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BGB · Member Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 16 Location: Guam

so, I got to thinking about something from my past, and had wondered what people think is more likely:
for the most part, when I was younger (2+ years ago) I generally came out on psychology tests as INTP...
but, then it destabilized, and eventually resettled on ESTJ, and now seems fairly stable there...

so, I am left thinking:
did a few of my functions actually invert (Ti->Te), ...

or, is it more likely that when I was younger, I had just adopted the "persona" of an INTP (possibly by me mostly associating with programmers and other people), and then when getting older, my "actual" personality started re-asserting itself, causing this jump...

or, is it possible that an INTP can "adopt" an ESTJ persona instead?... (for example, as a result of socializing, or exposure to SJ types, or exposure to religion, ... ?).

what does it matter if one has traits typically ascribed to several different types?
...
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ESTJ

C.Beck · Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:47 am Post subject:

Sounds like there's something more than MBTI going on here.
If only we had a system or theory to explain what else could be happening
Oh, look! Cognitive styles!

BGB · Member Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 16 Location: Guam

yes, ok.

I guess it is also worth noting that when I was younger, I was also having a lot more psychological and emotional stability issues (being depressed, occasionally blowing up, issues with obsessive-compulsive traits, ...). but, in more recent years, emotions/... have become notably more stable...

but, alas, I still don't have much of a social life. basically, most of my life I have been mostly isolated from other people (as in, there is no one around to talk to...), and so most of my interaction with people has been online...

or such...
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ESTJ

Lenka · Advanced Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 3877

You know, maybe cognitive styles genuinely is better.

Cooper, do you think all those INFPs who claim to be INxP are really mercies shutting off their sentiment, burrying themselves alive in a way? Shocked

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Mercy, INFP, RLUEI, INFj.... Aries and Dragon.... and such stuff.

Lenka · Advanced Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 3877

Cooper, I feel like a contributor. :/
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Mercy, INFP, RLUEI, INFj.... Aries and Dragon.... and such stuff.

C.Beck · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:39 am Post subject:

C.Beck · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:46 am Post subject:

Isra · Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:39 am Post subject:

BGB, when I was a teenager, I was constantly stressed, and (in hindsight) I think I acted more like an unhealthy INFP a good portion of the time.

Emotional stress can do all sorts of things to us, but I think that in my case, that came out functionally as Ti switching to Fi, and Se switching to Ne... I can see how stress would also possibly change the attitudes of one's functions.

Of course, stress in certain situations can make us stronger, i.e. cause us to healthily develop functions we wouldn't otherwise. I also think that parental (or other) influence can have something to do with how we act. When I first learned about personality theory, I thought my husband might be an ISFP... he's definitely an INTJ, but his social ISFP shell made sense when I met his definitely ISFP mother.

I'm sure that some people aren't subject to these kinds of influences, and some never have cause to find out, but that's my theoretical take on things.
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(Fi)(Ne)ly tuned ISTP

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
-Robert Frost

BGB · Member Joined: 05 Sep 2008 Posts: 16 Location: Guam

Lenka · Advanced Member Joined: 31 Aug 2007 Posts: 3877

or Isra, you could be an INFP with well-evolved functions. Hm.
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Mercy, INFP, RLUEI, INFj.... Aries and Dragon.... and such stuff.

Isra · Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:13 am Post subject:

Lenka, I seriously doubt it, but I can see why you might say that.

As I grew independent, with less stress and more freedom, I came into my own slowly but surely. It felt... kind of like I had been cluelessly wearing the wrong size shoes for years, and suddenly got a pair that fit. It was hard to get used to, because I was accustomed to dealing with the ill-fitting pair, but I knew that they were the right shoes for me.

Way back when, I really struggled with Ti vs. Fi... I thought something was wrong with me, even that I might be schizophrenic to some extent... it does literally mean split-brained, after all. The majority of my best and most comfortable memories from childhood and teenagedom are somewhat ISTP in nature, the worst and least comfortable are generally more INFP in nature. I did not do INFP well, I do ISTP well (and FiNely Razz

) , and I think that's always been true.

Oh, if only I had known something of personality theory then! Even though it wouldn't have changed my exterior life, it would have helped internally quite a bit.
_________________
(Fi)(Ne)ly tuned ISTP

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
-Robert Frost