ISFJ

Hey all! I'm having a *wonderful* day. Slept in a bit, worked on a paper, went for a run, had a nap, started a case study, and am now listening to the Decemberists. So fab.

A few weeks ago, Megs and I were talking about our personality styles. In some ways, we're really very similar, but in other ways, we're waaaaaaay different. She made reference to her Myers-Briggs' profile - but I couldn't relate, because I'd never done one. So, off to the trusty internet! I found an online version (goodness knows how accurate it really is...) and I filled it out. According to my results, I'm Introverted, Sensing, Feeling and Judging. Here are some excerpts from my report:

ISFJs are characterized above all by their desire to serve others, their "need to be needed." In extreme cases, this need is so strong that standard give-and-take relationships are deeply unsatisfying to them; however, most ISFJs find more than enough with which to occupy themselves within the framework of a normal life. (Since ISFJs, like all SJs, are very much bound by the prevailing social conventions, their form of "service" is likely to exclude any elements of moral or political controversy; they specialize in the local, the personal, and the practical.)

I think this bit is quite true of me - I do like to take care of my friends, and I like it to be as uncontroversial as possible! I also am interested in things that I can do personally - if you ask me why politics doesn't interest me, I believe it's because it's too 'removed' from me.

In the workplace, ISFJs are methodical and accurate workers, often with very good memories and unexpected analytic abilities; they are also good with people in small-group or one-on-one situations because of their patient and genuinely sympathetic approach to dealing with others. ISFJs make pleasant and reliable co-workers and exemplary employees, but tend to be harried and uncomfortable in supervisory roles. They are capable of forming strong loyalties, but these are personal rather than institutional loyalties; if someone they've bonded with in this way leaves the company, the ISFJ will leave with them, if given the option. Traditional careers for an ISFJ include: teaching, social work, most religious work, nursing, medicine (general practice only), clerical and and secretarial work of any kind, and some kinds of administrative careers.

This is somewhat true - though I think I would make a very competent supervisor. I also believe in institutional loyalties; my dad has taught me about the importance of walking the company line, and I think that it's very important to be on board with what your organization is doing.

While their work ethic is high on the ISFJ priority list, their families are the centers of their lives. ISFJs are extremely warm and demonstrative within the family circle--and often possessive of their loved ones, as well. Being SJs, they place a strong emphasis on conventional behavior; if any of their nearest and dearest depart from the straight-and-narrow, it causes the ISFJ major embarrassment: the closer the relationship and the more public the act, the more intense the embarrassment. Over time, however, ISFJs usually mellow. Needless to say, ISFJs take infinite trouble over meals, gifts, celebrations, etc., for their loved ones--although strong Js may tend to focus more on what the recipient should want rather than what they do want.

Again, this is pretty true. I love my family deeply, and would do anything for them. And anyone who knows me well knows that should someone be foolish enough to propose to me on the jumbotron at Rexall... well. He'll be going home alone.

Like most Is, ISFJs have a few, close friends. They are extremely loyal to these, and are ready to provide emotional and practical support at a moment's notice. The older the friendship is, the more an ISFJ will value it. One ISFJ trait that is easily misunderstood by those who haven't known them long is that they are often unable to either hide or articulate any distress they may be feeling. An adult ISFJ may drive a (later ashamed) friend or SO into a fit of temper over the ISFJ's unexplained moodiness, only afterwards to explain about a death in the family they "didn't want to burden anyone with." Those close to ISFJs should learn to watch for the warning signs in these situations and take the initiative themselves to uncover the problem.

Ok, not so true. I have NO problems articulating what's wrong. :) But I do have a few close friends, close enough to feel like family, really. (All of the above quotes are from http://typelogic.com/isfj.html)

So must of this was pretty accurate, I thought. Oddly enough, when I looked at another description of ISFJs, they were referred to as Protector Guardians.

The primary desire of the Protector Guardian is to be of service to others, but here "service" means not so much furnishing others with the necessities of life, as guarding others against life's pitfalls and perils, that is, seeing to their safety and security. Protectors find great satisfaction in assisting the downtrodden and can deal with disability and neediness in others better than any other type. With their extraordinary commitment to security, and with their unusual talent for executing routines, Protectors do well in many careers that have to do with conservation: curators, private secretaries, librarians, middle-managers, police officers, and especially general medical practitioners. To be sure, the hospital is a natural haven for them; it is home to the family doctor, preserver of life and limb, and to the registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse, truly the angels of mercy. (http://keirsey.com/personality/sjif.html)

Some of the other stuff they had there was less accurate, but I thought that these bits really summed up why I'm in speech. What threw me most was that I (like many of us, I think) tend to think of myself as being pretty unique. Reading through these summaries, I realized that there are a lot of people out there who are much more similar to me than I thought. I know that this is the basis for a lot of charlantry (e.g., tarot readers, etc.), who throw out general facts that tend to be true about a lot of people, but I never really considered its effect on other parts of my life. I think a lot of my teenage angst centred around feeling like I WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN THE WHOLE WORLD WHO FELT THIS WAY *woe is me*... but now I know that odds are pretty good that there are a goodly number of people feeling the same way I do! Solidarity with the world!

E.