One of the fascinations of my life for the last six years has been the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI. This psychological assessment is based on the work of psychologist Carl Jung, and basically tells you one of sixteen personality types that you fit into. Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you make decisions based on feeling or thinking? This might all sound very teen magazine to you, but the truth is it is a very widely used test. Eighty-nine companies out of the US Fortune 100 make use of it for recruitment and selection, and two and a half million Americans take the test yearly.

It's always exciting to be able to narrow down which MBTI type you are, or the type of someone you know. I am an INFJ, and when I read the description for my type, all the sudden I didn't feel like a complete weirdo anymore. Well, maybe I did, but at least now I understood why. Many people have this kind of "aha!" realization after they discover their type.  I've since typed pretty much everyone in my family, and I can't meet up with a friend without trying to internally figure out which of the 16 types they belong to.

Okay, it's fun - but is the MBTI valid?

I totally get this question. Along with loving the idea of the test, I'm also a skeptic. I'm pretty leery of subscribing to any particular belief or system that I can't 100% verify as logically sound. The MBTI does have its critics and its die-hard fans. I'm somewhere in between but am generally in favor of the test.

Every time I've used the MBTI with people it has given me huge insights into how their minds work, how to relate to them, how to communicate with them. I am able to be more accepting, open-minded, and understanding of others because I'm able to see how their strengths or weakness, likes or dislikes, match up according to their type and I can work with them accordingly. For example, I know that my husband (an ISTP) likes to live in the moment and move from one step to another in a linear fashion. He thinks through things one step at a time, and doesn't think about step C till he's completed steps A and B. I like to jump way ahead to the future and then fill in the pieces in an out-of-order fashion on my way there. Knowing these things about each other really helps us in our relationship to be understanding and work with the each others way of thinking.

It's easy to get it wrong

A lot of the arguments I've seen and heard against the MBTI have to do with getting inaccurate results on the tests available online. Another argument has been that after taking the test, some people retest six months later and get a completely different result. The accuracy of the test relies completely on the test-taker answering the questions correctly. I know that sounds odd for a personality test, but it's true.

How do I take the test?

You shouldn't answer the questions based on the feeling of the moment (feelings change), on what you think is the morally 'right' answer, or what you want others to see you as. You have to answer the questions based on what your most natural response would be. Think about your lifetime, not just this moment, and be honest. It's sometimes easier to think of yourself when you were a child when you answer the questions. Secondly, there are a lot of very inaccurate tests available online for free which are not at all in line with the MBTI. Unfortunately, the official MBTI is something you have to pay for, but with the right information anyone can determine their type without having to spend the money. I used to take the free tests and think that they were fine, but after really obsessing about researching the MBTI I've realized those tests are often false and you really need to understand the functions of MBTI to get the right result. The free tests may point  you in the right direction, but oftentimes they won't be 100% accurate. 16personalities has a free test, which is probably the most accurate free one you can take; however, the best way to understand your type is to study the 8 cognitive functions, which I'll get more into in another post.

Is the MBTI scientifically sound?

There hasn't been a lot of scientific research done to date on the accuracy of the MBTI. Psychologists themselves vary greatly in their opinions of it; some love it, some hate it. Dario Nardi, an expert in the field of neuroscience, wrote a book called The Neuroscience of Personality, which explores more of the scientific aspect of the MBTI. Nardi conducted intensive and varied hands-on research using EEG technology to determine the effectiveness and accuracy of the MBTI model. His research showed a clearly defined correlation between MBTI types and brain activity. For example, an ESTJ (Extrovert/Sensor/Thinker/Judger) will show more brain activity in response to stimuli that matches up with their cognitive functions; extraverted thinking, introverted sensing, extraverted intuition, and introverted feeling. Since I'm not a neuroscientist it's a little hard for me to describe, but if you're interested you can watch the talk he did for google here. 

In conclusion

MBTI can be really useful in getting to know yourself and others. Its benefits to you personally will largely depend on how accurately you understand it and use it. I'll write more posts related to MBTI in the future and this should really help you get a good understanding of how to use it, how to figure out your type, and how to better understand the incredible differences between us all.

I've been wanting to blog for ages. About a dozen times a day, minimum, the thought occurs to me; "I should blog about this!", "This is something nobody has written about before!". This thought is inevitably followed by a depressing rumination on how I have no time to blog, nobody will read it, everything's been written about before, and who really cares about my thoughts and ramblings anyway. Okay, yes mom, I know you will most likely read this. Perhaps my husband. Either way, the thought of blogging has been swirling in my head for ages and I think it's time I bring my blog ideas into fruition.

What will you find in my blog?

That's a good question. One I still haven't narrowed down. I am pretty passionate about a lot of different topics; some of which include Myers Briggs/Jungian personality tpes, psychology, homeschooling, unschooling, religion, social issues, blended family issues, travel. I just realized this list will never end if I try to add every single topic I'm passionate about. So there's a good start anyway. If any of these things interest you then perhaps someday you will stumble upon my blog. 

Who am I?

I'm a scatterbrained, curious, passionate work-from-home homeschooling mom of three. I'm a military wife and part of a blended family. This will probably be the topic of many posts in the future. There really aren't a lot of resources out there for blended families in the blogosphere.

I'm an introvert, which is why it's a lot easier for me to blog or write about my thoughts instead of having to actually vocalize them to people. Who wants to do that anyway? People are scary. 

I know I just said people are scary, but on the other hand, I am obsessed with figuring them out. I love learning how people's minds work and how they process information. Someday I would love to go to school and get a degree in psychology. I devour books and blogs on psychology like it's candy.

I chose the name extreme daydreaming for my blog because I tend to do this a lot. I am one of those people who gets so caught up in a particular thought or daydream that I will literally walk into walls, or end up in rooms or places I have no recollection of going to because I was so immersed in my thoughts. Because of this I tend to be disorganized, messy, easily startled, and somewhat oblivious to my surroundings. On the other hand if you want to talk to me about your problems or your thoughts or passions, I will zone in on you completely and the rest of the world won't exist till you're done talking to me. Unless the baby is crying...or my husband needs me.. You get the idea. Family comes first.

I'm a Christian. I'm probably more of a liberal Christian than the majority. I homeschool my kids. I also tend to be a bit more on the liberal side of things than most homeschoolers I know. I tend to feel a bit like an outsider around most people in my path of life. More on that to come at some other time. 

For now I need to go comb my hair and put on some deodorant because my husband is about to get home from work and I want to look like I have some self respect. See you later!