Are you really who you are or who you think you are?

Was talking to Zhuang the other day and he made me take a really long 70-question personality test, designed by a Dr. David Keirsey, a clinical psychologist. It's called the Keirsey Temperament Sorter and apparently, it's used worldwide to help a lot of people decide what kind career or work environment they would thrive in. Here's a short description of each of 4 temperaments:

The Idealist™ Temperament

All Idealists (NFs) share the following core characteristics:

• Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.


• Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.


• Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.


• Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.

The Guardian™ Temperament

All Guardians (SJs) share the following core characteristics:

• Guardians pride themselves on being dependable, helpful, and hard-working.


• Guardians make loyal mates, responsible parents, and stabilizing leaders.


• Guardians tend to be dutiful, cautious, humble, and focused on credentials and traditions.


• Guardians are concerned citizens who trust authority, join groups, seek security, prize gratitude, and dream of meting out justice.

The Rational™ Temperament

All Rationals (NTs) share the following core characteristics:

• Rationals tend to be pragmatic, skeptical, self-contained, and focused on problem-solving and systems analysis.


• Rationals pride themselves on being ingenious, independent, and strong willed.


• Rationals make reasonable mates, individualizing parents, and strategic leaders.


• Rationals are even-tempered, they trust logic, yearn for achievement, seek knowledge, prize technology, and dream of understanding how the world works.

The Artisan™ Temperament

All Artisans (SPs) share the following core characteristics:

• Artisans tend to be fun-loving, optimistic, realistic, and focused on the here and now.


• Artisans pride themselves on being unconventional, bold, and spontaneous.


• Artisans make playful mates, creative parents, and troubleshooting leaders.


• Artisans are excitable, trust their impulses, want to make a splash, seek stimulation, prize freedom, and dream of mastering action skills.

So after completing probably the longest personaliy test I've ever taken, and being very annoyed at a handful of irrational answer choices, it turns out that I'm an Idealist. I know I should be proud that only 20% of the population are Idealists and this group of people include Mohandas Gandhi, Oprah Winfrey, Audrey (does the name have something to do with it?) Hepburn, Jane Goodall, Mikhael Gorbachev, Princess Diana (what's her last name?), two of the Bronte sisters, Carl Jung and Plato -- but it's really strange to read that I'm "the very soul of kindness" or that I'm "filled with love and goodwill" and that I "believe in giving of themselves [myself] to help others" -- erm, no. Hahaha...I'm blatantly honest to people and a lot of times, I say things that will totally throw people off, so who knows...strange personality test. Maybe I'm not who I think I am. Go figure.

To take the test, visit the Keirsey Temperament Sorter site.

To read more about each personality, go to the Four Temperaments site.