Myers-Briggs... for doggies?

Big Sis was telling me tonight that suddenly a ton of people from different parts of her life have been inquiring about her Myers-Briggs personality type and trying to guess it... everyone from people at work, people she volunteers with, to some sort-of-acquaintances we just ran into tonight. Over the past six years, she's consistently tested as an ENFJ, so she thinks that it must be pretty accurate.

So while she was cooking me dinner (I believe women belong in the kitchen serving me at the heart of the home), I hopped onto my pawtop to look at the 16 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator profiles, curious to see what I would be.

Hmmph. Well, it turns out there is no real in-depth personality typing for those of us in the four-legged and furry category. I did, however, find this article from back in 2005... and here is an excerpt:

"The question of whether or not dogs have a meaningful personality is controversial among scientists, even if dog owners have no doubt whatsoever that it is the case.

Human personality is measured according to five variables: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to new experience.

Gosling has found that only conscientiousness — which measures trustworthiness, selfishness and dependability — is absent in dogs."

Uhhh... meaningful personalities? Lack of conscientiousness? Does anyone else find this hugely insulting and offensive? I mean, was there no Family Guy on tv in 2005 to show us that Brian is both the brains and the glue of his family? I would argue that I'm especially conscientious. I go to great lengths to hide Big Sis' shoes from her each and every single morning. I have radar for the words 'cat' and 'squirrel' and for packages of Ritz crackers opening; I can be at the site of any of those events in under two seconds from ANY location. In fact, sometimes my humans even think I have tendencies toward obsessive compulsion... but that's a whole other topic for a whole other night.

Anyway, this got me thinking about cat people (grr grr grr) versus dog people and their personality types. There's a lot of research online that says introverts like cats better in general because they are 'unobtrusive and autonomous.'

Sounds an awful lot like "It's not you, doggies, it's me." I say it's their loss. :)