Myers-Briggs personalities and autism

I recently came across the Myers-Briggs tests you can do to learn about your personality type and things you may or may not find easy in life. Mine is INTJ-T and I was really taken aback at how accurate the results described the way I think and the way I approach life. I guess I’m just really curious about if there’s any correlation between certain personality types and autism because I’ve seen it mentioned a few times on here and just interested to hear if that’s the case Slight smile

maybe there are certain personality types that are more common within our community? Or maybe not! Slight smile

Parents
  • I think it was a great observation by Jung and it can be helpful to the individual to know themselves a bit better or to steer them in the right direction career-wise. For example, it would be useful to those starting out or changing careers as it could be a very stressful or costly error for, say, an extrovert to take a job as a lighthouse keeper or stuck on their own everyday or for an introvert to take high-flying sales or corporate jobs that had no meaning to them. 

    So while it can be useful if the individual stumbles across Myers-Brigg, there are other areas where perhaps it could be useful but ignored, like the education system, in the sense, that all the personality types have different ways of learning. Yet we still have largely a one-size-fits-all system when it comes to mandatory, mainstream Primary & Secondary education. It still amazes me that whilst we have changed massively as a society since the Industrial Revolution and made rapid advances in technology, that we somehow still have this rigid and hugely outdated education system where we send our children to a place where bells or buzzers sound periodically like a regimented factory of 200 years ago and where desks are lined up like production lines facing the person in charge.

    And this is without mentioning Autism. 

Reply
  • I think it was a great observation by Jung and it can be helpful to the individual to know themselves a bit better or to steer them in the right direction career-wise. For example, it would be useful to those starting out or changing careers as it could be a very stressful or costly error for, say, an extrovert to take a job as a lighthouse keeper or stuck on their own everyday or for an introvert to take high-flying sales or corporate jobs that had no meaning to them. 

    So while it can be useful if the individual stumbles across Myers-Brigg, there are other areas where perhaps it could be useful but ignored, like the education system, in the sense, that all the personality types have different ways of learning. Yet we still have largely a one-size-fits-all system when it comes to mandatory, mainstream Primary & Secondary education. It still amazes me that whilst we have changed massively as a society since the Industrial Revolution and made rapid advances in technology, that we somehow still have this rigid and hugely outdated education system where we send our children to a place where bells or buzzers sound periodically like a regimented factory of 200 years ago and where desks are lined up like production lines facing the person in charge.

    And this is without mentioning Autism. 

Children
  • Yes, it feels to me as though the one-size-fits-all approach extends way beyond education too.  And certainly within the workplace I found that certain personality types were more favoured and sought after.  When I first entered the jobs market back in the 80s, for example, there were so many job adverts which basically seemed to be looking for extroverts.  And, if I wasn't usually able to at least present as a decisive self-starter/team player with a "shirt-sleeves" approach and a busy social life (for those awkward questions about what I liked to do in my spare time) then, in order to get the job, I'd better at least pretend to be for interview purposes.  

    I think this might have been where my mask solidified and trapped little ole introverted me in a kind of self-imposed dungeon.  To allow the introvert out was often to invite criticism so better only do that within the sanctuary that is my home.  

    Now, with a bit more thought and awareness (and actually knowing that I'm autistic, unlike the first 55 years of my life!) I am more able to carve out something that doesn't involve extreme masking.  Sadly though, the lighthouses are unmanned and they're generally not taking on any more librarians.  I like my counselling (second/later life career) but maybe there's also some work going on a remote weather station somewhere or some conservation project miles from anywhere?