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how easy is it to change Type?

niki

New member
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
210
MBTI Type
INFP
I'm just curious as how easy (or possibility %) we can change Type?
for example, from an INFP into ISFJ , ...and what's more curious is: is it even easy (and possible) to change only ONE letter, for example: from INFP to INFJ.
or from INTJ to INTP, or from INTP to ENTP, or from INTP to ISTP ?
how easy/hard is that?
and if easy, then HOW or what makes it possible to change ur "natural preference"?

The reason I'm asking this is that i've heard too many people here say that MBTI is just like horoscope-reading! and an INTJ friend of mine, although at first he gasped & wow-ed like crazy everytime he reads the INTJ description, which really surprisingly fits well wit him, suddenly turns 'cold' & said that: "c'mon! we can be ANYTHING we want to be! doesn't matter all those labels! besides, it's just human-made! ...you ARE you! not INFP, not INTP,
INTJ, whatever
!"

I personally disagree that we can easily change Type, even for just ONE letter-change, is not easy. This is my opinion, because after all, MBTi is all about NATURAL preferences....and I somehow believe (based also from my own personal experiences from childhood times!) that natural preferences IS just natural preferences, and ever since we're childhood , the "preferences" just can't change easily as many people might think.
Hence, I believe that it's even hard from INTP to morph into INTJ, for example... EXCEPT if the person is undergoing a very heavy & tremendous pressure to change (ie: can be pressure from society, or life-circumstances).

What do u guys think?
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Me? I don't believe it is technically possible to change type.

Your life circumstances can influence development, and make one type act more like another, but an innate preference is still developed there in a recognizable fashion. Of course all types can use all functions at various points.
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,988
I think we have some core traits that we cannot change.

But I am still skeptical if any of the theories based on Jung's have accurately captured those core traits.

If someone has a "core need" for "competence" does that mean this need will last for his whole life? I am skeptical, but I am still open to the idea.

If someone has a "core drive" to to "integrate" many inputs, does it mean they will always aim to get the "best" result possible?
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I think we have some core traits that we cannot change.

But I am still skeptical if any of the theories based on Jung's have accurately captured those core traits.

If someone has a "core need" for "competence" does that mean this need will last for his whole life? I am skeptical, but I am still open to the idea.

If someone has a "core drive" to to "integrate" many inputs, does it mean they will always aim to get the "best" result possible?

I sometimes wonder about this myself. Jung's model was originally based on people with mental problems. There seems to be a reasonable grouping of traits associated with type, however.

Thinking/Feeling is one preference I don't see quite as readily, except in individuals with extremes.
 

artie

New member
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
18
MBTI Type
infj
I have read that in Myers-Briggs theory as people become more mature they get better at using their weaknesses, so if you are an INFJ your ESTP side will become more pronounced, in other words in normal development we become more well rounded (at least this is the theory , I know nothing about debates about this within MB).

This seems like all any reasonable person could hope for to me, I'm not sure what age it's supposed to happen to most people, 50's?.

I know an ESTP very well, he was once wildly Extrovert, now around 40, he could almost be taken for an introvert.

On the other hand I know another ESTP whose ESTP features have become very extreme with age, they are really hard for everyone to deal with, but they are a Peter Pan, never grew up. (there may be other problems like Narcissistic Personality Disorder).
 

The_Liquid_Laser

Glowy Goopy Goodness
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
3,376
MBTI Type
ENTP
It doesn't matter if MBTI is hard wired into our biology or if it's simply a human construct. A person's personality and modes of thinking are mostly solidified once they reach late teens to early 20's. After that they will change very slowly.
 

ygolo

My termites win
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,988
It doesn't matter if MBTI is hard wired into our biology or if it's simply a human construct. A person's personality and modes of thinking are mostly solidified once they reach late teens to early 20's. After that they will change very slowly.

It does seem that way doesn't it?

But there are some developments I wanted to look into:

Amazon.com: The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (James H. Silberman Books): Books: Norman Doidge

Amazon.com: Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia Series in Science and Religion): Books: B. Alan Wallace
 

niki

New member
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
210
MBTI Type
INFP
ok, but when you mean by "change very slowly", do you mean...change as in 'develop our shadow function' , or 'changing our Type' , for example, from an INTP into an INTJ, or INTP into an ISTP ? ..

i don't know, but i personally think that it's always possible to develop our 'shadow/weakness' parts, but to change entirely , even changing our "P" to become totally a "J", hence , from INTP into an INTJ, would be a LOT harder,..if not impossible...
I still don't have any facts to back my statement, but based from my own personal observation of people close to me in my daily-life, from the adolescents age 'till their 40's, 50's (eg: my Dad) , it seems like this way..
I could be entirely wrong, though...I'm being open-minded.
 

JivinJeffJones

New member
Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
3,702
MBTI Type
INFP
Heh, as soon as I saw this thread title I knew an INFP would be behind it. ;)
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,192
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Well, you should note that changing a J to a P means a complete exchange of all the functions (!)

INFJ = Ni + Fe + Ti + Se
INFP = Fi + Ne + Si +Te

See? No functions alike at all! So you're not just changing a letter if you change P to J or vice versa .... you are swapping all your functions for ones you apparently weren't good enough in before to rank very highly. So that seems very unlikely. More likely a P has learned to find closure even when she does not want to, or a J has learned to flex when he did not care much for it.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

Glowy Goopy Goodness
Joined
Jul 11, 2007
Messages
3,376
MBTI Type
ENTP
ok, but when you mean by "change very slowly", do you mean...change as in 'develop our shadow function' , or 'changing our Type' , for example, from an INTP into an INTJ, or INTP into an ISTP ? ..

What I mean is that even if it is possible to change type, by the time a person reaches adulthood it is very difficult. Most people simply develop their weaker functions and/or learn to use their stronger functions more effectively.

i don't know, but i personally think that it's always possible to develop our 'shadow/weakness' parts, but to change entirely , even changing our "P" to become totally a "J", hence , from INTP into an INTJ, would be a LOT harder,..if not impossible...
I still don't have any facts to back my statement, but based from my own personal observation of people close to me in my daily-life, from the adolescents age 'till their 40's, 50's (eg: my Dad) , it seems like this way..
I could be entirely wrong, though...I'm being open-minded.

I had a theatre professor that used to say, "In a play there is no character development, only character revelation." I'm inclined to say that this is analogous to real life as well. Are we truly developing ourselves as we age or is it closer to say that we discover who we really are? I believe it is the latter.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,192
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I had a theatre professor that used to say, "In a play there is no character development, only character revelation." I'm inclined to say that this is analogous to real life as well. Are we truly developing ourselves as we age or is it closer to say that we discover who we really are? I believe it is the latter.

Oh, you're such a P. ;)

Seriously, though:
P's generally see truth as something to be discovered (reactive/exploratory).
J's generally see truth as something to be created (initiating).

Art tends to manifest with the same bias. J's usually have a vision they then want to implement; P's usually interact with the work as it develops, so that the piece "creates itself."

(For example, Stephen King has referred to stories as similar to the Tommyknocker ship: An excavation that the artist seeks to reveal/uncover. This is typical P.)
 

Metamorphosis

New member
Joined
May 9, 2007
Messages
3,474
MBTI Type
INTJ
I had a theatre professor that used to say, "In a play there is no character development, only character revelation." I'm inclined to say that this is analogous to real life as well. Are we truly developing ourselves as we age or is it closer to say that we discover who we really are? I believe it is the latter.

I'd have to agree. I don't think it is possible to truly change your type. Don't look at that as a negative, though. We all have our place.
 

artie

New member
Joined
Aug 25, 2007
Messages
18
MBTI Type
infj
Type engineering

It seems like there might be potential to change type chemically, one day. Peoples personalities do change with drunkeness or insanity, in both cases an IxFx can turn into an ExTx, with side effects like idiocy.

I wonder about testosterone and estrogen. I couldn't help notice the similarity between the MB observation that personalities become more well rounded wirh maturity and the discovery that testoserone goes up relative to estrogen in women with maturity and goes down in men at the same time.

I only have second hand experience of people taking steroids, they are said to become more agressive, I understand this as more ExTx.

I think alcholics are sometimes high in estrogen, some are very mellow, some maybe not.

Anyway, is it a good idea to change type? they're probably all there for a reason (in our adaptation to this planet).
 

neptunesnet

man-made
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
1,228
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
5&4
Instinctual Variant
sx
I had a theatre professor that used to say, "In a play there is no character development, only character revelation." I'm inclined to say that this is analogous to real life as well. Are we truly developing ourselves as we age or is it closer to say that we discover who we really are? I believe it is the latter.

Oh, you're such a P. ;)

Seriously, though:
P's generally see truth as something to be discovered (reactive/exploratory).
J's generally see truth as something to be created (initiating).

Art tends to manifest with the same bias. J's usually have a vision they then want to implement; P's usually interact with the work as it develops, so that the piece "creates itself."

I'd have to agree. I don't think it is possible to truly change your type. Don't look at that as a negative, though. We all have our place.

:)
 

INTJ123

HAHHAHHAH!
Joined
Jun 20, 2009
Messages
777
MBTI Type
ESFP
it's not change, it's balance. you don't completely switch preferences, you learn not to hold on too tight to your preferences.
 

SuperFob

New member
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
264
MBTI Type
INFJ
It doesn't matter if MBTI is hard wired into our biology or if it's simply a human construct. A person's personality and modes of thinking are mostly solidified once they reach late teens to early 20's. After that they will change very slowly.
I highly doubt that people experience a significant loss in their ability to develop their inferior functions in age range of the 20's. People just become more willing to accept the abilities they already have at that age without having much confidence that they'll be able to develop further. There seems to be some kind of limiting belief that the human mind reaches some kind of 'peak' during the 20's and 'burns out' afterwards.
 

Soar337

New member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
387
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
457
I think people can change type for a time, maybe a certain time of their lives. But soon enough, they will revert back to the type that they were born with. I think that deep, down, we will never change:)
 
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