My Psychological Type: ESFJ, with pictures

When I began taking this exam, I had the initial prejudice that it would be inaccurate and stupid. I've had this negative feeling for self-tests such as these ever since we had to take career tests in the 8th grade. It was my greatest dream to be a vet and I was so sure that would be the profession that I would get at the end of the test. To my surprise and dismay, however, my predicted profession was a clinical psychologist.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/mba0695l.jpg

I felt surprised and let down. Not only did my dream job not come up in this test, but I was matched with a job that I had very little patience with. At the time I was not a good listener and did not like to analyze people's problems. Imagine my surprise, then, when I viewed the results of this test. After reading the text about my personality (ESFJ), I realized that some of these tests may be far more legit than this career test from 8th grade. My scorn and impatience melted away quickly as I read about my psychological type. I found the information fascinating and, to my surprise, accurate. I was extremely pleased as well to find that Martin Luther King, who is someone I have always admired since I first heard his story (in probably 1st grade or something). Another exciting person who shared my type is Eleanor Roosevelt--also someone I admire!

What I noticed first was that the social aspect described seems to fit me very well. I flourish in groups and enjoy sharing ideas and listening to others' ideas as well. I avoid time by myself and find that studying in groups has been more constructive for me in the past. I also have to own up to the bit about criticism. I am in fact "easily affected emotionally" and tend to take verbal criticism in a negative way (Course Anthology 143). Take my quartet camp experience. I attended a camp in which my string quartet would receive coaching from a professional quartet. We seemed to be doing well until the master class. At the master class, each group had to play their piece (which was not yet perfected) for the rest of the camp and then all four of the quartet members would critique. Our group was the last to perform and due to nerves and being a little unprepared, we played a less-than-perfect excerpt from our piece. The coaches reacted very angrily and criticized us on just about everything we played, even singling several of us out at some points. I found myself taking the criticism very personally and afterwards, I found myself crying in frustration and anger.

http://marianandersonstringquartet.com/ss/cmi2008_01/images/Fingeringchange.JPG

Thus, these aspects that are true and accurate tend to be true as well for my writing. I take criticism very hard even though I know in my mind that I want to improve as a writer. Many a time, my dad and I would argue heatedly about my essays and his criticism was hard to accept gracefully. He was rarely praising, which I tend to flourish from, and often harsh. I also tended to argue about my essay rather than just accept suggestions from others. Also, as a writer, the ESFJ fits me very well in that I am "able to write without needing prior planning" and I do in fact have a "short attention span" (Course Anthology 140). I was always very good at timed writings in English class, while my process papers needed more time and revising put in. I enjoy oral work and I like to "talk out ideas before writing" them (Course Anthology 147). I find talking about my papers helps me organize my thoughts and I like discussing my paper to get ideas for how to improve.

As for reading, most of what this analysis says is true for me. I am affected emotionally by what I read. I do remember names and dates well. However, I find that I also have a short attention span. This test fits me very well as a reader on both the positive and negative side. In fact, usually the only books that I could go through without ever putting them down would be...you got it, Harry Potter! Sadly. However, I tend to try extremely hard to focus and I do not allow myself to merely skim over things that I find boring.

In the end, I find that this class fits me very well. I love discussions, I love helpful teachers, and I love getting grades and feedback back very quickly. I think that my type fits well with the class type, which excites me. I enjoy having an open mind and learning from others. This class seems just right for me and maybe that's why I find myself getting along so well with everyone and enjoying their company :)

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bump/603A09/

Thanks for listening to this long-winded interpretation of my type. I find that talking about myself is a good way of getting an outside picture and figuring out exactly who I am and where I'm headed for these next 4 years.