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[MBTI General] Gaming the MBTI? Or an indication of authenticity?

seaweedhairnet

New member
Joined
Dec 20, 2012
Messages
4
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
5w4
I have an uncanny feeling that, at times, I am 'gaming' personality tests, as if I have an attachment to the INFJ type, and, given that I've read so much about the different cognitive functions, know immediately how to answer the questions to 'maintain' said label.

Can anyone else relate? Or is such a tendency or observation simply another clue towards type?

A more interesting question: "WHY do I feel the need to identify with a specific type?"

Perhaps because I'm tired of feeling like a chameleon? Perhaps because I like to feel validated by something beyond my own judgement?

Generally I test out as xNxx, although the INFJ function stack resonates the strongest with me. Still - this nagging need for closure and paranoid surveying of potential personal motives can be quite exhausting. Why do I find it so hard to simply DO, to live and act in the pursuit of satisfaction? Why do I instead indulge in mental masturbation games all day long? And why do I put so much weight on MBTI? I have definitely found value in it, but worry that I am using it more as a burdensome checklist than a tool of utility.

Know thyself? Easier said than done.

I've found that doing the opposite, actively forgetting myself, or attempting to stop knowing myself, while also separating myself from others, seems to be a better angle to connect with something that feels profound, correct, centered. I think that I often concern myself more with intended audience perception than I do with self-expression. The only place I've found solace from this is in a flow state of 'play'... I've found no better way to pointedly create space (or at least an absence of... something) in which I can solidify and share an inner reflexivity with easy, compassionate certitude.

And, the kicker - did I just write the above to try and sound like an INFJ, or did I write from my core, from my essence? Mind games I tell ya!
 

Il Morto Che Parla

New member
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
Messages
1,260
MBTI Type
xxTP
I think that's what mist people do, which makes the test pointless.

You write very much like an INFJ though! XD
 

Folderol

New member
Joined
May 16, 2008
Messages
83
MBTI Type
INTP
I like you. All these questions and now I can think of ways to resolve them and offer input.

I have an uncanny feeling that, at times, I am 'gaming' personality tests, as if I have an attachment to the INFJ type, and, given that I've read so much about the different cognitive functions, know immediately how to answer the questions to 'maintain' said label.

I think this is a pretty common trait actually, answering how you "wish" you were rather than reality. I know I used to be guilty of it. You need to honesty answer the questions based on what happens in reality. Don't think how you "want" or are "supposed" to answer. Sometimes questions say what you "prefer" when what they really mean is "do" too. Yes, I would prefer to have my whole day laid out and stick to a schedule and get tons of stuff done, but that doesn't mean I actually DO it. Just dig deep and answer, flaws included. Maybe you are answering differently because you are too afraid admit your flaws (I mean this seriously and as a joke!).

Can anyone else relate? Or is such a tendency or observation simply another clue towards type?
Both. We all want to fit in a box sometimes. It means closure, and there are a lot more pure type people than X anything for example. It's easier to represent a "pure" model of a type too, like you have a place to belong. As much as people think they hate labels, sometimes they actually like them. Nobody will ever admit it though.

A more interesting question: "WHY do I feel the need to identify with a specific type?"
Perhaps you idealize that type or it has things you wish you had. It could also be based on stereotypes you have built up and don't realize you are applying (all INTJ are Lex Luthors, all INTPs are brainiac super nerds!). The ideal types you think you identify about them - what draws you ointo them?

Perhaps because I'm tired of feeling like a chameleon? Perhaps because I like to feel validated by something beyond my own judgement?
This goes back to what I said above and probably the judgment thing too. Who doesn't like validation, especially in a time of questioning, where it boosts your ego.

Generally I test out as xNxx
I find this very hard to believe. So you're saying you cannot decide between INTP, INFP, INTJ, INFJ, ENFJ, ENFP, ENTJ, and ENTP? Me thinks you need to go back to the drawing board and re-examine your "understanding" of type and the different processes. Explore concepts even if you think you already know them. You may learn something new and gain insight you didn't have before, which can knock some of those types out of the running.

Still - this nagging need for closure and paranoid surveying of potential personal motives can be quite exhausting. Why do I find it so hard to simply DO, to live and act in the pursuit of satisfaction? Why do I instead indulge in mental masturbation games all day long?
Why you find it so hard to do things and live out of pure satisfation is because some people are just not as action oriented. Two sides of a coin - meanwhile the ones who do get stuff done may not think things through or be able to analyze a situation as well. And maybe you are approaching this all a negative way too. I just like MBTI since I find the system interesting on it's own. I don't use it as some grand scheme for self exploration, but it can help to guess how I can better interact with other types. I think I am going to explore Socionics next too. The alternative way to stack functions and the symbols, which hint at mathematical ways to build relationships is so interesting there too. Now, what drew you into typology? This could be an obession though, like OCD. Remember, MBTI assumes healty people. Big 5 on the other hand incorporates neuroticism.

And why do I put so much weight on MBTI? I have definitely found value in it, but worry that I am using it more as a burdensome checklist than a tool of utility.
Are you bored? I know I am. I have no life! Therefore I troll this and other websites as a substite for human interaction. *Refreshes site till the mouse breaks* Could you be doing the same? With boredeom, small things can be amplified.

Know thyself? Easier said than done.
This sounds like you are lacking in Fi. But another thing is from Dario Nardi's book, he says that INFPs, and Fi in general, they need to listen and absorb for a very long time... THEN they decide on how they feel about something (which makes perfect sense since Fi being an internal, holistic process, needs to weight all values and functions, which may be a complex way to process... no lines of logic or "this means that, therefore"). Either you need to absorb more information, then you can process and get a conclusion, or your Fi is a shadow function of yours.

I've found that doing the opposite, actively forgetting myself, or attempting to stop knowing myself, while also separating myself from others, seems to be a better angle to connect with something that feels profound, correct, centered.
Perhaps Ti?

I think that I often concern myself more with intended audience perception than I do with self-expression.
I am guilty of this too. I would say it could be Fe, but I know for myself, I personally do it because I have an agenda (wanting to come off as "good" in the eyes of others, caring what they think about me only cause I place weight in their opinions subconsciously) or feel vulnerable. That isn't indicative of a true preference for Fe, to me that feels like just plain vulnerability or high introspection or undeveloped feeling! What about you?

And, the kicker - did I just write the above to try and sound like an INFJ, or did I write from my core, from my essence? Mind games I tell ya!
It sounded authentic to me. And I just had another insight. Perhaps you are lacking in Si. Si involves taking in data and catalogging it. Me thinks you need to seriously review what you have done/will do in an objective way. It will help you when you need to plug an intuitive pattern into a real life framework. I was actually just thinking about this recently, how opposite functions can complement each other so well, like NeSi in the saying "history repeats itself". This involves both looking forward in reality (Ne) while invoking the past detail to construct the realistic possibilites (Si). Looking for future trends based on stored experiences (which you can easily find trends in). But now I'm going off on a tangent... I thought it was insightful though.

Since this is a long post, I'll leave it up to you to add up the different processes I mentioned and construct a theory based on it. I know I mentioned high Ti, low Fi, etc.
 

Standuble

New member
Joined
Aug 23, 2011
Messages
1,149
I do this and still somehow manage to score INTP sometimes! Stupid tests :) I think you need to identify with a certain type because it's easier that way. If you were discovered to be a different type and didn't have the sense of self inside of you which is unfazed by a new type label then you would potentially have to rebuild your entire understanding of yourself from scratch or at the very least try and learn about this different type.

My best bet to avoid gaming the MBTI ould be to forget the tests entirely and study the cognitive functions purely. Or at the very least stick to only cognitive function tests where IMO it's not as obvious determining for some of the questions which function they are enquiring about.
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,192
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Gaming the tests can be easy if you've taken enough of them and studied MBTI.

The other problem is that many of the Internet tests stink -- you are FORCED to read into the question to answer it because it is worded poorly enough that there could be multiple ways to answer it. And of course, at that point you are meta'ing the test... imagining what the test creators meant to ask and what kinds of answers they're looking for.

I think at some point many of the tests become irrelevant. Even typing becomes irrelevant. It's merely meant as a tool to gain some insight on yourself, but there is no test that can measure up to the typical complexities of the individual, none of us fit perfectly into a type, and so at that point you're back to just dealing with yourself again and not necessarily as a type. Otherwise the focus becomes more your type rather than you, specifically.
 
G

garbage

Guest
Whatever result we shoot for when we game the test is pretty telling about ourselves in and of itself, too.
 

Jaguar

Active member
Joined
May 5, 2007
Messages
20,647
No. I can't relate.

Apparently, I have the opposite problem — I want to tell the truth, but the tests don't give me the opportunity to do so. You can't tell the truth when they throw questions at you that aren't even mutually exclusive to begin with. Get rid of the forced-choice testing method which leads to results that are nothing but an artifact of the testing method itself. If someone isn't eager to employ an alternate testing method to see if the result they 'hold so dear' stands up to scrutiny, that tells me they have a dog in the fight. They're not after what is true. They're after what they wish to be true.

Speaking of which, I've lost count how many people have come to this forum and posted: I want to be seen as <enter random adjective here>. I can only imagine what my doctor would say if I told him I want to be "seen" as someone with a platelet count of 278, rather than what is true.
 

miss fortune

not to be trusted
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
20,589
Enneagram
827
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
true... the questions fail to capture the whole picture in a way :shrug:

yes or no questions or even questions where you choose along a spectrum fail to grasp the complexity of human motivations and interactions... for instance, I'm friendly, likely to chat with a stranger in line at a grocery store and tend to be very engaging in interactions with others- people tend to like me... I also intentionally keep myself separate from them because I don't WANT a lot of people getting into my personal life... if I'm the one running the conversation it prevents questions, it means that I'm the one in control of what people know- friendly with some serious boundaries isn't an option on the test :unsure:

just one example, I'm sure that everyone has their own examples as well if they actually think about it... you can't simplify humanity down into a set of questions :)

not that I can't make the damned test say whatever I want it to if I decide to... it's really not that hard :whistling:
 
G

Glycerine

Guest
If one's ego is tied to it, one can convince themselves of anything they want to believe. It can be difficult to separate the ego and the self to see the actual reality of things. It's a fight between how others perceive you, how you perceive yourself, your idealized of yourself, and objective reality.
 

KDude

New member
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
8,243
The only thing I'm fairly sure about (and not "gaming") is general IP temperment. My self typing is more of a "if push comes to shove" conception of myself. My history with people doesn't illustrate a strong "F", but I'm not entirely stupid about it.
 

skylights

i love
Joined
Jul 6, 2010
Messages
7,756
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
I've recently changed my own typing in my profile to simply NF and sx because I feel the same "gaming". I've long identified as ENFP, and that has been useful in its own right, but I also know myself in enough depth to see clearly where I diverge from the ENFP stereotype, and I feel that I am a much stronger "NF" than "ENFP". It's an interesting shift moving back into generality. At one time it bothered me endlessly not to have my type decided upon. Now it seems like insufficient information, even misleading.

I also feel the struggle to do. I always gather, gather, gather information and probe deeper and deeper. Why do I feel compassion so deeply for those in need but struggle to put that compassion into real productivity?

seaweedhairnet said:
I've found that doing the opposite, actively forgetting myself, or attempting to stop knowing myself, while also separating myself from others, seems to be a better angle to connect with something that feels profound, correct, centered. I think that I often concern myself more with intended audience perception than I do with self-expression. The only place I've found solace from this is in a flow state of 'play'... I've found no better way to pointedly create space (or at least an absence of... something) in which I can solidify and share an inner reflexivity with easy, compassionate certitude.

Me too, this really resonates with me. Paradoxically, I feel like I am most myself when I am immersed deep in something else.

:hug:
 

Such Irony

Honor Thy Inferior
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
5,059
MBTI Type
INtp
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I find that I cannot not analyze the test questions as I see them. I know MBTI well enough that I can almost always pick out what preference or cognitive function the question is after. I do this automatically. I try to get the mindset as imagine you have never been exposed the MBTI and answer accordingly which isn't that easily considering my exposure with MBTI. So I just try to answer the questions as honestly as possible.
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
9,485
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Yeah, the tests are useless once you know enough about MBTI because before you've finished reading the question you know which letters it's sorting you into.
 
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