Connection between Personality Type and Branch/MOS?

[Six-Two]

Hey All,

A bit more theoretical post, but I'm re-reading "Get Selected" (specifically the part about SF team roles) and happened to also be sent this Myers-Brigg personality test by somebody in my current career field. It made me wonder if there's a correlation between personality types and what branch or role guys wind up in. Do those of you familiar with the types see a trend across branches and MOS? For example, ENFP's tend to be medics, or Bravos are ISFJ's.

Anyway, feel free to chime in if you've got any pointers or anecdotes.

 

[AWP]

Myers-Briggs has 16 different types and you'd expect a careerfield to incorporate a large percentage of ONE type? 16 types...if you found one MOS to contain more than 10...MAYBE 15% of anything I'd be surprised.

I assume you looked up the national averages before asking this question.

http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/my-mbti-results/how-frequent-is-my-type.htm

 

[Six-Two]

Fair enough, but you don't think it's reasonable to assume that a very specific type of job attracts a specific type of person? I know that in every career field you'll find a lot of different kinds of people, but to say that SOF attracts just as many Mother Theresa types as any other would seem a little counter-intuitive.

 

[AWP]

Some data's out there, but I didn't take a lot of time to look for it. Regardless, there was at least one type in one study which had a success rate of 0.

 

[fox1371]

All have the desire to serve their country. The people you meet on the inside of that realm will vary greatly. Outside of that, does it fucking matter?

 

[RackMaster]

I've met all sorts, including those that make you wonder if they made a wrong turn into the recruiting center and were to timid to say otherwise.

 

[Polar Bear]

Air Force = Smart ones
Marines = Dumb ones
Navy = Gay ones
Army = to dumb for the AF but to smart for the Marines and not Gay
I come up with 4 types

 

[TLDR20]

There is a correlation between genital size and MOS. Look it up.

 

[x SF med]

Over time, your M-B personality type tends to change... The more diverse your background, the more divergent the results can be... a single very well-rounded individual can score differently on 2 days in a row... dependent on changing circumstances... not a huge change... actually one time I scored XXXX which means I was dead in the center of everything .... M-B is nice for shrinks to pigeon-hole things, but basically worthless in the real world.

 

[Six-Two]

Air Force = Smart ones
Marines = Dumb ones
Navy = Gay ones
Army = to dumb for the AF but to smart for the Marines and not Gay
I come up with 4 types

Hahaha... So good. Guess I'm bound for the Air Force or the Navy.

Over time, your M-B personality type tends to change... The more diverse your background, the more divergent the results can be... a single very well-rounded individual can score differently on 2 days in a row... dependent on changing circumstances... not a huge change... actually one time I scored XXXX which means I was dead in the center of everything .... M-B is nice for shrinks to pigeon-hole things, but basically worthless in the real world.

Interesting you mention that - the result I got today was different from the one I took a couple years ago. Initially I was an ENFP if I recall correctly, today ENFJ. I'm generally inclined to agree with you, but I still wonder if there's a correlation between them.

-62

 

[Six-Two]

There is a correlation between genital size and MOS. Look it up.

How big for a full-bird colonel?

 

[pardus]

How big for a full-bird colonel?

Since when was rank an MOS? :-/

 

[Grunt]

I like to keep things super simple...he who not only embraces the suck, but learns to love it usually succeeds. It isn't based on anything like Meyers-Briggs, IMO.

I have had to take it three times in the last three years and ended up with two different results. I had a friend of mine end up with three different results. I answered them truly every time I took it. It depended on how I was thinking that day and how I was rationalizing my answers. I know of many people who have taken it and actually made themselves fit that "mold" in every aspect of their lives.

Personally, I felt that the results that I received at the time of test was somewhat "accurate" at "that time."

Again, I tend to like a good "grunt environment" when many others don't. It's a mindset.

 

[pardus]

I like to keep things super simple...he who not only embraces the suck, but learns to love it usually succeeds. It isn't based on anything like Meyers-Briggs, IMO.

I have had to take it three times in the last three years and ended up with two different results. I had a friend of mine end up with three different results. I answered them truly every time I took it. It depended on how I was thinking that day and how I was rationalizing my answers. I know of many people who have taken it and actually made themselves fit that "mold" in every aspect of their lives.

Personally, I felt that the results that I received at the time of test was somewhat "accurate" at "that time."

Again, I tend to like a good "grunt environment" when many others don't. It's a mindset.

Depends on what you mean by "the suck".

The term was derived IMO, from learning to deal with no sleep, being cold and wet, hungry, exhausted from physical exhaustion etc... in a field/war environment.
It has now morphed into, oh I fucked your pay up/ you're going to loose your MOS qual/ sorry dont have housing for you or your family/ I lost your re-enlistment paperwork, you're now a civilian/ etc... deal, which is totally unacceptable. "Embrace the suck" is now the battle cry of incompetent NCOs/Officers who either can't do their job, or don't give a fuck about their Soldiers that are getting fucked. Disgusting and unforgivable.
People who thrive in that environment are exactly the wrong people we want to be advancing/staying in the military.

 

[Six-Two]

Since when was rank an MOS? :-/

Ha, you got me, but I couldn't think of an MOS that sounds as funny.

 

[pardus]

Ha, you got me, but I couldn't think of an MOS that sounds as funny.

88M.

 

[Grunt]

Depends on what you mean by "the suck".

The term was derived IMO, from learning to deal with no sleep, being cold and wet, hungry, exhausted from physical exhaustion etc... in a field/war environment.
It has now morphed into, oh I fucked your pay up/ you're going to loose your MOS qual/ sorry dont have housing for you or your family/ I lost your re-enlistment paperwork, you're now a civilian/ etc... deal, which is totally unacceptable. "Embrace the suck" is now the battle cry of incompetent NCOs/Officers who either can't do their job, or don't give a fuck about their Soldiers that are getting fucked. Disgusting and unforgivable.
People who thrive in that environment are exactly the wrong people we want to be advancing/staying in the military.

I mean your former description and not the latter. I've had some of those "latter" types in both my units and teams and did my best to either square them away or get rid of them. Some changed for the better, some were moved into other billets, and some just remained my personal nightmare that had to be dealt with.

 

[Six-Two]

88M.

Wouldn't want to piss next to that guy...

 

[Coyote]

I'd say it isn't an M-B correlation but more of a type A vs type B personality type.

 

[SkrewzLoose]

Wouldn't want to piss next to that guy...

Would you care to expound a bit on the meaning behind this comment?