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Are Te users more likely to have competitive natures?

raz

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I've been wondering about this the last few months and I wanted to see if anyone else agreed. Seeing as Extraverted Thinking is objective extraverted judgment, isn't it likely that the function would lead someone with it as dominant or auxiliary to find energy off direct competition? I can't figure out a way to explain it better, or maybe that's just how simple it is. Any thoughts?
 

Chloe

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I have tertiary Te and I'm pretty competitive person, I feel energized with competitions.
I think it has sense because Te want's order and it's pretty critical so (at least my Te) thinks that he can do anything better himself than it is, so has kinda need to improve things, and thats where being competitive comes from. Thinking you could do better and wanting more organized things around yourself, and since it's extraverted function it turnes out competitive. At least I view it that way, but still dont have enough knowledge to be sure.
 

NewEra

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Very possible. I have auxiliary Te, and I'm highly competitive by nature. More so than anyone I know, and the TJ factors into it a lot so you might be on to something.
 

raz

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It could just be a personal problem for me or it could be Te, but I find it incredibly difficult to gauge how well I'm doing something just by forming my own judgment on it. I need to know how well other people are doing it, and I need to know the circumstances of the other people in order to compare myself and see where I stand in relation to what others are capable of.
 

Athenian200

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I think TJs are quite competitive. That's one of the reasons I dislike everything being designed around TJs... because I'm not competitive.
 

Matthew_Z

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It could just be a personal problem for me or it could be Te, but I find it incredibly difficult to gauge how well I'm doing something just by forming my own judgment on it. I need to know how well other people are doing it, and I need to know the circumstances of the other people in order to compare myself and see where I stand in relation to what others are capable of.
Behold the ISTJ approach: taking in large amounts of data to see how things are usually done(via Si) and then making a judgment using this data.(via Te)
 

SolitaryWalker

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I've been wondering about this the last few months and I wanted to see if anyone else agreed. Seeing as Extraverted Thinking is objective extraverted judgment, isn't it likely that the function would lead someone with it as dominant or auxiliary to find energy off direct competition? I can't figure out a way to explain it better, or maybe that's just how simple it is. Any thoughts?

Thinking tends to be concerned with dispassionate contemplation. When somebody engages in that they are led to think in a logical manner, or they will be concerned simply with what is true or false. Since Thinking is a Judging function, it tends to establish an agenda. Since this agenda is founded on attempts at logical reasoning, it is easy for the Thinking type in question to be concerned with questions of efficiency or lack thereof, competence or lack thereof. When one thinks in such a manner, he looks for a justification based on facts or chains of reasoning, not gut feelings or intuitions. That is why the agenda of the Thinking type tends to be such.

Very often this leads this type to be interested in independence and competence. Because the nature of the Extroverted Thinking is such that the focus is on things external to the person, the Te type tends to gain an interest in being competent and independent with regard to the activities in the external world. Very frequently this means being more independent or more competent than other people.

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In one sentence, indeed the Te type does tend to be more competitive than other types because the nature of this type is competence focused and externally focused.

Technical note: I said that the Extroverted Thinking type merely tends to be more competitive than others. The word 'tends' was chosen with great care. To be the Extroverted Thinking type or any type means to have a combination of certain psychological dispositions. Such dispositions do not necessitate certain behaviors. The fact is merely that the dispositions in question express themselves in terms of such behaviors under the circumstances that we observe.

The dispositions are as follows;

Thinking: Tendency towards dispassionate contemplation

Extroversion: Tendency to be stimulated primarily by interaction with the external world.

In the Western society, circumstances tend to be such that those who are at ease iwith dispassionate contemplation and interaction with the external world tend to become outgoing and competence focused, which engenders competitive personality traits. However, if the person in question was kidnapped by Pirates and forced into the role of a slave who spends 14 hours each day in a solitary cell, he certainly would not exhibit any competitive personality traits. Or any qualities of character that we tend to associate with the Thinking type.

If the person in question was forced to emigrate to an Indian village where the cast system prohibits him from being competitive or outgoing, he would still be a Te type, or have a tendency to be primarily stimulated by dispassionate contemplation and interaction with the world, yet it would manifest in personality traits other than competitiveness.

Even more notably, consider a Te person who was raised as the youngest of seven brothers and a feminizing, abusive father. Certainly the person in question would not be likely to manifest qualities of competitiveness whilst residing with these people.
 

simulatedworld

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Only when being competitive makes progress toward completing a measurable goal.
 

INTJ123

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yea my guess would be that T and TJ are likely competitive, however I do have an esfp friend who is competitive as well.
 

Saslou

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In my younger days i was incredibly competitive.

At school i always wanted to be at my best with subjects i liked especially when being taught by NT teachers.

With computer games, i will obsess until i get the highest score, especially with Tetris, Bejeweled, Majong etc.

At the gym with my son i will push myself further so i am the last one on the treadmill even if i am about to have a heart attack (smoker).

I have calmed down now though.
 

entropie

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It's good to hear you all speaking about your problems this freely. Now let it all out... shout it out...scream it into the world... and let the tiny tears drop :D
 

Virtual ghost

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Yes, Te users are competitive by their nature. But I think that most of them are still aware of the fact that sometimes this is not a good idea/approach.
 

Gauche

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I think TJs primarily want to achieve, therefore they compete (to have biggest achievments).

Pure competitiveness for its own sake may have something to do with Se imo.
 

Snow Turtle

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Te and Fe might seem prone to looking towards others to validate how well they are doing, which may seem competitive since there is constant comparison going on. However I don't think that neccessarily indicates competition, that gives me the impression that a person is trying to beat the other person, when in reality it's possible for a TJ to be less focused on the other person and more focused on doing well himself. All he's done there is used others as a measuring bar, you could argue that he's competing with himself.

And I have no idea why I applied male to TJ....
 

Athenian200

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And I have no idea why I applied male to TJ....

I do. Te is the most "masculine" function (yes, TJ men, you can go ahead and stroke your egos). There are female TJs, though, and some of them even have a feminine facade. Masculine doesn't mean male.

I don't remember where I read this, but here's how I've heard it breaks down:

Naturally "feminine" functions: Fe, Ne

Naturally "masculine" functions: Se, Te

Introverted functions aren't counted because they're usually not as visible.
 

Little Linguist

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I'm REALLY REALLY competitive, though I usually try to keep it for myself because I know how destructive it can be, especially in personal relationships.

Truth of the matter is: I'm super-duper competitive. So I don't know if it's just with Te users, although theoretically, if I were an ENFP, my Te would be tertiary, so....????
 

entropie

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I'm REALLY REALLY competitive, though I usually try to keep it for myself because I know how destructive it can be, especially in personal relationships.

Truth of the matter is: I'm super-duper competitive. So I don't know if it's just with Te users, although theoretically, if I were an ENFP, my Te would be tertiary, so....????

Penis-Neid ? :tongue10::jofticon_1::spam_laser: :smile:
 

Maverick

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Having an impersonal (Te) attitude to the world, I compete for impersonal things: the highest score, the fastest time, etc. I also do so in the context of a game accepted by people with clear rules judged by a neutral third party where one can decide who the winner will be according to established criteria. This is the definition of "healthy" competition, "fair-play", typical male competition, or competition focused on competence.

Competition focused on personal aspects is the one Te users are the least likely to engage in. Things like: social status, the most attractive, the most attention, the most liked, the most musically talented, the funniest, the most intelligent, the most [insert any character trait]... This is competition for insecure and envious people. It's childish and for people who have low self-esteem.

But it is very funny that, having an impersonal attitude to competition, some sort of magic happens and I end up being the most attractive, the most popular, the most liked and the funniest... All the while having never entered any "personal" competition.
 
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