Who Am I Anyway?

So, I'm reading People Patterns by Dr. Stephen Montgomery. Assigned reading for my Strategies for Creating a New Life Class.

For tomorrow we're supposed to take the "Montgomery Shorter Sorter," Dr. Montgomery's version of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter-II. (Which is sorta like the Myers-Briggs, but more simple. Or maybe more complicated. Who can tell?) Knowing my temperament is supposed to help me set goals and change my life. Whatever. I already know I'm an INFJ, but hey. Despite my desire to be Hannah B. Snarky, at heart I'm really Hannah B. A Good Girl.

So, I take the Montgomery Shorter Sorter, which is indeed short; only 38 questions. Fill in the more-complicated-than-it-needs-to-be answer sheet, and bingo, just as I thought, INFJ. Ah, but that's not good enough for this good little Girl Scout. Following directions, I ask The Engineer for "help." "Honey, which of these sounds more like me?" You know, just to see if our answers matched. Sheesh. And then, if that wasn't bad enough...no, wait. I'm not sure I can even bring myself to type the next part. It's too humiliating. Okay--no, wait. I can't... Maybe...Oh, hell, here goes: after getting The Engineer's input, I went back and changed my answers.

Oh yes I did. And the few places where we differed were enough to change me from an INFJ to an ISFJ. WTF?? And more importantly, I lost my place in Gryffindor house! Dr. Montgomery compares Keirsey's four temperament types to the four houses at Hogwarts, and changing my answers took me from Gryffindor to Hufflepuff. (He also compares his "Shorter Sorter" to the Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony.) I don't think so. I changed 'em back.

Which raises the question: who am I anyway? Am I who I think I am? Or am I who The Engineer thinks I am? And if I need to make changes in order to create a wonderful new self-loving life, do I need to change behaviors or perceptions of behaviors? I don't know about you, but this makes my head hurt.