I don’t see a Myers-Briggs personality survey anywhere on LessWrong but I would like to make one. I also have predictions, and I think it would be neat to see if I’m correct (predictions below in an unedited comment.)
I am aware that the Myers-Briggs is considered to have inaccuracies—for instance, I’ve scored different types at different times. I do not feel that this makes it useless but that it reflects the fact that your personality can change due to things like (for me) switching from doing a lot of art and people work (feeler type) to doing more intellectually rigorous activities (thinker type).
Should I make a new post for that? Post a poll in the open threads over and over until I get 100 responses? Ask Yvain to include it on the next survey? How should I do this?
If you scroll down to “MYERS-BRIGGS” you’ll see that there are 436 people in Yvain’s selection of results (of greater than 10 people for each type, leaving out a total 3.1% of the survey data). That’s what these figures are based on. (The raw data is missing around 10% of the responses due to people wanting anonymity, and the graphic provided to show more detail has some issues so I used Yvain’s selection.)
Ballpark 90% Introverts: Correct
371 Introverts (85% of 436)
Most common type: INTJ: Correct
163 INTJs (37% of 436)
NT types > 75% of the population: Correct
371 NTs (85% of 436)
NF types—a handful or none (possibly more than ISTJs) : Correct
51 NFs 436 (12% of 436)
ISTJ a single digit percentage of the LW population: Correct
14 ISTJs (3% of 436)
I wasn’t sure exactly how I should interpret the somewhat vague “a handful or none” for NF types, but I see that I used enough numbers to be able to do a literal, mathematical interpretation so I chose that method. I had predicted it was possible that there would be more of them than the ISTJs who I had predicted would be in the single digit percents (implying that 10% or more of them wasn’t outside the range) and that there could necessarily be no more than 25% of them because it would contradict the NT prediction, so since they were within the numerical bounds, I interpreted this as correct.
Another interesting thing to note is that each personality type in the top 98% of LW personality types is in the same order as the type list I wrote here. Unfortunately that comment had been previously edited, so whether or not you believe that I did this intentionally will be based on how much you trust me not to lie and what you think the probability is of me having the ability to correctly list the personality types of 98% of the LessWrong population in same order as we’d see on the actual personality test results after having proven to you just now that I can make correct predictions about the Myers-Briggs personality types on LessWrong.
INTP
Introvert(11%) iNtuitive(38%) iNtuitive Thinking(25%) Perceiving(11)%
You have slight preference of Introversion over Extraversion (11%)
You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (38%)
You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (25%)
You have slight preference of Perceiving over Judging (11%)
From the below linked test
Also this feels like it can’t possibly be that useful since many of the questions have different answers in different situations. If I’m up I love being around crowds, if I’m down I hate being around all but a very few people, etc.
Also this feels like it can’t possibly be that useful since many of the questions have different answers in different situations.
Mmm, I noticed this too when I filled out an official MBTI. It probably comes up quite often; I remember the test having an instruction to answer each question with the choice that most often applies to you, even if sometimes it doesn’t.
I did the exercise once of filling out an MBTI on a five-point scale and calculating weighted sums, rather than a binary scale. My resulting classification didn’t change.
I would not have guessed that. I wonder if some of your personality dimensions fluctuate or are on the border. For me, the E/I fluctuates and so does the F/T. I’m always an N and P. Are you right on the line between T and F? If this test is the one that I remember (the page changed) then I think it gives you percentages:
People who know me on lesswrong tend to tell me that I come across very differently in person than I do online. I think they are right although I suspect that my personal interactions with people here (few though they may be) are rather similar to who I interact in person in the ‘real world’.
I know from experience that acting like a typical INFP in an online environment where INFP is rare is a recipe for disaster—it just doesn’t work. I also find that I am best served by rationing my lesswrong interactions and keeping them balanced by interactions with INFP friends (and lovers). Too much dealing with “Js” just gets tiresome. I actually suspect I’ll take another hiatus from here soon and get my intellectual stimulation from the textbooks and papers on my to-read queue for a while.
I wonder if some of your personality dimensions fluctuate or are on the border. For me, the E/I fluctuates and so does the F/T. I’m always an N and P. Are you right on the line between T and F?
I’m very close to the line on T/F, fairly close to the line on E/I.
I’ve heard that test repeatedly labeled as the “only personality test on the internet that works”, but I can’t really find many other Myers-Briggs tests.
What is your last Myers-Briggs personality type score:
INTJ
INTP
ENTJ
ENTP
INFP
INFJ
ENFJ
ENFP
ISTJ
ISTP
ESTJ
ESTP
ISFJ
ISFP
ESFJ
ESFP
These questions are interesting because there are some connections with personal development:
Regarding I/E (introversion / extroversion), have you gotten a score near the border between them, or gotten a different I/E result when taking the test multiple times?
I got results near the border (maybe the same result maybe different).
I got two very different results (not near the border, not the same result).
I like the idea of asking Yvain to add it to the big survey. That’s probably the least obtrusive way, and it’d maximize responses, which you’d need for a decent sample size in each of 16 subcategories.
I don’t see a Myers-Briggs personality survey anywhere on LessWrong but I would like to make one. I also have predictions, and I think it would be neat to see if I’m correct (predictions below in an unedited comment.)
I am aware that the Myers-Briggs is considered to have inaccuracies—for instance, I’ve scored different types at different times. I do not feel that this makes it useless but that it reflects the fact that your personality can change due to things like (for me) switching from doing a lot of art and people work (feeler type) to doing more intellectually rigorous activities (thinker type).
Should I make a new post for that? Post a poll in the open threads over and over until I get 100 responses? Ask Yvain to include it on the next survey? How should I do this?
Personality Type Predictions:
The vast majority are introverts, ballpark 90% introverts.
Most common type: INTJ
NT types > 75% of the population
NF types—a handful or none (possibly more than the next type, possibly less)
ISTJ—a single digit percentage of the LW population
Other guardians and artisans: none or nearly none.
The survey results are in, so I am updating this:
If you scroll down to “MYERS-BRIGGS” you’ll see that there are 436 people in Yvain’s selection of results (of greater than 10 people for each type, leaving out a total 3.1% of the survey data). That’s what these figures are based on. (The raw data is missing around 10% of the responses due to people wanting anonymity, and the graphic provided to show more detail has some issues so I used Yvain’s selection.)
Ballpark 90% Introverts: Correct
371 Introverts (85% of 436)
Most common type: INTJ: Correct
163 INTJs (37% of 436)
NT types > 75% of the population: Correct
371 NTs (85% of 436)
NF types—a handful or none (possibly more than ISTJs) : Correct
51 NFs 436 (12% of 436)
ISTJ a single digit percentage of the LW population: Correct
14 ISTJs (3% of 436)
I wasn’t sure exactly how I should interpret the somewhat vague “a handful or none” for NF types, but I see that I used enough numbers to be able to do a literal, mathematical interpretation so I chose that method. I had predicted it was possible that there would be more of them than the ISTJs who I had predicted would be in the single digit percents (implying that 10% or more of them wasn’t outside the range) and that there could necessarily be no more than 25% of them because it would contradict the NT prediction, so since they were within the numerical bounds, I interpreted this as correct.
Another interesting thing to note is that each personality type in the top 98% of LW personality types is in the same order as the type list I wrote here. Unfortunately that comment had been previously edited, so whether or not you believe that I did this intentionally will be based on how much you trust me not to lie and what you think the probability is of me having the ability to correctly list the personality types of 98% of the LessWrong population in same order as we’d see on the actual personality test results after having proven to you just now that I can make correct predictions about the Myers-Briggs personality types on LessWrong.
What’s really interesting though is that our personality type pattern matches the pattern Mensa discovered when they did a personality type survey, and the pattern that Mensa and LessWrong share is very different from the ordinary personality type statistics. This makes the IQ figures on the yearly surveys more believable.
INTP Introvert(11%) iNtuitive(38%) iNtuitive Thinking(25%) Perceiving(11)% You have slight preference of Introversion over Extraversion (11%) You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (38%) You have moderate preference of Thinking over Feeling (25%) You have slight preference of Perceiving over Judging (11%)
From the below linked test
Also this feels like it can’t possibly be that useful since many of the questions have different answers in different situations. If I’m up I love being around crowds, if I’m down I hate being around all but a very few people, etc.
Mmm, I noticed this too when I filled out an official MBTI. It probably comes up quite often; I remember the test having an instruction to answer each question with the choice that most often applies to you, even if sometimes it doesn’t.
I did the exercise once of filling out an MBTI on a five-point scale and calculating weighted sums, rather than a binary scale. My resulting classification didn’t change.
Another INFP here. NF slight preferences, moderate on the I and P (I wish I was an E, but I’m just not).
Why did you put J in your prediction of the most common type?
Here is one. INFP. Fairly consistent across tests, with the “N” and the “P” being close to the extremes.
I would not have guessed that. I wonder if some of your personality dimensions fluctuate or are on the border. For me, the E/I fluctuates and so does the F/T. I’m always an N and P. Are you right on the line between T and F? If this test is the one that I remember (the page changed) then I think it gives you percentages:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
No idea about the accuracy, but it’s free.
People who know me on lesswrong tend to tell me that I come across very differently in person than I do online. I think they are right although I suspect that my personal interactions with people here (few though they may be) are rather similar to who I interact in person in the ‘real world’.
I know from experience that acting like a typical INFP in an online environment where INFP is rare is a recipe for disaster—it just doesn’t work. I also find that I am best served by rationing my lesswrong interactions and keeping them balanced by interactions with INFP friends (and lovers). Too much dealing with “Js” just gets tiresome. I actually suspect I’ll take another hiatus from here soon and get my intellectual stimulation from the textbooks and papers on my to-read queue for a while.
I’m very close to the line on T/F, fairly close to the line on E/I.
This makes INFP sound a lot like Elliezer.
Good point. That’s likely to make it harder to discover Fs here.
Aww. ): I hope you’ll still talk to me.
I’ve heard that test repeatedly labeled as the “only personality test on the internet that works”, but I can’t really find many other Myers-Briggs tests.
Proposed Poll:
What is your last Myers-Briggs personality type score:
INTJ
INTP
ENTJ
ENTP
INFP
INFJ
ENFJ
ENFP
ISTJ
ISTP
ESTJ
ESTP
ISFJ
ISFP
ESFJ
ESFP
These questions are interesting because there are some connections with personal development:
Regarding I/E (introversion / extroversion), have you gotten a score near the border between them, or gotten a different I/E result when taking the test multiple times?
I got results near the border (maybe the same result maybe different).
I got two very different results (not near the border, not the same result).
None of the above.
(Etc. for the other three dimensions)
I like the idea of asking Yvain to add it to the big survey. That’s probably the least obtrusive way, and it’d maximize responses, which you’d need for a decent sample size in each of 16 subcategories.