share my Myers-Briggs personality type with other 43Ters

I had just written a followup entry about some things I discovered about my type, and it is…nowhere…? Basically, I didn’t know much about what it meant to be ESTP; it was just a label someone stuck on me when I was 19. So, I did some checking, and found that, yes, ESTP fits me.

Dominant function: Extraverted sensing. Yes.
Auxiliary function: Introverted thinking. Oh, yes.
Tertiary function: Extraverted feeling. I’m not really sure what that means, but OK.
Inferior function: Introverted intuition. For me, yes, this is vastly inferior.

I also discovered a site that revealed that ESTPs need to consider long-term goals because we have a tendency to get caught up in the details here and now. Oh, Lordy, yes. I keep a notebook for exactly this purpose, because if my long-term goals are not written down somewhere (which doesn’t mean they never change), I will never see the forest because I will be here agonizing over this one bloody tree.

It also seems that ESTPs turn ugly under duress. We withdraw and go quiet. We develop extremely negative feelings about others (and even whole countries, in my case) and don’t hesitate to express them. Oh, unfortunately, yes. That’s me. I did know that about myself before, and I have taken steps to correct it by reducing stress. For me, stress reduction is the only way to remain functional, really, because too much stress turns me bitter, hostile, and makes me do things like break up with my fiance whom I love because he wasn’t there for the miscarriage. Mmm, yeah. I do tend to be extremely productive under limited, controlled amounts of stress. But if it goes on to long or if I feel I can no longer control it (and this usually happens when I am lost in the details of it and can no longer see the big picture), major freak out.

By back reasoning, I am guessing my husband is an ISTJ. I’m fairly certain he would test as an IST and I’m guessing the J because of what I think his dominant function is: sensing. I think this is why I often feel I need him. He sees the big picture. He is calm and orderly. And those times when I feel he is being overly picky and argumentative – apparently, that’s one thing ISTJs do. So, I’m guessing that he would test that way. It would be interesting to get him to take the test and see if I’m right – how well do I know my husband?

It was decided when I was 19 or so that I was an ESTP. I am not sure if it would come out the same if I took it now. I don’t know if the result should theoretically change, but life does change you sometimes.

When I took it, my two strongest categories were the E and the T, and I think those are both still accurate now. There is really no question that I am a thinker and not a feeler (although I reluctantly admit to having feelings, sometimes), and I am certainly extraverted, with an introverted twist.

At that time I also tested quite strongly S, but I just read that ESTPs don’t like theory and see rules and laws as guidelines rather than mandates – wha?? I like theory, but I adhere to the idea that the data should drive the theory rather than the other way around, which I think is what tips the balance toward S. I also think it’s what made me good at linguistics, although, no doubt the T helped…as for being good at philosophy, I think this is the T and the fact that my S is outward but my T is inward – does that make sense? I like to gather data externally and then infer rules through individual, internal analysis, synthesis, deduction. I am very attracted to Kant’s ideal of an internally held moral law, one built and maintained by the individual. Unlike Kant, though, I will readily change my theories in the face of new data. I don’t know what goes on with these people who never change their beliefs or ideas – to me, it’s like they just stopped living.

Anyway, and then the P. This category I’m a bit more mixed in, and I think that at some point, I moved closer to being a J. What I actually like best is a measured amount of chaos. If things get too messy or out of control for too long, I will start to hate it, but I will start to hate an excess of order even faster. My husband is very orderly, and so I purposely introduce measures of chaos into our lives, because otherwise I would wilt.

But, basically, the notion that the ESTP types are “doers” and have excellent people skills and live in the here and now without a great deal of fretting about the future or the past is quite true about me. I also make decisions quickly, based on the information at hand.

I never, ever, however, break traffic laws. Seriously. So, I’m not sure what to make of that. Perhaps it can be explained by the fact that I believe that, statistically, people and societies that follow traffic laws have fewer traffic accidents. So, perhaps this is simply another case of my having examined the data and made a rule – but I do stick to this rule.