Quote Originally Posted by FDG View Post
I'm somehow skeptical: even if people can predict our behavior by our traits, it does not necessarily follow that our behavior is what we truly want to do. Our introspective thougth process might feel like we should direct our preference towards a given activity, yet learned behavioral traits and peer-pressure might lead us towards a different course of action. And, of course, what others see is more likely to be related to our peer-pressured, conformist side.
Bottom line, what's my point? Even if others may be better than us at predicting our behavior, it does not follow that their knowledge of our own thougth processes is better.
I also noticed that the blog author mentions behavior > introspection and I gave it some thought. Random comments so far:

* I agree that behavior prediction and the inner landscape are two different things (though they will overlap).
* The research referred to posits that our limited self-knowledge arises from the brain's emphasis on efficiency, and introspection is not exactly about efficiency. I'd like to know more about this research before drawing any conclusions on that front.
* Many systems/theories of personality type do ask test takers or self-assessors to report on both their behavior and their inner lives, and descriptions of personalities mix the two, melding them together in seemingly unexamined ways.
* Self-knowledge could be built via a combination of introspection and external feedback, step by step.

/random thoughts