Myers-Briggs and the Jazz Guitarist.

**Jabberwocky** · 03-07-2015, 04:32 PM

Just wondering what the distribution amongst jazz guitarists of this forum looks like.

If you wish, you could declare your profile in this thread. Or keep it confidential.

I misspelt Myers-Briggs. Sorry for being a bad speller.

INTP.

**MarkRhodes** · 03-07-2015, 04:40 PM

For me, 4 and 8 (INTJ and INTP.) I have scored both ways.

**edh** · 03-07-2015, 06:19 PM

I have no idea what these abbreviations mean.

**Stu Foley** · 03-07-2015, 06:46 PM

INTP every time.

I think you might be on to something.

**MarkRhodes** · 03-07-2015, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by edh

I have no idea what these abbreviations mean.

The Myers & Briggs Foundation - MBTI® Basics <<<<That should help you out. There are free tests available online. (They aren't as reliable as the more extensive ones given by professionals for a pretty penny, but....)

**pushkar000** · 03-07-2015, 07:36 PM

I've taken three of these over the years. The third being just now. INTJ
I've had a different one each time, this thing is bunk in my opinion...or I just changed each time.

**pubylakeg** · 03-07-2015, 07:44 PM

Interesting. Had never heard of this before.

INTJ.

**MarkRhodes** · 03-07-2015, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by pushkar000

I've taken three of these over the years. The third being just now. INTJ
I've had a different one each time, this thing is bunk in my opinion...or I just changed each time.

How different are they?
In my case, I scored the same every time in three respects (INT) and different in only one (T/J). Did you score differently in 2-3 categories?

I think some psychological traits run deep. I was an introverted infant, toddler, schoolboy, young man, not-so-young man, and now fast approaching free senior coffee at McDonald's. (Actually, I think I'm already eligible for that "perk.") I can't imagine scoring any other way.

Thanks for speaking out. It's good to know some people don't find the test accurate.

**EOE** · 03-07-2015, 08:07 PM

i am Instj no category for me.

**pushkar000** · 03-07-2015, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

How different are they?
In my case, I scored the same every time in three respects (INT) and different in only one (T/J). Did you score differently in 2-3 categories?

I think some psychological traits run deep. I was an introverted infant, toddler, schoolboy, young man, not-so-young man, and now fast approaching free senior coffee at McDonald's. (Actually, I think I'm already eligible for that "perk.") I can't imagine scoring any other way.

Thanks for speaking out. It's good to know some people don't find the test accurate.

Yeah totally different in my case. I forgot exactly what my earlier results were, but I know I've had E,F and P. Think I had N every time. ENTP/ENFP, and INFP are my best guesses now.

There were these tags attached to my results which I can recall. I was caregiver(something to that effect), then visionary and now architect. I suppose this wouldn't help as the tags are different depending on what test you take.

I have only taken one official test when I was in high school, the other two were taken online. Testing service could also differ in reliability.

I have difficulty answering lots of questions too. I'm not the best reader of myself.
For example : "Would you rather have a plan for XYZ or wing it as you go along?"
Yes I would rather have a plan but it turns out that I always end up having to wing it.
"Is your work space/bedroom messy?"
My bedroom is spick-and-span but my computer room is a nuclear waste zone.

Edit : Took another one right now, INFP. Any last traces of belief I had in this test now broken beyond repair, I will resume shedding Stella. I don't know about the other categories, but like you, I'm definetely an I and don't need the test to tell me that!

**MarkRhodes** · 03-08-2015, 09:33 AM

I think the preponderance of Introverts here (-in the poll results so far) is to be expected for an Internet forum devoted to jazz guitar....

**MarkRhodes** · 03-08-2015, 09:41 AM

This subject has also come up at All About Jazz.

Jazz fans: What's your Myers-Briggs personality

**Melodic Dreamer** · 03-08-2015, 09:44 AM

I'm ENTP or INTP. I have scored both ways.

**jasaco** · 03-08-2015, 08:23 PM

To really be meaningful, we would need to know what the distribution of M-B types is in the general population at large. That way, we could see whether jazz guitarists who frequent this website (which is, of course, only a subset of all jazz guitarists) are any different from the population at large. It would be equally interesting to compare us with other groups such as: rock guitarists, classical guitarists, classical musicians in general, folkies, etc, etc. Without something to compare us to, there's really not much we can do in trying to interpret the information.

**MarkRhodes** · 03-08-2015, 08:34 PM

[QUOTE=jasaco;509628]To really be meaningful, we would need to know what the distribution of M-B types is in the general population at large. QUOTE]

There is data on that. INTP: 2.5 % of the general population. (4% male, 1% female)
INTJ: 1.5 % of the general population. (2.5 % male, 0.5% female)

The most common types are: ESTJ (13 %), ESFJ (12%), ESFP (11%), and ESTP (10%).

INFJ and INTJ are the two least common types found in the general population. (INFJ is more common among females than males.)

**Bikewer** · 03-10-2015, 02:42 PM

I have no regard whatever for the Myers-Briggs system and consider it only a step or two above astrology.

Here is the "Skeptic's Dictionary" article on same:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com

**MarkRhodes** · 03-12-2015, 02:26 PM

I think some traits run deep, such as introversion and extroversion. They can be detected in newborns after just a few days. Some of us are one way and others are the other. (Well, some are about halfway in between the two.)

**newsense** · 03-12-2015, 03:02 PM

I'm strongly ENTP - unchanged for the last 30 years !

Although for an extrovert I'm s**t scared of playing out !

**fep** · 03-12-2015, 07:51 PM

INTJ

but the I is really weak, I really pretty much split on the I vs. E (i.e. about half way between the two). If I recall correctly there was something like a 120 scale, 60 to the left as E as you can be and 60 to the right as I as you can be. My score was a 3 to the right, towards the I.

On the N, I was a very strong N.

A question like: Hard or soft?... That's difficult to answer as I'd like to say, it depends. Questions like that make me doubt the validity of the whole thing.

**Flyin' Brian** · 03-12-2015, 09:45 PM

ENTP
Extravert(67%) iNtuitive(25%) Thinking(38%) Perceiving(22%)

You have distinct preference of Extraversion over Introversion (67%)
You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (25%)
You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (38%)
You have slight preference of Perceiving over Judging (22%)

**Hep To The Jive** · 03-12-2015, 09:58 PM

I'm only sure about Introvert aspect. Life is not easy for us introverts in general, and particularly in US, in my experience.

**newsense** · 03-13-2015, 03:55 AM

The first time I took the test was on a company wide training scheme for senior managers in a multinational industrial company. On getting feedback from the course director, he told me as that as an ENTP I was pretty rare, as 80% of my colleagues were ISTJs. He reckoned this meant I would either leave quite soon, or end up as CEO.

He also felt that the most desirable category to be in was ENFP, and I can see his point.

I left the company within 2 years and became an academic. Just think, if I had stayed on and become CEO, I would now be driving an S-class Mercedes and boasting of my unique collection of vintage L5's (or whatever). I also wouldn't have any time to play them or fool around on JGF !

Actually, I would never have become the CEO, as my FIRO-B scores were absolutely contrary to it happening.

FIRO-B ? - now there's another thread.

**HighSpeedSpoon** · 03-13-2015, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

For me, 4 and 8 (INTJ and INTP.) I have scored both ways.

Originally Posted by MarkRhodes

The Myers & Briggs Foundation - MBTI® Basics <<<<That should help you out. ...

Hmmm. I've taken the test a few times and could not remember if I test as INTJ or INTP. Then I looked at the poll results. Wow!

I'm sensing a theme here (or maybe I'm intuiting one

).

**MarkRhodes** · 03-13-2015, 10:17 AM

When I was in seminary, we all had to take this test in a course on pastoral counseling. Part of the reason was to gain some insight into ourselves; another part was to appreciate that a) others may be different and b) there are several ways to be different.

My best friend had a very high "F" score and I was a total "T". We were very opposite in that way but we became great friends. He once said, "When I preach, I want to make everyone cry!" That was so alien to me I thought he was kidding at first. But he meant it.

Well, as I came to realize, he really didn't want to make everyone cry. He wanted to touch them emotionally and that's how he expressed it. When I feel like someone is trying to make me cry, I get so coldly analytical, I wouldn't grunt, much less cry, if you shot me.

I was an Aquinas guy; he was an Augustine guy. What he learned was that I had emotions too, just not so prominently, and what I learned is that he could think very well but he 'went with his gut' and he could do that in a way that would not work so well for me.

Another thing I learned is that some people can be told this, understand this, and yet still think that everyone who experiences the world differently than they do is somehow wrong....

**BigDaddyLoveHandles** · 03-13-2015, 11:44 AM

INTJ. I just took this free test: INTJ Personality (?The Architect?) | 16Personalities

My most extreme swings were for introverted (69%), and thinking (62%) over feeling.