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Can personality psychology be bad for you?

Vilku

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i think ive arrived to the point where im obsessed with fitting myself into psychological equations with ideas of how and what each variable means in the total equation which is me, but i dont think im calculating right any more, because of the emotional involvement i have with my identity and lack of distance to observe myself from outside, makes this ultimately feeble and impossible.

And that i take each variable as limitation rather than an opportunity to my identity.

Thus i think it would be better to be typed face to face with people without emotional involvement to your identity. But eugh, am i still obsessing with these matters too much. To the point of possibly obsessive compulsiveness. Which is how ive spent my past two years.

So is it just me or are other people obsessing with this, taking it a liittle bit too seriously?
 

RaptorWizard

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It can be bad for those who mistype themselves, or for those who mistype other people, which would also lead to misunderstanding.

Ideally though, personality systems should ultimately help us understand ourselves better, and not be a tool of separation.
 
G

garbage

Guest
Use the time-honored tactic of exaggeration to absurdity.

Just think to yourself--"Oh, shit, what's my Holland Code?" When you chuckle at yourself internally, you'll realize how inconsequential that system is--and then, just like that, you'll free yourself from giving a shit about any of the personality systems and categories.
 

Cellmold

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Can personality psychology be bad for you?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, indeed!

Although like any tool it's usage is the most important factor into how true this becomes.
 

ehcriktic

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I believe it distances one from others, socially and mentally. One is on a different 'wavelength', so to speak. One is arriving at conclusions that others have no concept of, let alone the building blocks of said conclusions. I may be incorrect, however.
 

Stanton Moore

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I believe it distances one from others, socially and mentally. One is on a different 'wavelength', so to speak. One is arriving at conclusions that others have no concept of, let alone the building blocks of said conclusions. I may be incorrect, however.

I agree. It creates imaginary divisions between people, which are focused on endlessly. That's not very useful.
 
G

Glycerine

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I think much of it can be. Although it can help frame differences and similarities, a lot of interpersonal issues go beyond the scope of personality theory. Most people are fucked up in some way. Some much more than others (which gets incorporated into our interaction style with others). People rely on theory too much to explain behavior and are convinced that they can predict behavior using it.
 

Such Irony

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It can be bad when you start to overidentify yourself and other people with personality labels.
 

KDude

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If you don't overextend it's application, and just stick with Myer's idea that type is just preference, it isn't a big deal.
 

Phil P

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I agree. It creates imaginary divisions between people, which are focused on endlessly. That's not very useful.

But people just don't think the same way - like it or not. The MBTI, however imperfect it is, tries to find out where they think differently. People who have problems with MBTI by misusing it on other people and themselves also have problems with people who think differently.
 
W

WALMART

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Bad for you, yes.


Edit: But don't get discouraged. Every time you're wrong you'll grow. I made some jaunty juxtapositions starting off.
 

Honor

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Yeah, it definitely can be.
 

lunalum

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If it's becoming unhealthy it's only because you're doing it wrong.
 

Mole

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Can homeopathy be bad for you?

Can phrenology be bad for you?

Can mbti be bad for you?
 

Mole

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Personality Psychology is called Psychometrics.

And mbti is not part of Psychometrics.
 

highlander

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I think it can be good or bad. People can have a tendency to take things too literally. If you form your identity based on some personality type stereotype, I think that is about as useful as forming your identity around being a Gemini or a Scorpio. It's complicated because I think it can actually be a great help if you get the type correct, if you take it with some grains of salt and and consider it as providing some useful data points in an overall picture vs defining you. It can help you understand yourself better. If someone doesn't know who they are though and they are looking for MBTI or Enneagram or something else to define themselves, it could actually be detrimental. [MENTION=235]SolitaryWalker[/MENTION] used to talk about some of these types of things and I believe he had some valid points.
 

StarChild

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Jan 25, 2013
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Totally....

It can lead to paranoia and indecision.... If you looked seriously at most 'psychologists' theories and applied it to their own lives you'd be shocked they can boil an egg let alone achieve a PhD! Somewhere along the line this stuff got chiseled in stone and the whole 'industry' forgot that this was just approximation and that science/philosophy/psychology are still fairly blunt tools, sadly with many hubristic full advocates.

There are loads of utterly stupid theories not given a warning sticker... Seriously do you really think that Freud's Oedipus Complex applied to anyone? Yet guff like that was and still is taken seriously by some psychoanalysts; and people put their trust into it. I wonder at times what damage this has done to people, often the most vulnerable.

Attempting to shoehorn your life into any theory isn't a good idea, it can breed a dependancy on psychology and leave you doubting far too much. I look at the skeptic movement which seems to have turned inwards on itself and instead of being a bastion of virtue for humanity seeks to undermine and ridicule that which makes us human. It seems utterly academically unacceptable and almost career suicidal to even hint that humans might be kinda alright. But look around you, does life really approximate to most psychological/skeptical findings? Hardly in my opinion. Psychology somewhat overplays its hand, it's a nice route map at times but it isn't the road, it's a welcome friend at times but it isn't the gatekeeper of your life.

Pinch of salt needed....

NB... I forget who but I remember a philosopher saying that "... You can learn more about the human condition reading say Anna Karenina than you can in the whole of psychology's library"

He was being slightly tongue in cheek, but he had a valid point....
 
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Vilku

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ok, im fairly sure in my new conclusion, that im in a Ni Ti loop restlessly devouring any thoughts i can imagine, and oh do i feel stupid, cause even as deep as my view is, im completely blind to whats next to me. I think i desperately need an Ne dom to open my eyes like how they often do to me.

And the reason im in this loop is cause my Fe is overloaded with pain, too much so that i can barely even stand using the function anymore.

I wonder how long this state of clarity will last, as madness will soon ensue again..

I know i need to find some form of hope as the concrete integration point for my 9w1 and Fe which is the integration point itself. I used to gain it from faith in intelligence before this loop, guess i could try restoring that..
 

Totenkindly

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It can be bad when you start to overidentify yourself and other people with personality labels.

I agree with this and the gist of all the other comments made.

It should be used to open possibilities for growth, not to confine behavior to a fixed set based on some predetermined and (likely) inapplicable standards.
 
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