I took 2 online Myers Briggs tests today. One put me at ISTP and one ISFJ. When I took the real test 10+ years ago I was INTJ. However I remember at the time I believed that I might answer the questions differently at home vs work. I’m in a different place now at home and at work. They say your true personality doesn’t change but I do make an effort to talk to people now. I make it a priority bc it’s my job. I also do it at church bc I don’t want people to come to my church and leave with no one talking to them. (That happened to me and it’s so hurtful.) And I’ve noticed in my old age that I need friends. Idk if I’m just overly standoffish but no one is calling me up asking to go for coffee. But if I make the effort they’ll often find time. 2020 was gonna be my year of cultivating friendships. I’m just starting that now, and so far with just one person who is almost family. (My daughter’s MIL.) At the same time, I really crave my alone time on the weekends. So I have to be careful to not over schedule or I’ll be exhausted.
I also retook a quick enneagram and once again I scored high on both 9 and 5. If you read the popular enneagram books, 9 and 5 don’t go together at all. My daughter says the fact that I argue so vehemently against the validity of this test means I’m a 9. But 9 is the peacemaker so I don’t get that.
I mean, there was a time when my answers were mostly neutral, similar to yours. I think Myers Briggs was the first time I took a test that felt like it “fit”. But I still felt like who I was at home was different.
I think this personality profile was a little biting. The description of me when I am growing verses when I am receding was deadly accurate but felt accusatory.
Personality tests do have validity but it isn’t in the way most people think. These tests are designed to identify what a person’s default state is, not how they react in all situations. For example, on the Myers-Briggs you have the first category being either extroverted or introverted. If you are introverted, like most of us posting here, that means you process things internally and prefer situations that are more subdued. Extroverts process information externally and prefer situations that active. Does that mean an introvert can’t enjoy boisterous, loud activities or that the extrovert can’t sit quietly and think? No, but for doing tasks outside of their preferred style, it takes more energy and those activities don’t energize them in the same way as the opposite style. This is why my spouse, who is a teacher, can basically perform for a large audience all day long even though they are an introvert but when they get home, they need some quiet down time.
I dont think they can accurately identify a default state. That’s my point. I dont think that its possible to identify a default state and not sure one entirely exists.