ISTJ

The other day, I received a large envelope from Pitt Med.  I was expecting information on orientation and the white coat ceremony, but all it contained was a Meyers-Briggs test that we had to complete before arriving at orientation.

The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is essentially a personality test that measures how you prefer to interact with the world and make decisions.  There are 4 dichotomies represented by 8 letters, and your "type" consists of one letter from each dichotomy.  The 4 dichotomies are:

1 - Extroversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
2 - Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)
3 - Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
4 - Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

I took the self test, which consisted of 93 questions asking to choose between two opposing scenarios or words.  For example, I had to choose between the words "possibilities" and "certainties," or choosing between going by a set schedule or just going with the flow.  Each preference is correlated with a certain letter above.

My score is ISTJ, which is apparently one of the most common scores (10-14% of the population according to Wikipedia).  This is the little blurb associated with my score in the test booklet:

Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability.  Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible.  Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions.  Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized--their work, their home [HA!], their life.  Value traditions and loyalty.

Basically dead on except for that little part about having an organized home.  My room at home is pretty messy (ok, extremely messy) but in my defense, I know where EVERYTHING is.  So maybe that part isn't complete false?  I think my family would beg to differ.  ;-)

I always find myself wanting to learn more (sometimes I just get lost in Wikipedia learning about random things!) so while researching my score, I found this website.  ISTJ is the "duty fulfiller."  Here are some lines from the site that I think especially pertain to me:

As an ISTJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion.  Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things rationally and logically.

Organized and methodical in their approach, they can generally succeed at any task which they undertake

ISTJs have tremendous respect for facts.  They hold a tremendous store of facts within themselves, which they have gathered through their Sensing preference.

ISTJs usually have a great sense of space and function, and artistic appreciation.

ISTJs tend to believe in laws and traditions, and expect the same from others.  They're not comfortable with breaking laws or going against the rules.

The ISTJ is extremely dependable on following through with things which he or she has promised.  For this reason, they sometimes get more and more work piled on top of them.  Because the ISTJ has such a strong sense of duty, they may have a difficult time saying "no" when they are given more work than they can reasonably handle.

I could go on with more descriptions I found, but I'm thinking that others might not share my "tremendous respect for facts."  If you've never taken a Meyers-Briggs personality test before, take it now!  I'm pretty amazed at how accurate this was.  There are some free MBTI-type tests here and here.  They're not official tests and I'm not sure how accurate the results are, but it can't hurt to try!

I'm officially back in Pittsburgh, and it is HOT.  The place we're living doesn't have air conditioning, but with 2 ceiling fans and 2 other fans, it's fairly comfortable.  Time to start unpacking and go through orientation!