Self discovery - personality types

[steamy]

Hi all,

I often see the word personality come up in posts. I am a big fan of psychometric testing, and wonder if folks like us with CPTSD have similar personality types. I am an INFP, introverted, intuitive , feeling perciever, - I live in a world of my own and and massively idealistic. I wonder if this comes from the years of disassociation - dreaming and hoping for a better tomorrow during my child hood, creating a fantasy world to escape harsh reality.

I am not a psychologist but wonder if people who develop cptsd later in life have already developed their personality type or if trauma changes it. I understand that it's difficult to change personality type, I have been INFP for 20 years at least.

If anybody is interested here is a link for a free questionnaire to determine personality type, it would be interesting to see what other members types are so I would like to invite you to post results below, if you feel OK with it, also mention if you are a cptsd survivor from child hood or later in life:

I am INFP and am a survivor of child hood trauma.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes1.htm

Warm wishes

[Dutch Uncle]

I took this test recently, but I can't seem to find the thread where I posted it.

I am Introvert(19%) iNtuitive(6%) Thinking(6%) Judging(6%) (INTJ)
(the percentages suggest(?) I have a quite balanced personality ("or nondescript!" I hear my Inner Critic yelling, lol. "How dare you say you are 'Balanced' !"), apart from clearly being Introvert.)

My guess is personalities can change through a wide range of influences. But quite possibly at least parts cannot. At least not without invasive neurological surgery, which is still in it's infancy.

I am a cptsd survivor from both childhood and later in life.
Quite possibly the first PTSD I picked up in a massive car crash my FOO had when I was a toddler. We were all hospitalized for a week, some more.)
Quite possibly the whole FOO became cptsd as a result. Or at least my parents who have lived through the Nazi occupation as a child/adolescent respectively.

edited to add: did the test again:
Introvert(16%)  iNtuitive(19%)  Thinking(16%)  Judging(9%)

• You have slight preference of Introversion over Extraversion (16%)
• You have slight preference of Intuition over Sensing (19%)
• You have slight preference of Thinking over Feeling (16%)
• You have slight preference of Judging over Perceiving (9%)

[mourningdove]

I got:

"Introvert(84%)  iNtuitive(22%)  Feeling(41%)  Judging(19%)"

I've been taking these kinds of tests for a long time, and I used to always get INFP. The last two times, however, I got INFJ. I wonder if that reflects change happening since I've been working on C-PTSD or if it's just a coincidence or a difference in wording on the tests.

[steamy]

It does seem that there are a majority of intuitive introverted folks among us, although the study size is a little small lol. I understand that interpretation of the questions is also part of the concept, different personality types will interpret in different ways leading to a certain response.

Fascinating subject. I was once teaching students and found some classes were more supportive of each other and others were more competitive, the supportive groups did much better and I believe it came down to a good mix of personality types. I saw that the group had a significant effect on the final outcomes. t made me wonder if  universities and schools were actually neglegent  by not selecting these right students for the course and putting less able students in an environment that might jeopardise their studies. But hey we love in a neo-liberal world where everybody is responsible for their own lives....

[Lifecrafting]

This is interesting; Thanks for sharing this test, steamy.

My results:

Introvert(22%)  iNtuitive(16%)  Feeling(34%)  Perceiving(19%)

[woodsgnome]

Personality typing has long been a part of my crazy journey  trying to figure out what defies figuring. I've gone in/out of how seriously I take it, but find a lot of it intriguing at least, entertaining to ponder, and helpful at its best. Having said that, I've read tons of takes on a lot of approaches, from lots of sources and differing philosophies. Btw, I come out as INFP every time on Myers-Briggs.

But my favourite approach is what's known as the "enneagram". Probably because of the "gram" in there, it sounds techie or ultra-scientific, but it really stems from a combo of older philosophies and theories as to its origins.  I find that speculation a bit mundane, and while useful in deciphering the enneagram's trustworthiness, one's better off, in my opinion, to just dive in, then circle back if the history part suits your fancy. Because once you get into it, there's a lot there. There are quite a few tests out there, as well. I had at least one T who used it in her approach

Okay, short intro--the enneagram is divided into 9 personality types (I'm a 5--the observer/loner--no surprise, although my old tests trended more to 4--the artist/actor). Interestingly, I've noticed most of the T's I had came out as 2's--the helper (if they knew or I, as an "observer" deciphered it that way). Each set of 3 make up a group of related types, each also has a wing. Some authors use different names for the 9 types but they're all close variations.

There's also references to terminology like "orginal wounds" and that sort of critique useful in working with cptsd. The enneagram remains a favourite for when I'm wondering about the role of personality in this messy life. I could go on and on (also no surprise!), but I'll leave you with some websites instead. Actually, there's a ton of 'em if you just do search engine for "enneagram". But for starters, I like these:

https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/

http://hurleydonson.com/


Books--again, lots of 'em--I like any by Don Riso or Kathleen Hurley/Theodore Donson. Caveat--there were quite a few "wannabees" who joined the enneagram bandwagon, but it seems like the Riso and Hurley/Donson approach, plus Helen Palmer, have remained the most highly regarded.

Well, happy hunting--there's enough info to 1) pique one's intrigue and 2)keep one occupied for hours touring the enneagram landscape, or mindscape, if you will.

[Widdiful Falling]

I took many, many personality tests in my journey. I had no idea who I was, or who I wanted to be. I'd like to think it helped a bit. That said, personality tests are geared toward mentally healthy people, and are a very small picture of who you are, dependent heavily on personal bias, and your current emotional state. For example, I usually score INTJ on Meyers-Briggs and Jungian personality tests. However, I have had days when I've been considered an INFP, or even an ESFJ through Meyers-Briggs. M-B is very dependent on emotional state, and since people with C-PTSD tend to have very unstable emotions, it's almost guaranteed not to tell you anything concrete about your life.

Jungian philosophy is cool, because he was more interested in the thought process itself. If you want to know more about your Jungian type, I would suggest reading his book:

http://www.amazon.com/Psychological-Types-Collected-Works-Bollingen/dp/0691018138/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442373265&sr=1-1&keywords=Psychological+types

Unfortunately, it's old, and not a very light read, but it's quite interesting. I read it when I was in the midst of my personality test craze, and I survived.  It was a commitment, though, and I had to do a lot of research just to be able to understand some of his ideas. There are lighter books by other people about Jung's theories as well.

The Big 5  personality test is something you might want to look into. It's pretty stable, for something so biased, and it basically tests your innate values. I score about average on everything every time I take it. Here's a link for a pretty in-depth one. This one tests your cognition and integrity as well as the usual Big 5: https://sapa-project.org/

This report says I'm about average on all of the Big Six personality factors. Is this right?
'https://sapa-project.org/survey/report.php?s=656555445555555455&p=161145167153154149136136146155152148153159151138150150&sd=202719892044200920091999196519651990201320041996200620232003197020012000&c=116116113&a=7.3'

My friend (who has also had a rough childhood) shared with me a tool she found to help figure out what she wants out of life. For as many inspirational (not necessarily good) memory you have, write down the following: Where you are, What you would like to do, and How you can achieve it.

[Dutch Uncle]

I love taking tests. Mostly for leisure though, I don't hang up on them much.
Unless it's in a clinical or Lab setting.
I did take my SCID-II results very seriously  .

This report says I'm about average on all of the Big Six personality factors. Is this right?

Given the statement below (taken from the site, bolding theirs): "How to read the graphic above: Your percentile score on each of the Big Six factors is represented by a normal distribution curve. The section shaded in color represents the percentage of the distribution with a score at or below your score for that dimension. (Note that these figures assume that scores are normally distributed)." I'd take it with a grain of salt. The caveat they have build in (the assumption of a 'normally' distribution' (e.g. Gaussian distribution) ) seems to me a methodologically unsound presentation at least.
They might as well put up a comparison to those who have taken the test (about 275k people). That would certainly be methodologically unsound, but at least would incorporate at some level observed responses, instead of assumed ones.

Apart from the graphs, the description they give on your personality might give you some clues.
I'm not a fan of this test. Possibly much in the same vein of what you said:

That said, personality tests are geared toward mentally healthy people, and are a very small picture of who you are, dependent heavily on personal bias, and your current emotional state.

FWIW, I had pretty much 'middle of the road' results.

Thanks for putting it up though. 

[steamy]

Some really cool stuff here. I was indeed wondering if childhood trauma makes us think in similar ways., i think myers-briggs is good enough for that, I am beginning to think it does at least have some basis in that we think similarly. Incidentally I have taken these tests over 20 years and always come out as INFP.

The enneagram put me down as  predominantly investigator then enthusiast and joint individualist with achiever. I an sure I could spend a lot more time investigating that.

When you talk about mentally healthy do you mean the few percent who are devoid of any  mental health problems or do you mean the average person, who is about as mentally healthy as I am a dinning table?