Firefly Myers-Briggs

POSTED BY: Shawnee
UPDATED: Saturday, March 5, 2005 05:21
VIEWED: 12286
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SHAWNEE

Friday, March 4, 2005 5:02 AM

Hi everyone! I'm Shawnee, and I've been visiting the site for a while but I've never registered so this is my hello. I'm a sophomore in college and I'm studying psychology and I decided to try and figure out the personality types of the Serenity crew. Have any of you guys taken the Myers-Briggs personality test? If not, you should. It's a good one. Here's my opinion on which of the sixteen types the crew members are. Maybe your personality will match one of them. And if you think I'm dead wrong about one... or all of them, let me know! I hope you enjoy!

Mal ESTJ The Guardian
Zoe ENTJ The Executive
River INFJ The Protector
Wash ESFJ The Caregiver
Shepherd INFP The Idealist
Simon INTJ The Scientist
Jayne ESTP The Doer
Kaylee ESFP The Performer
Inara ISFP The Artist

Here's a link where you can check the types out: http://www.personalitypage.com/home.html

SAMWIBATT

Friday, March 4, 2005 5:17 AM

Whaddaya know - I'm an INTJ too. Not too surprised I match up with Simon, but I thought I'd be closer to Wash.

This is neat - welcome to the board!

ANOTHERFIREFLYFAN

Friday, March 4, 2005 5:46 AM

Y'know, I'm an INTJ and I always have sympathized most with Simon. Cool.

And these personality tests are sooo much better than certain... other... methods that determine your personality based on what month you were born in. I can't believe people still believe that stuff!

Keep flying

ZOID

Friday, March 4, 2005 8:02 AM

Shawnee:

Y'know I was just chatting with another Browncoat earlier this week, who commented on my reference on my Profile page about being an ENTP (she an INTP). Small world, as they say at Disneyworldland, er, eurosomething. Like I told her, when I first read my Myers-Briggs profile, I started looking around my house for surveillance equipment. It was eerie.

Others I know have taken the test and felt the resultant description didn't fit them. The key to taking a personality test is answering honestly. Most people tend to present an idealized version of themselves -- you know, what they think sounds coolest or most likeable -- instead of what they actually think (or more importantly, how they actually behave, regardless how they'd like to think they behave).

When I took the test several years ago, the result said I was in the Rational (NT's) group, "Inventor" sub-type. Your site has me as a "Visionary", although the description is pretty much still the same as that other analysis. Did the labels formally change, or is there some play in the terminology?

Respectfully,

zoid

P.S.
I find anything that can so uncannily predict human behaviors and attitudes based on a hundred question test, utterly fascinating. Can you say, "Voight-Kampff"? Thanks for bringing this up.

P.P.S.
I looked a little deeper at the site you've listed and the Rational/Inventor is listed under David Kiersey's 'Four Temperaments'...
_________________________________________________

"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

RABIT

Friday, March 4, 2005 1:31 PM

I've always been very analytical, so I tend to take these tests when I find them. The best personality-ish evaluation I've found was Strengths Finder ( https://www.strengthsfinder.com/). I'm sorry if this sounds like an advertisement - especially since you can't take this one for free (you have to buy the book to take it) - but this one is really incredibly insightful. It's not about your personality or your weaknesses - it just shows what you're good at and how that allows you to relate to others. It isn't someone's opinion; it's based upon statistical analysis performed by the Gallup organization.

(For those who have heard of the managerial book "First, Break All the Rules", the book that this comes from is a sequel to it called "Now, Discover Your Strengths".)

Just something to look at. Like I said, it isn't free, but for those interested, it's incredibly useful. I literally bring this into any job interviews and discussions with new bosses, as it really lets you set the playing field: "Here's what I'm good at, what I enjoy doing. Is this what you expect of this role? It is? Shiny..."

Rabit

MSCKAREN

Friday, March 4, 2005 1:56 PM

Wow - looks like we have quite a few INTJs here (like me). I wonder if that's because "scientist"-types are just naturally more interested in this type of thing.

I would really like to be most like Zoe but I always admired Simon - smart doctor with integrity and guts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Appears they've canceled the show and we're still here. What does that make us?"
"Big damn junkies, Sir!"
"Ain't we just."

SHAWNEE

Friday, March 4, 2005 2:13 PM

I'm glad you all thought this was interesting! I thought I would find a lot of INTJs here. Also a lot of ESFPs. Zoid: The names of the personality types haven't changed, but they are fluid. You can call them anything you want if it's relevant to the type. Thanks for the test Rabit! I haven't seen that one yet. I'm such a junkie for these things. Thank you all so much for the feedback and the welcome! See you on the boards.

ZOID

Friday, March 4, 2005 3:59 PM

Shawnee wrote:

Quote:
...I thought I would find a lot of INTJs here. Also a lot of ESFPs...

While I never really thought about it before, I'm certainly not surprised that -- of those who've included their type -- all four are NTs (iNtuitive Thinkers). I think Firefly appeals most to those who look beneath the surface and search for connections. The show is rife with them.

Perhaps this explains -- in part -- why some people do not care for the show at all: It simply doesn't get into their heads the way it does ours.

One word of caution, if I might be so bold. I disagree with the site's exhortation to figure out other people's types, in order to better coexist with them. There is a very fine line between such practice -- only wanting a better interpersonal relationship -- and prejudice. I believe human beings are entirely too complex, too unique, to be boiled down into some simple combination of on-off switches, and that trying to seriously do so is high folly. It might be somehow comforting to think that there are only 16 different personality types; but, I reject the notion out of hand. People are individuals, not nibbles (4 binary digits).

I also refuse to pigeonhole myself by any cast-iron system of typing, regardless how apt it appears at a superficial level. It's just a different form of stereotyping: "ENTP's are lazy" or "good with math", et cetera, reminiscent of the late Reggie White's well-intentioned but controversial speech before the Wisconsin legislature. While I'm sure the site's intentions are good, encouraging people to stereotype others (or themselves) in order to get along with them better, is a bad idea.

Labels are limiting.

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"All generalizations are false, including this one." -Mark Twain

BATMARLOWE

Friday, March 4, 2005 4:33 PM

INFP here. I can see how Book could one of us although he isn't the character I've identified with the most. That would be Wash. Since we have hints that Book is a changed man I wonder if he was always an INFP. Any other INFP's out there in Whedonfandom? They say we're only 1% of the population.

RABIT

Friday, March 4, 2005 5:04 PM

Oh, I forgot: I'm INTJ, but my results came out so close to the corner that I vary through all the IN's. It just depends upon the situation and my mood, but I'm generally in the INTJ arena...

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
One word of caution, if I might be so bold. I disagree with the site's exhortation to figure out other people's types, in order to better coexist with them. There is a very fine line between such practice -- only wanting a better interpersonal relationship -- and prejudice. I believe human beings are entirely too complex, too unique, to be boiled down into some simple combination of on-off switches, and that trying to seriously do so is high folly. It might be somehow comforting to think that there are only 16 different personality types; but, I reject the notion out of hand. People are individuals, not nibbles (4 binary digits).

I also refuse to pigeonhole myself by any cast-iron system of typing, regardless how apt it appears at a superficial level. It's just a different form of stereotyping: "ENTP's are lazy" or "good with math", et cetera, reminiscent of the late Reggie White's well-intentioned but controversial speech before the Wisconsin legislature. While I'm sure the site's intentions are good, encouraging people to stereotype others (or themselves) in order to get along with them better, is a bad idea.

Labels are limiting.

I completely agree with your thoughts, Zoid. As an analytically minded person, I tend to dig deep into what I'm looking at, and every one of these methods have significant flaws. Even the Strength Finder method that I mentioned above has its drawbacks, things that just don't necessarily hold up to reality.

In my opinion, however, if people use them as something to discuss or consider they can be very useful tools. We just have to remember that they are just that: tools. They are not representative of reality.

There's a tool that they use at work called Insights into Excellence. It's a variant on the Myers-Brigg, using more of Juhn's (I know I misspelled that, but...

) work. It classifies people on four axis: colors that represent, at a broad level, personality types. Blue indicates analytical nature, Yellow is Extroversion, Red is control/leadership, and Green is the cooperative aspect. Again, it's a significant over generalization, but it's useful information. For example, I work with some very social people. I am not a social person, although I've very nice, pleasant, and easily to get along with. I'm just not someone who's going to see who wants to go to lunch or organize a social gathering. These people just don't understand me, so I used my Insights information to explain, "Look, I'm just not that Yellow." As they've gone through the same training, they understand what that means, get a clue, and are much easier to work with.

Now, they don't treat me like some kind of a social reject or outcast or anything, because in my presentation of this information I made it clear that I am significantly green (which means that I like working with others in a cooperative environment) and about maxed on blue (which means I'm a good resource for them in analyzing concepts, bouncing ideas off of, considering options, etc.). Now they know that, when I decline a lunch offer, it isn't because I don't like them, it's just because that's me.

Sorry for the drawn out post, but I just wanted to show what I'm refering to. I completely agree with your thoughts, Zoid, but I've been lucky enough to date not to run into anyone in my work environment who has taken these tools too far.

Hopefully, I never will!

Have a better one!

Rabit

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