Gender Roles and MBTI

[Apostolos]

Sorry, my English aren't that good. I was thinking about gender roles and MBTI. I am new here and I am not very familiar with Myers-Briggs typology yet. I think a xSFJ type is close to the female gender sterotype (supporting, loving, understanding, loyal, kind, sympathetic etc. mother/wife) while an ExTx type is more close to male gender stereotype (extroverted, logical etc.).. I might be wrong though.. What's your opinion?

 

[Totenkindly]

In general (IMO), you have correctly assessed the Western world's expectations for male and female.

 

[Grublet]

I believe NTs in general are considered to be predominantly male.

 

[Eric B]

Either can gender can be either T or F, [of course]. But because females are naturally designed to be the mothers, carrying and nurturing the young child, their natural focus has shifted more to the "humane" or "personal" side of life. (Including being more in touch with the emotions). Since males then were the breadwinners, and the strong protectors, they became more focused on the "technical" or "impersonal". The traditional roles of society formed around this, with the typical model of a woman being said to be SFJ or SFP, and the typical model of a man being STJ or at least STP. (Notice how both are S). Even though modern society has been changing the roles and integrating both genders to the same sorts of careers and family tasks, the associations have stuck.

This can cause type confusion for female T's, and both type and "masculinity" problems for male F's. I have noticed particularly that female ITJ's (especially ISTJ's) and ETP's, who both have tertiary Feeling, will look a lot like Feelers. Male EFP's and I imagine, IFJ's (particularly INFJ) will have tertiary Thinking, and are said to look a lot like Thinkers. The tertiary , recall, is often carried by a "child" complex that is said to "inflate". This will lead to it becoming very visible in the personality, so a woman's tertiary Feeling, especially, will often be very prominent and color their outward behavior, fitting the traditional roles.

 

[SilkRoad]

I am well known by now for beating a dead horse over the fact that so many people seem to type their mothers and grandmothers as xSFJ (especially ESFJ). I am pretty sure that gender stereotypes feed into this and that a lot of people either approach the question with the view that their female relatives MUST be xSFJ (especially if you're an INTx who doesn't get along with your mom), or else a lot of women may be socialized to act that way but could actually be another type.

(I'm not saying there aren't a lot of xSFJ women out there, but I am saying that it's not 99%.)

 

[Grublet]

I am well known by now for beating a dead horse over the fact that so many people seem to type their mothers and grandmothers as xSFJ (especially ESFJ). I am pretty sure that gender stereotypes feed into this and that a lot of people either approach the question with the view that their female relatives MUST be xSFJ (especially if you're an INTx who doesn't get along with your mom), or else a lot of women may be socialized to act that way but could actually be another type.

(I'm not saying there aren't a lot of xSFJ women out there, but I am saying that it's not 99%.)

I typed my grandmother as an ISFJ, but after discussing it with her I believe she is an ISTJ. I think a lot of it does come down to stereotypical views on gender roles.

 

[Grublet]

I am well known by now for beating a dead horse over the fact that so many people seem to type their mothers and grandmothers as xSFJ (especially ESFJ). I am pretty sure that gender stereotypes feed into this and that a lot of people either approach the question with the view that their female relatives MUST be xSFJ (especially if you're an INTx who doesn't get along with your mom), or else a lot of women may be socialized to act that way but could actually be another type.

(I'm not saying there aren't a lot of xSFJ women out there, but I am saying that it's not 99%.)

I typed my grandmother as an ISFJ, but after discussing it with her I believe she is an ISTJ. I think a lot of it does come down to stereotypical views on gender roles.

 

[gromit]

I typed my grandmother as an ISFJ, but after discussing it with her I believe she is an ISTJ. I think a lot of it does come down to stereotypical views on gender roles.

I am pretty sure mine was an ISTJ too.

ISTJ grannies WOOOH!

 

[SilkRoad]

It gets really exciting when someone bravely steps forward and says their mom/granny isn't an SJ.

Mind you, I am fairly sure my grandmothers were both SJs. But that said...I didn't really know either of them that well...so this could be another assumptions/socializing thing.


EDIT: I started a whole thread a while back about the question of why everyone typed their mom/granny as xSFJ. And I was pretty horrified by the number of people who (apparently seriously) said things like "well, SPs are more interested in having fun, NTs are intellectual, and NFs want to do charity work...so yeah. Most women who have babies are SJs."


Yeah, for thousands of years women have been looking at themselves and saying "I'm not an SJ, so I'm not going to let my husband have sex with me because I don't want to get pregnant, or I'm an NT who has accidentally fallen pregnant, so I'm going to have an abortion."

 

[RaptorWizard]

Female's are generally ESF and males are generally EST I would think.

 

[gromit]

As far as gender stereotypes, I think there are two sets:

• reserved, strong/silent male + bubbly socialite female
• devoted and dutifully nurturing female + aggressive dominant male

I have heard that the only MBTI dimension with any correlation to gender was the T/F dimension, with men statistically more likely to be T and women statistically more likely to be F.

[MENTION=7063]SilkRoad[/MENTION] My grandma was fierce and rigid, no-nonsense, reserved and very practical but tender toward those she cared about. My grandparents had fairly traditional gender roles, grandpa was the one who hunted and fixed the cars and appliances, worked in the factory and built the house, my grandma was the one who cleaned the house, fed and clothed her children. But in terms of personality, grandma was the "harsher" one, while grandpa the more jolly and tender one. My mom I think struggled with feeling like she never could please my grandma.

Of course, they lived in rural Adirondacks and never had a computer or took the MBTI and are both dead now, so no chance to ever know. But if I had to say, I would guess ISTJ grandma and ISxP grandpa, leaning toward ISFP.

 

[Eric B]

I typed my grandmother as an ISFJ, but after discussing it with her I believe she is an ISTJ. I think a lot of it does come down to stereotypical views on gender roles.

I am pretty sure mine was an ISTJ too.

ISTJ grannies WOOOH!

ISTJ females, in particular look very SFJ'ish, because of the tertiary Fi, coupled with the dom. Si that maintains the cultural roles.

 

[EJCC]

I am well known by now for beating a dead horse over the fact that so many people seem to type their mothers and grandmothers as xSFJ (especially ESFJ). I am pretty sure that gender stereotypes feed into this and that a lot of people either approach the question with the view that their female relatives MUST be xSFJ (especially if you're an INTx who doesn't get along with your mom), or else a lot of women may be socialized to act that way but could actually be another type.

(I'm not saying there aren't a lot of xSFJ women out there, but I am saying that it's not 99%.)

+1

The only reason why I don't beat that dead horse too, is that you would make my dead-horse-beating unnecessary.
Oh wait...

I typed my grandmother as an ISFJ, but after discussing it with her I believe she is an ISTJ. I think a lot of it does come down to stereotypical views on gender roles.

I'm not questioning your typing of your grandmother -- but I think another issue is that people think that if your grandmother is traditional, then she's an SJ. Frankly, if your grandmother is traditional, then she's in the majority; any older generation will come across that way. It's part of the territory.

 

[Red Herring]

Well, my mother is a clear ENTP. So there.

As for her mother, that's a bit harder to say. An extrovert and a sensor and a feeler...at least that's what the anecdotes point to.
My paternal grandma might have been an ISFP.

 

[Salomé]

It gets really exciting when someone bravely steps forward and says their mom/granny isn't an SJ.

Anecdotes excite you. How...peculiar. What do statistics do to you?
http://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/estimated-frequencies.htm

EDIT: I started a whole thread a while back about the question of why everyone typed their mom/granny as xSFJ.

I didn't type my SFJ mother, she typed herself. I'd be delighted to provide you/myself with an alternate reality, but thems the breaks.

 

[cascadeco]

As far as gender stereotypes, I think there are two sets:

• reserved, strong/silent male + bubbly socialite female
• devoted and dutifully nurturing female + aggressive dominant male

I think this is good, and I think you're right about the two 'versions' of gender stereotypes. (at least here in the U.S.)

Sadly ( Not really, but, I think it can play a role in the dating scene and other venues and age groups), I am neither a bubbly socialite (EF) or devoted and dutiful caregiver (SJ/SFJ).

Neither is my mother, though. She's an ISTJ and devoted/dutiful, but she's not the caregiving uber-nurturing sort, and I know she never really felt she fit in with many women.

 

[SilkRoad]

I didn't type my SFJ mother, she typed herself. I'd be delighted to provide you/myself with an alternate reality, but thems the breaks.

I very much doubt that every xSFJ female relative typed themselves. Remarkable numbers of people aren't interested in MBTI.

 

[Grublet]

 

[Apostolos]

I believe that my grandmothers are ESTJ and ESFP. I find both annoying but I prefer the second one. The ESTJ(?) one is smarter and honest, the ESFP(?) one is caring and fun.

 

[SD45T-2]

I am well known by now for beating a dead horse over the fact that so many people seem to type their mothers and grandmothers as xSFJ (especially ESFJ). I am pretty sure that gender stereotypes feed into this and that a lot of people either approach the question with the view that their female relatives MUST be xSFJ (especially if you're an INTx who doesn't get along with your mom), or else a lot of women may be socialized to act that way but could actually be another type.

(I'm not saying there aren't a lot of xSFJ women out there, but I am saying that it's not 99%.)

My mom is an ESFJ. I think her mom might have been an ENFP. I don't know about my dad's mom, other than E.