The Keirsey Temperament Sorter, based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

For a number of years I've been testing as an INFP, though I have also tested in the past as an INTP and INTJ. I respond very strongly as an I on the Introvert/Extrovert axis, though most people who meet me when I'm traveling would find that hard to believe. While I can exercise my E side, it takes great energy to do so, and I'm re-invigorated by time alone. On the iNtuitive/Sensing axis, I'm a pure, practically off-the-scale N: I have never answered a single question with an S response, though a friend of mine who is very much into Myers-Briggs thinks I can be a fairly strong S in practice. In college, I was a strong T on the Thinking/Feeling axis, and was dead even on the Judging/Perceptive axis. Since then, however, my responses on the Thinking/Feeling axis have shifted decidedly toward F, while those on the Judging/Perceptive axis have moved toward P. Keirsey calls the INFP the Healer. NFs are the Idealists, described as "credulous about the future, mystical about the past, and their preferred time and place are the future and the pathway." That describes me, all right.

Interactive Link: An online "mini-test" to help you determine one facet of your MBTI classification.

The Enneagram

Though I'd heard and read of the Enneagram for years, it was only in August of 1997 that I came across an online Enneagram assessment (the full version of which no longer seems to be freely available online). The results were almost frighteningly apt: I'm a strong Four (with a Five wing), variously called "The Artist", "The Individualist" (link 2), "The Romantic" (link 2) (link 3) or "The Tragic Romantic", or "The Symbol Maker." According to one online source, "Fours are deeply feeling people for whom strong passions and emotions are the essence of real living. They have very strong feelings that they find difficult to express because these feelings are so powerful. They are often ashamed of themselves and have low self-esteem. Fours are often envious people who are able to see good qualities in others but fail to see their own strengths and self-worth. Fours are the stallions of the Enneagram world, feeling set apart from the herd and wanting to stand alone."

Interactive Link: The full version of the Enneagram assessment no longer seems to be freely available online. A shorter, sample version is still available (scroll down past the part about paying $10 for the long version to take the free sample test).