• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Personality Type isn't about who you are

Litvyak

No Cigar
Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
1,822
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I can fake ENFP anytime. Anytime. And it makes things much easier. Yet I'm an INTJ.
People are so fucked up as an adult with bad experiences and a shitload of social pressure that it is impossible to adjudge their "default" behavior, if there is such a thing. The usage of cognitive processes is the primary determining factor.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,187
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I think extraverts are much more inclined to act as exactly who they are, than introverts.

Extraverts tend to act then think, thereby revealing their true selves. Whereas the introvert thinks and then acts, where they have a chance to decide whether and how they will act. Us devious introverts don't always behave "as we are".

Very true.

anyway, to get back directly to the cog functions of MBTI, everything is based on the interaction of (1) how weperceive the world and then (2 how we evaluate abnd possibly respond to those perceptions.

sorry if self-reporting is inherently a messy business for you, but if you want to be technically accurate, it's not really about 'how you act."

but i'll agree in general that in the end, if you don't act or quack or look like a duck,you should reconsider whether you are one.
 

KDude

New member
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
8,243
I've been told many times that I "think too much". I try to work out problems before I act, but in many cases.. I eventually can't figure anything out... just say "fuck it", take a dive, and act on Feeling. Does that make me driven by F?
 

mockingbird

New member
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
Messages
249
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
9w1
Wrong. I act like an 8 and think like an ENFP. If anything Enneagram is about how you act. MBTI is clearly all about cognition. Try to type me irl as ENFP if you don't believe me (unless you get to know me reeaaaally well).

This.
Both my youngest brother and I are 9s, but I am an INFP and he is an INTP. We act very simillarly, and, to the casual observer, would seem to be two people of one mind. But if you get to know us, our thought patterns are very different. No matter how hard I try, I simply cannot think like and NT.
 

gromit

likes this
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
6,508
how i act is who i am

why would you act in a manner separate from how you are?

as people, isnt how we act a large part, if not a leading role in who we are?

I disagree... somewhat. We often act in ways uncharacteristic of ourselves because of the situation, because somebody needs to fill a certain role (so we fill it) or because we are pushed beyond our usual limits. Or we refrain from saying something unkind merely because it is true. We can be very, very different people depending upon the context.
 

Moiety

New member
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
5,996
MBTI Type
ISFJ
Exactly.


The same type can have all kinds of extreme variants, true, but ultimately you're not gonna act apart from the natural flow of your default personality, not if you're fairly developed and mature at least, and usually even if you aren't.

Natural flow uh? I don't know what that means. God knows though I act and live very differently from most ENFPs I've read about.

And once again, I don't subscribe to MBTI.:

That explains all your ESTP typings of fictional characters lol :)
 

gromit

likes this
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
6,508
I can fake ENFP anytime. Anytime. And it makes things much easier. Yet I'm an INTJ.
People are so fucked up as an adult with bad experiences and a shitload of social pressure that it is impossible to adjudge their "default" behavior, if there is such a thing. The usage of cognitive processes is the primary determining factor.

Yeah probably I would have to agree...
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2008
Messages
5,552
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Are we really surprised that an Se dom sees action as the most fundamental definition of personality...?
 

stellar renegade

PEST that STEPs on PETS
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
1,446
MBTI Type
ESTP
I think extraverts are much more inclined to act as exactly who they are, than introverts.

Extraverts tend to act then think, thereby revealing their true selves. Whereas the introvert thinks and then acts, where they have a chance to decide whether and how they will act. Us devious introverts don't always behave "as we are".
I don't necessarily think so, because you're still thinking within the framework of your type. Any planning on your part is going to be done within your type's dynamic as well. ;)

What we do is a huge component of who we are--or, at least, our actions reflect our personality--though it's not the whole story.

It's just the most obvious facet of who we are, and so it's the one that 'shines through' when we look at personality psychology. :)

Sometimes the line is blurred when I think in terms of action. I could probably resemble a hard assed STJ in some ways, depending on mood and threats to safety. Bad drivers endanger me and can aggravate me enough to care about rules.. people who owe me money and don't deliver on the expected date piss me off... I'd appreciate punctuality instead. Because I like money. Not necessarily because I like rules. The gangster kids on my street piss me off in general, because they make my environment dangerous.

OTOH if things are going well, I'm easy going and less concerned about "violations" or chaotic behavior around me. And that's how I essentially want to be. It's not my fault that some other assholes are provoking different actions. I'd say those actions are mostly uncharacteristic.

I agree with both of those.

I know I didn't explain myself well at first but that's just because I was trying to make my point stand out noticeably. Now I can more fully elaborate on what I mean.

I used to be typed as an INFP, and I seemed to act like an IXFP. So this must mean one of two things:

1) Either I believe that a person's type can change over the years, or
2) I believe that typing someone is pretty relative and you have to look at their life as a whole

You can't just take a few actions, or a few years, of someone's life and abstract them away or focus on them solely to determine their type. Or if you do, you have to be open to being wrong. People are going to change. But what changes is their character, not their inward nature.

BUT - most of the time, in most places, people WILL act like their inward nature, or in other words, how their brain is wired. I do believe though that there's a possibility your type can change in slight ways or with some rewiring in bigger ways (though it can be debated to what extent this could actually happen or how authentic the change would be).

And now you might say, "But it sounds like you're saying that personality type IS who you are, with all this talk about an inward nature!"

:1377: Nope, because who I am is something way more unique and distinct than that. I can't be the same person as 600 million others. My type doesn't determine WHO I AM, because I am a complex individual just like everybody else and nobody can really explain me fully. I've noticed this, what with all my eccentricities and how I don't even fit neatly within one type 100% of the time.

So the conclusion is that type doesn't really describe who YOU ARE, just how you as a person is expressed to the world outside. It doesn't dictate your morality, for instance. Idealists aren't necessarily anymore moral or loving than others. Hitler was an Idealist. Rationals aren't necessarily anymore unbiased or clear-headed than others. Some of them are so jumbled up in their complicated thought patterns that they don't make any sense.

Love and morality come through humbly accepting your interdependence, and truth comes though learning in humility.

The difference is, Idealists strive to be connected or find meaning, and Rationals strive to understand the world.

Make sense now?
 

stellar renegade

PEST that STEPs on PETS
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
1,446
MBTI Type
ESTP
Another caveat: I am a very spiritual person. You can't tell me I'm not by looking at my type. But my spirituality is expressed on much different terms. I'm not able to use intuition to guide me. I'm guided by instinct. I can see through circumstances (observation) that I'm being taken care of. Also, whenever I met with a group of like-minded people to worship, I would usually be the one banging the drum and sometimes dancing or singing loudly, and I got alot out of it. Yes, I did experience a presence but normally I didn't get pictures in my head like others frequently did and my mind wasn't racing but calm and focused on surroundings.

Does that make me any less spiritual? I'm still who I am, a spiritual animal, but it's just expressed differently because of my type. It just changes how I act, not WHO I AM.

Get it?
 

tcda

psicobolche
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,292
MBTI Type
intp
Enneagram
5
Agree witht he OP. All the attempts to turn MBTI into something wich explains causes rather than describe symptoms, IMO end up in the realm of metaphysics (i.e. the realm of fail - elegantly worded fail but fail nonetheless).

I guess you could argue that this makes an anti-Jungian and I shouldn't therefore even be on an MBTI forum - but I would counter that I find MBTI has some value in that it helps me predict and manage interactionw ith different personalities, and I don't need to share someone's whole philosophical outlook in order to make use of some of the insights they may throw up.
 

Jeffster

veteran attention whore
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
6,743
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx
POW!

(sorry, I just re-watched some scenes from Step Brothers.) :D

But yes, it makes perfect sense. Like Keirsey said, "Words and tools. There's nothing else." You can speculate all you want about deep inner meanings if that's fun for you, but the people that try to ascribe a particular Jungian function to every single action someone makes is just silly.

If I see a cloud and say "That cloud looks like a razor blade, which reminds me i need to shave. By the way, did you know that ancient Thessalonians shaved with tree bark?" That's not me "extroverting Ne" or whatever, it's just a statement and some people are hella over-thinking things.
 

stellar renegade

PEST that STEPs on PETS
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
1,446
MBTI Type
ESTP
Agree witht he OP. All the attempts to turn MBTI into something wich explains causes rather than describe symptoms, IMO end up in the realm of metaphysics (i.e. the realm of fail - elegantly worded fail but fail nonetheless).
Exactly! :rock:

I guess you could argue that this makes an anti-Jungian and I shouldn't therefore even be on an MBTI forum - but I would counter that I find MBTI has some value in that it helps me predict and manage interactionw ith different personalities, and I don't need to share someone's whole philosophical outlook in order to make use of some of the insights they may throw up.
Well I always read the name, "Typology Central" and figured it was up for grabs! :newwink: You can bring any type theory you want here. Socionics folks drag their confused jumbled mess in here, too! Why can't I make a splash? :devil:

POW!

(sorry, I just re-watched some scenes from Step Brothers.) :D

But yes, it makes perfect sense. Like Keirsey said, "Words and tools. There's nothing else." You can speculate all you want about deep inner meanings if that's fun for you, but the people that try to ascribe a particular Jungian function to every single action someone makes is just silly.

If I see a cloud and say "That cloud looks like a razor blade, which reminds me i need to shave. By the way, did you know that ancient Thessalonians shaved with tree bark?" That's not me "extroverting Ne" or whatever, it's just a statement and some people are hella over-thinking things.
Totally.

Hey, Jeffster. I'm going to get checked out tomorrow to figure out the reason for all my fatigue. Do you think it's because I don't have enough Fe in me? :newwink:
 

VagrantFarce

Active member
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
1,558
What's this elusive sense of identity apart from how you act?

[youtube=PmwLPU5H6_Q]Doooooooooooo[/youtube]

But but but

[youtube=cufk6MMwd5o] :( [/youtube]

I can't decide which one is true! It's almost like both are right!

Gosh, if only there was a way of categorising and reconciling these two perspectives into some sort of system - one that's able to illustrate not only the similarities, but also the differences, in how we all think and behave :thinking:
 

stellar renegade

PEST that STEPs on PETS
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
1,446
MBTI Type
ESTP
The ability to act seemingly differently than your own type is also predetermined by your type. For instance, I think my acting somewhat like a little intuitive was determined by my Artisan ability to be extremely adaptable.
 

stellar renegade

PEST that STEPs on PETS
Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
1,446
MBTI Type
ESTP
I'm gonna need to see some sourceage.

"Sourceage" would only determine how personality type is defined, of which there are several theories, all different. We have to figure out the most efficient way for it to operate ourselves.
 

disregard

mrs
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
7,826
MBTI Type
INFP
"Sourceage" would only determine how personality type is defined, of which there are several theories, all different. We have to figure out the most efficient way for it to operate ourselves.

Okay. Given that, you would agree that one's personality changes over the course of their lives?

How about over the course of a day, depending upon one's company or task?
 

tcda

psicobolche
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,292
MBTI Type
intp
Enneagram
5
Gosh, if only there was a way of categorising and reconciling these two perspectives into some sort of system - one that's able to illustrate not only the similarities, but also the differences, in how we all think and behave :thinking:

+1 rep, because that's nicely dialectical (even if you don't agree with materialist version of said method :p). ;)
 

BlackCat

Shaman
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
7,038
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Why is it called personality type if it's about how people act rather than how they think?

I never understood that about Kiersey. All of his descriptions aren't really about how people think; it's not really "personality."
 
Top