How did you decide upon your type?

[Quinlan]

The ghost of Carl Jung came to me in a dream and said "You are ISFPeeeeyeyeyeee!" (in a ghost voice).

 

[Snuggletron]

what was on the opposite side? INFJ I guess?

 

[JustHer]

Hhhmmm I took the MBTI test on facebook many years ago and scored ESTJ and I didnt really think much of it at all. Then somebody sent me a test a few years after that and I scored ENTJ and that description actually hit home so I got inspired to study that shit.

 

[tinkerbell]

I took a paper test at Uni, then about 18 months latera formal test, then another formal test later still... etc... Always tested ENTP...with the exception in one job where I think I was borderline J.... cos I was learning a while new set of skills.

I think ENTP suits my personality very well, it reflects my actual self I think.

my former boss sees me very much as a mad creative type... and use to delight in finding articles about how creativity is close to insanity... hmmm wasn't so pleased with that bit - ah hes an ENTJ, so sees himeself as totally uncreative

 

[Charmed Justice]

Took the MBTI in high school and college.

 

[tcda]

I took a test and it always came out INTP. Then I found that online most INTP's found me too J, and most INTJ's find me too P, and likewise IRL P's find me too stressed and J's find me too disorganized.

Sooo I just walked away from them satisfied at my well roundedness and thought "who cares" about resolving that one.

 

[Queen Kat]

This is why I chose to call myself EnxP:

- The most test I have done say I'm ENFP, ENTP, ESTP or ESFP.
- People who know me very well, see me as an ENTP.
- People who don't know me that well, see me as an INFP or as an ESFP (depends on the person).
- The first impression people have of me, is or INTJ or ESFP (strange, huh?).
- I can identify most with ESTPs.
- People on this forum typed me as an ENFP.
- I'm too bad at sports and too imaginative to be an N.
- Hanging around on this forum is more of an N-thing than an S-thing.
- That leaves EnxP.

I still don't know for sure what type I am. Maybe I should try that video thing.

 

[cascadeco]

Took kinda a while.

Tested as INTJ in my early 20's, and related very much to the INTJ profiles. Never considered 'F' because I tended to always be outwardly unemotional/calm, couldn't relate much at all to emotional theatrics/drama, hated poetry (lol), and didn't consider myself an overly senitimental/mushy person, and considered myself a pretty even-keeled, rational, sensible person (I'm not saying any of those things should be tied to 'F', but back then I associated those things with F).

By mid-20's I became in touch with my emotions, though, and did a lot of self-analysis, and realized I was in fact a pretty emotional person, and also realized I was, and always had been, pretty into diplomacy, getting along with others, building on connections, etc etc. That's when I started being open to the possibility of being an F, and really gave those types a chance.

The INxJ has always been pretty clear...however, when I joined this forum for maybe a year I was all confused when I started thinking/overanalyzing about cognitive functions, and for a bit I was considering the possibility of me being a P. I eventually snapped out of that phase, though, and have fully embraced the J. Reality: I'm so not a P.

INFJ makes the most sense, taking all theories into consideration and also taking mbti with a good dose of salt. But, I don't think I'm a super strong F as those things go...like if I were to compare myself to one of my INFJ friends who is super-F.

 

[miss fortune]

The E and P are rather obvious to everyone somehow I'm apparently the epitome of P-ness and have been used as an example by people for psych projects as an extrovert...

I always test as a T, and those I know in real life actually would attest that it is an accurate description (and worse yet, strong feelers confuse me and leave me with a feeling of inadequacy- especially that damned, confusing Fi!)- it's on the Ti side though, Analysis is cool, plotting global takeover clashes with the P

My Fe is totally tertiary, in the most evil and twisted sense of the word... it would be nice if it wasn't in a way, but I don't let it bother me too much

this leaves the result as ExTP... I tend to test ENTP or ExTP, and as some Ns and their superiority complex have gotten on my nerves I'm sticking with the x for the time being

 

[kelric]

I was given a copy of Keirsey's "Please Understand Me" when I was in high school, and tested as (and associated with the descriptions of) an INTP. Over the years I've sort of wandered back and forth on the INTP/INFP divide (yeah, I don't hold with the function order theory), but over all INTP still fits. Especially the IP, only a little less so N, quite a bit less so T.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

I took a test, I don't remember which one, when I was 15 or 16. It was actually my mom that found the MBTI first, and she was curious about everyone in the family, and administered the test the pencil&paper way. I came out INTP. The profile sounded accurate to me and everyone else in the family said it sounded like me, so I stuck with it.

Ever since then, I've been interested in the MBTI and studied it. I've taken many different tests, of varrying quality, and come out INTP most of the time with INTJ being the occasional other result (I've gotten some other odd results, but usually from very odd tests). I've piled over so many profile descriptions, and various theories about the MBTI (I ultimately stick with Lenore Thomson's way of looking at it the most) but time and again, I find that none of the other type profiles work for me as well as INTP. It's not so much a matter of inclusion and exclusion. I'll think maybe I'm not an INTP, and then rule out every single other time, and conclude I'm INTP again. Doubt never lasts long.

Putting the type profiles aside, and looking at it more from the cognitive processes alone, it can be a little harder to tell (mainly because quantifying the use of functions is always rather fuzzy). I still think Ti-Ne describes my style of thinking best. I think the ones I alternatively considered the most were Fi-Ne at one point, and then Te-Ni at another, but I think Ti-Ne checks-out more.

At this point, I've decided there are so many serious flaws with the MBTI that I question whether or not it is in a state to reliable assess anyone. Never the less, that's a question of the whole system, and not any particular dynamic that would make me INTP. So I stick with INTP, but I'm less attached to the idea of having any type these days.

 

[heart]

I wasn't sure until I read about cognitive functions.

 

[Lacey]

I took a test online in my psychology class in high school. I think it was the Human Metrics one. I got INTJ. I chalk it up to the perfectionistic tendencies I had back then, and the fact that I had this "smart kid" image I was upholding. (Not trying to make a comment on INTJs...just with my actual personality type, and life factors...I think that's why the results skewed the way they did.) Anyway, I thought it was interesting, but after that day I forgot about it.

I started going to counseling when I was 19, and they had me go to my college's career center to take the Strong Interest Inventory and the paper MBTI. I got INTP. For some reason it really piqued my interest this time so I went online and read more about INTP and MBTI in general. So, yeah, that's how I found this place.

I thought I was INTP for at least a year. As I became more well-informed, I realized I was INFP. I learned about the cognitive functions, saw more type descriptions, read posts from other INFPs... It all just started pointing toward INFP. I still test as INTP a lot, but there's no way I could be anything other than INFP. haha

 

[Venom]

I had a very long road to my current type (about 1.5 years). I write a bit fluffier about it in my blog: http://www.typologycentral.com/foru...revelations-cuddle-cult-tm-now-blog-form.html

In short, I found someone going on about how they were INTP or INTJ on an exercise forum. After googling the terms, I discovered the similar minds tests, the typelogic and personality pages websites. I tested INFP. At the time I was still trying to fit in with college and find my identity. I had had a strong group identity in highschool that I couldnt recreate at college for various reasons. I gravitated to the INFP because it captured how disgusted I was with the shallow, immoral behavior of those around me. the introvert distinction gave me a crutch to rationilize why I didnt want to party every night, and the F nature just went so well with my religious beliefs (I was a jesus freak at the time).

After three months of posting on an INFP forum, getting more settled into the college social scene and feeling more secure in the "roles" I had chosen, I realized that something wasn't right about my type! I then started testing ENFP for about another 3 months.

Then my religious group on campus started tightening its grip a bit. Rather than being attracted to them based on values, I was being repelled based on their lack of logic. They'd push me on certain science issues, and I'd push back. I started testing ENTP a lot, but based on cognitive processes I thought ENTJ. I tested ENTJ for about a year. I got REALLY into philosophy and logic.

After my year as ENTJ, I started to calm down with the logic. I was the most secure with my role in life since highschool and I could start to really think about "what made me, feel like a happy me". With the logic craze gone, I realized that in actuality, I have very "F" behavior. I'm expressive, I'm "invested" (in ways that the T's are often detached), and I prefer to lead with feeling.

After a huge "whats my type" thread, I settled on ENFJ. My INFP start was like the inverted, depressed, and stressed version of my true self. What settled it for me was:

So Amar, Petty and Murk got me all riled up about my type last night lol...
this morning I thought about it for a bit, and then it kinda just seemed so obvious: rather than try to answer "as your preference", I would just kinda take a moment to "put myself" into a place where I most feel like myself. Like close my eyes as me today, and open them as me at ______ (place where I most feel like myself).

I just "put myself" into "me" as I am at some of my past summer jobs, events and activities that make me most feel like "me". The amazing thing was that this time taking the test I had much stronger urges to select "little me" or "exactly me". Usually I just tend to think of myself as "well ya I do that when I need to" and so my results emerge as much more "bland". Anyways, heres the results:

....

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/what-s-my-type/24661-i-have-no-type-help-me-19.html

 

[edcoaching]

If anyone isn't sure of his/her type, the worst thing to do is to keep taking more assessments, whether they're free or normed instruments. ALL of them are self-reporting instruments, not diagnostic tools, and the more you know about the theory, the harder it is to report your preferences as opposed to what you should/have to/want to be.

The best thing to do is what several people here are describing: sit down in a quiet place (if you're pretty sure you're extraverted you can talk it through with someone later) and consider when you use each preference. Where? WHy? What is the result? What were you taught to do? What came earlier in life?

And ignore any internet resources that slam any of the preferences when you work through this--they're getting at behaviors rather than preferences and besides, all 16 types are great ways to be. The best type to be is the one you were born to be so a site with obvious biases does not capture the theory...

I posted how I determined my type back on page 1...

 

[BlueGray]

Reading all these the fact that I've never doubted my type seems unusual.

 

[BlueScreen]

I pestered people with "what's my type?" threads until they refused to respond.

First time I tested INFJ and thought I was. Then thought maybe INFP and after discussing it with people I knew, settled for ENFP.

After being on TC for a while, the similarities became pretty obvious, so I sort of confirmed it that way.

 

[Fluffywolf]

It was love at first sight.

 

[Rebe]

I was in my early teens when I chanced upon the whole personality types thing. I immediately scored as an INFP and found the descriptions to be profoundly accurate. It really changed me and made me feel less like a quake.

The best way for me to learn about another type is to meet a person who is that type and get to know them very deeply. I typed my friends and my family, and then random strangers, slowly unraveling the rationale behind my gut judgments. As I understand other types and differentiate different characteristics and hidden motives and a person's dominant objectives and such, I also get to understand my own type better. I like to compare and contrast, back up my gut, I am never completely certain of anything.

At some point three years or so ago, I thought I was INFJ and was very certain of it. With people who are Js, I get very P, as in laid-back, easy-going, very open-minded about planning. But when people who are Ps, I get very J, as in assertive and stubborn about plans and staying with them. People in type forums thought I was INFJ too, until I chatted with a bunch of them and apparently, I take vulgar jokes too well to be an INFJ, and some other stuff too. Haha. And it makes more sense because the relations descriptions works best when I am INFP.

One of the most convincing statements is from socionics where I read that an INFP is what happens when you combine the playfulness of an ISFP with the criticalness of an INTP, which is extremely accurate.

For a brief moment, I thought I could be INTJ because I became very cold, impatient and matter-of-fact with sympathy only for the very, very unfortunate, but I guess that's just another facet of myself. It is what happens when I want to push through my wishy washy crap and focus on what is the most important to me to make up for what I feel very uncertain about. I find pretending to be an INTJ reassuring. I also really, really admire NT traits. For a brief period, I could not for the life of me deal with emotions anymore. Although the type that I'd most rather be is ENTP, but there is no way I am an extrovert and I am a fast thinker, but not that fast.

Being an INFP and an ennegram five helps. I have always scored as an INFP no matter what I took, haha.

Fi explains everything I do. Fe really disturbs me, but my best friends were/are all Fe dominant and I find them, at their best, to be very nurturing and caring and give me the comfort safe I need to express my affection and at their worse, extremely needy and over-dramatic. I find Ti to be an extremely compelling trait and wish I have it. I find Te to be too conventional and practical to be interesting. I still get confused over the difference between Ne and Ni. And I don't have particularly strong feelings toward Si or Se, except that I lack both and it amazes me when boys just fix mechanical things as if it is part of their primal knowledge.

 

[Jaguar]

Upon seeing my reflection in the mirror.
Hot damn, I am human after all.