MBTI: The S Acid Test
Of all the MBTI dimensions, the N/S always seems the hardest to explain, but the one that I most intuitively feel when I first meet a person. Here is quick test that I came up with to assess whether a person is an S or an N. It’s not always failproof, but generally gets the job done.
Side Note: Obviously, I realize that it’s not very nice of me to go around and type people and many people (mainly Ps) may have an issue with me “putting people into boxes.” To that, I say get over it. At least I’m not using labels and logos, right? 
The Desk/Closet Test
The straightest path to N/S-ness is to meander by your co-worker’s desk or rummage through your friend’s closet. (Legally, of course.) To quote from Isabel Briggs:
The Sensing types, by definition, depend on their five sense for perception. Whatever comes directly from the senses is part of the Sensing types’ own experience and is therefore trustworthy.
What that also means is that Ss are very aware of their sensory experiences and are visual vacuum cleaners, sucking up the visual details of their surroundings. Especially, that not so rare strain of STJ that makes up roughly ~20% of the population…ya know, the Monica-types that take orderliness it to the next level.
So, the acid test:
S(TJ) Desk
So, why are STJ-desks this way? 1) Because STJs are naturally anally retentive. JK. (I still love you, Christine!) and 2) Because STJs enjoy being organized, are constantly aware of the sensory environment and could literally not function if their work desk was messy as they perceive it to be a huge distraction. Other Ss have similarly neat desks but with varying degrees of neatness with SJs tending to be more neat than SPs. The one exception from the general pattern is desks of ESPs, which can be in utter and complete disarray, which brings us to the desk of an N.
(I)N Desk
N desks at their best are slightly disorderly and their worse are unending piles of paper, a clutter of dirty dishes and layers of coagulated dust and dirt. Basically, Ns can be pretty gross with INPs leading the pack. The INJ can be relatively messy as well but the J preference forces a certain level of organization that may lend method to the madness. INTPs are the worse, hence the characterization of the absent-minded professors, with ENJs exhibiting far less degrees of messiness than average N.
Other quick screens:
1. Are they inspired by ideas, theories and original ways to solve problems? –> N; Or do they tend to rely on what’s tried and true and weigh experiential evidence and solutions more highly than novel ones? –> S
2. If you asked them to stare at a Coke can for 30 seconds and then gave them another 30 seconds to write what they thought of the Coke can, would they tend to write in bullet points and describe the can by physical details (cylindrical, red, 6 inches tall) –> S. Or would they write in paragraphs and bring in symbolic elements of the can? (Americana, soda wars) –> N
3. If they are female, do they tend to accessorize well? –>S Do they keep their shoes in plastic boxes? –> S Do they use labels to organize things other than files? –> S
4. At work, does your boss often ask you to re-format documents even before reading the materials? –> S
I am howling.
My INTJ desk has been busted.
And so has the closet of my ISTJ friend.
No, no, no, this simply won’t do! I say this as an MBTI-qualified INTP who is working on what I trust will soon become known and revered as “Fisher’s Theory of Desks”.
A simple S/N divide doesn’t cut the mustard – for sheer desk chaos ES_Ps take some beating! INTPs are definitely ‘Pile it high’ but usually have some underlying order to the piles (at least in theory!). A good ES-P desk is one big heaving volcano-pile with lava-flows onto the floor! Their desk interiors are a good indicator too – they simply stuff anything they seriously need to lose/ forget into a dark hole and ignore it. Absolutely no order on the outside of the desk and far less on the inside. INTPs at least like designing filing sytems, even if they then forget to use them properly!
I’m married to an INTJ and in some ways I reckon they are the tortured souls where desks are concerned: they share the INTP desire for all knowledge to be handily in reach but also have that silly J desire for order and tidiness. Big collision – no winners there, I’m afraid!
I should also mention that I am the world rights-holder for the “Lovelace Deep-Litter Filing System”, named for a late colleague in UK local government who bequeathed them to me when he retired. Anyone running a classic untidy desk is violating my IP-rights and I shall be sending the debt collectors in shortly (when I can find their phone number…)!
Martin,
I totally agree! ES-Ps have awful desks. Can you shed light on the desk of an EN-J? I feel like they are much more aware of their surroundings and would tend towards neatness, but I have to admit, I don’t have a lot of ENTJ friends.
I was thinking something roughly similar to this.
It’s important to distinguish between Extraverted Rational preferences for order (ESTJ, ISTJ ESFJ, ISFJ – ENTJ, ENFJ, INTJ, INFJ) and ‘sensing’ versus ‘intuition.’ Extraverted Thinkers love order terribly much – whether they’re N or S. They have varying degrees of success at it, of course (the INTJ rarely has any), but they may. An ENTJ typically has an immaculate, functionally-organized office, as do the ENFJs I know. ESTJ and ESFJ the same. So the office-desk test may actually be a test for extraverted rationality, not n/s.
I’m a very solid ENTP, and my organization style is like an failed INTP, basically. I know where everything is, but it looks like a bomb hit my office.
ESTPs and ESFPs are usually, even by my standard, breath-takingly, terrifyingly messy. I just visited two ESP guys, in fact. Their rooms were terrifying.
I should also add that Introverted Sensation (ISTJ, ISFJ especially) is not necessarily prone to order. It depends on if order is an arbitary preference of theirs or not. One ISTJ I know has an insanely messy house – one has perfect order. They’re funny about that..
intuitivelyrational.wordpress.com
More research needed, but limited input suggests that EN_Js like ordered desks, but this may not last long (T’s particularly??)!
Some do manage long-term tidiness we believe – if their interior values support tidiness, their surroundings WILL be tidy, in spades! (Perhaps truer of ENFJs??)
Hmm .. Nice theory ^_^
I am An ENFP .. My desk and room is a disaster , so is my closet , bag , library .. So the part about “N” Is very true ^_^
As for “Fisher’s Theory of disks” , the name works very well . In fact , At the moment I am looking for some theories I can put my name on ^^
Very insightful observation! Though I am an INTJ, my desk is a horrible mess – probably because I don’t care as much as a typical S would when it comes to environmental/physical perfectionism. I simply don’t see the point to ‘waste time’ on such things like cleaning.
I’ve always had a hunch in the back of my mind that S’s were neater than N’s because they are more attuned to and perfectionistic of their physical environment.
Vivian: do please remember that SJs are the tidy, organised Ss, but there are a lot of SPs who are the exact opposite! SPs are ‘live in and for the present’, and tidiness often isn’t a big issue for them. See above: “Fisher’s Theory of Desks” has already covered this point in some detail