for creating them, and thus often write in lyric, poetic fashion.”
I love that description, and unlike astrology, there’s even some scientific validity to it. Maybe you’ll love your type too! Again the test link is www.humanmetrics.com. To learn more about the four temperaments and the 16 personality types, go to http://keirsey.com. After you have your results, it would be great if you post them here as a comment, and let us know if you think the results are accurate.
On Jane’s blog, I described myself as an introvert. Friday night, when I wrote the post, I was psyching myself up for my Author of the Year award luncheon on Saturday, writing about how I enjoy talking about my work but dread the one-to-one interactions at the signing table later, when I have to put on my perky face and try to sell books. As it turned out, I had a great time Saturday. During the talk, I disregarded my notes and improvised. I was at my hypomanic, extroverted best, and more people bought my books than ever before. No doubt my mood and my image were enhanced by the presence of my husband, who handled the books sales, my daughter Stacey, and my granddaughters Kaya (ten) and Jasper (three). Kaya videotaped my talk, and maybe I’ll figure out how to post it on You Tube one of these days.
After the luncheon, we spent some quality family time at the New York State museum, including a couple of spins for the kids on the vintage merry-go-round. Then Stacey and the girls headed back to Woodstock, and my husband and I headed over to some friends’ house for a gourmet French dinner party we’d purchased at a silent auction at our Unitarian Universalist church. Atypically, rather than feeling drained and ready to retreat into silence after doing my author bit, I stayed in full-throttle extrovert mode for the rest of the evening.
It just goes to show that, as I wrote on Jane’s blog, our personalities are endlessly complex, and most of us have the ability to shift from one role to another as the occasion demands. I hope you’ll go to www.humanmetrics.com, take the Jung Typology Test, and share your results with me.
I’m heading for the home stretch on my Blog Book Tour. Tomorrow I’ll be on Toni Andrews’ blog. I’ll post her link and the last three later. Right now, though, I’ve got two blog posts to write before I drive over to SUNY-Albany for the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the NYS Writers Institute. Mario Cuomo and Doris Kearns Goodwin are the featured speakers, so I’d best get there early! These events are free, and they tend to fill up fast. Waiting in line, I’ll have plenty of time for networking, so I’ll bring my books and rev up to play extrovert once more.
julielomoe says
WorodPress tells me the above response is a “Ping Back,” and while I’ve known of their existence, this is the first time I’ve ever gotten one. Can anyone tell me what it means and who it’s from?
Therese says
Julie — I think pingback means some other blog or Twitter account has set up a link to this post on your blog. I could be mistaken, though.
Today I tested as an ISFJ, but the S/N ratio is almost equal — 51/49%. Yes, I fit the ISFJ type “Guardian” : concerned with my family’s safety and security, diligent, thorough, happy when alone, wanting to be of service, can deal with disability, sincere, serious, but often misjudged and misunderstood because of shyness and other reasons.