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I'm a little confused

Oom

Your time is gonna come.
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
510
MBTI Type
IsfP
Enneagram
5w4
Hey everyone. I've been at this site for maybe a month now, and have been reading and studying MBTI for a few months before that. The thing is that I don't know what my own type is.

Most tests I take make me out to be an "intp". And a bit of the intp description fits me, but some others do also. Taking an online test that included percentages recently allowed me to kind of see why I could only relate partly to the intp profile.

The percentages on my signature show that I'm at or near 55-60% on each of the i-n-t-p functions. This would slightly explain why I like to be alone in introversion, but I can only get by if I know someone out there cares about me. The extroversion comes out in knowing I could come out with new relationships and I often do.

My intuition is correct in that I like abstract ideas and theories, but I also like hard facts and mechanical structure, but not so much how things work in the end. I get constant ideas that just pop out of nowhere and I don't tend to focus on the future at all. My friends all think I'm a strange person, but I just think that I have trouble getting what I mean into words.

When I use thinking, I am of course, detached and looking upon the situation in an entirely objective sense. I don't think about people's feelings if I don't have a connection with the people involved with the decision I'll be making. But I also use feeling because I can't make a decision if it will hurt a person I really care about. I show my feelings by shoving them in between the bars of the fence I put up to protect myself. I can't really reach out and connect with someone because I'm constantly thinking of what I'm doing and what could be happening with the situation.

I relate quite a bit to perceiving because I'm quite lazy and spontaneous if I'm in a healthy mood. My philosophy in life is to "go with the flow" and try to make the happiest life I can make. I don't like schedules and I strive to keep them out of my life as much as possible. I have such a fear of obligation that it drives me to the point of being nervous about the next thing that I have to attend. :cry:

On the other end of the spectrum, I like to have a loose routine as long as it's entirely on my terms and no one else has a say in how it runs. I do make lists for things because I forget things easily, but I only make them if they are very important.

I'm a laid back and peace loving person that loves to have a a conversation that makes me feel a bond to someone. Having a moment with a person and laughing together can make my day. But I tend to also have a "take no shit" attitude and I do not get impressed by authority. If you treat me as a peer and don't step over the line and offend me, then I wont tell you to go fuck yourself in front of your grandmother.

I hope I made this post sort of informative about me. Could it be that I'm so close to the 50% line on the intp spectrum that it could be sort of a mixture of a couple types? Do you know of any other examples of people that have the same problem with finding out their type?

I'll be waiting for some answers, if you didn't quite understand all the jibberish I just typed then go about your day. Thanks.:hi:
 

SpaZZakaZZ

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
29
MBTI Type
INFP
One problem with those tests is they can't really distinguish between introverted and extroverted use of each preference. It's not correct to say you are F or T. You are Fi, Fe, Ti, or Te. This might help you figure out the difference between the functions, and decide which ones you like more:
Understanding the Eight Jungian Cognitive Processes / Eight Functions Attitudes
There is also the archetypes line of thought, which I don't fully understand, but you might be able to figure it out or get help from someone on here who knows more than I do. Here is an analysis of INTP using the archetypes model:
http://www.vtwellness.net/assets/self-exam_INTP.pdf
Here's a site about the differences between INFJ and INFP. It's probably not quite as useful if you aren't of those types, but it does take an integrative approach to type so it might give you an idea or help you understand something useful:
INFJ or INFP? a closer look

I definitely understand not connecting fully with a type description. They are almost always written by someone who doesn't have that type, so doesn't understand it fully. There's actually one I've read that I just want to rip out of the screen and crumple it up and burn it coz it's EVIL!!!! It makes my type sound like fruity tralala fairy people lol.
As far as I understand it MBTI is based around 8 "brainskills". Everyone will have two that they use most easily, and need to use to feel happy and fulfilled. One will be used in the outside world, one will be used in their internal world. One will be a Perceiving function(Se, Si, Ne, Ni), one will be a Judging function(Te, Ti, Fe, Fi)
When you go inside yourself, what are you doing? What do you think about? Analysing? Forming conclusions? Getting ideas?
How do you interact with the outside world? Are you gathering information. If so, what kind of information? Are you taking action and affecting people and things in a concrete way?
Remember this is what you need to do. Everyone uses all the functions, but you will embody one or two of them. I found the video and audio track on this page really useful, it really illustrated for me the difference between using a function, and being a function:
INFJ or INTJ?
Before I saw it I wasn't sure if my N was Ne or Ni, or whether I maybe used Fe. Because yes I do use Fe, and so do you most likely. But seeing her talk about her Fe made me go, "Wow! She takes that to a whole new level!" She embodies Fe in a way that I just don't. It might at least help you figure out what you're not.



My philosophy in life is to "go with the flow" and try to make the happiest life I can make. I don't like schedules and I strive to keep them out of my life as much as possible. I have such a fear of obligation that it drives me to the point of being nervous about the next thing that I have to attend. :cry:

This sounds like you are using a perceiving function in the outside world. So, do you identify more with Ne or Se?


I can't really reach out and connect with someone because I'm constantly thinking of what I'm doing and what could be happening with the situation.

This sounds like an internal processing and decision making function. Which means either Ti or Fi. And this:
When I use thinking, I am of course, detached and looking upon the situation in an entirely objective sense. I don't think about people's feelings if I don't have a connection with the people involved with the decision I'll be making.
sounds a lot more objective than Fi. I have Fi as my dominant and I would never say I didn't consider the feelings of people I'm not connected to, because everyone matters to me. I'm shocked at people who propose the death penalty for serial killers and child molesters, because no matter how horrible and disgusting I find that person, they are still a person and I value them. I think you might disagree with that? You sound like you would have a more logical approach to something like that. On the other hand:

I'm a laid back and peace loving person that loves to have a a conversation that makes me feel a bond to someone. Having a moment with a person and laughing together can make my day. But I tend to also have a "take no shit" attitude and I do not get impressed by authority. If you treat me as a peer and don't step over the line and offend me, then I wont tell you to go fuck yourself in front of your grandmother.
This sounds a little like some aspects of my Fi, but I don't understand Ti well enough to say that it's not also like Ti. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about Who am I, what do I feel, what do I need to be happy, what do I believe, what is right, what is wrong, am I a good person, am I following my heart, do I have integrity, am I kind, am I living my life the way I should be, am I in harmony, what is wrong with me? By a lot of time I mean, do you you sit in front of the TV and think about these things in the ad breaks? While you're eating lunch? In the shower? Before bed? Every single day? If you do you probably have Fi, if not probably Ti.

My intuition is correct in that I like abstract ideas and theories, but I also like hard facts and mechanical structure, but not so much how things work in the end.

This might be related to having the combination of Ne and Ti. The Ne would like abstract ideas, but the Ti would draw you to find hard facts to base your conclusions on. Perhaps?



But I also use feeling because I can't make a decision if it will hurt a person I really care about.

This is called not being an asshole, it doesn't show a strong preference for one of the F functions.

Just some observations. Hope something clicked for you :)
 

Oom

Your time is gonna come.
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
510
MBTI Type
IsfP
Enneagram
5w4
This sounds like you are using a perceiving function in the outside world. So, do you identify more with Ne or Se?

I can't really say that I identify completely with either, but I think I lean towards Ne. It sounds by what I read to be more of what I do. I'm not normally "one" with my surroundings. I like to see possibilities of things and like to play out different scenarios in my head for events that will happen. When it comes to my environment, I get more of a comforting feeling or discomforting feeling from it rather than being totally in tune with it.

I do react to my surroundings when it is my favorite time of day or just the right temperature. It can make my day to wake up at 8:00 am and step out onto the 60 degree porch. Sometimes if I really like the ambiance and nostalgia of the morning I'll even eat breakfast on my porch swing.

sounds a lot more objective than Fi. I have Fi as my dominant and I would never say I didn't consider the feelings of people I'm not connected to, because everyone matters to me. I'm shocked at people who propose the death penalty for serial killers and child molesters, because no matter how horrible and disgusting I find that person, they are still a person and I value them. I think you might disagree with that? You sound like you would have a more logical approach to something like that.

I wouldn't have too many issues with sending serial killers and child molesters to death row. I believe that everyone makes their own decisions and must live with the way they make them. For instance, my friend's mother fell into a large amount of credit card debt and even though I cared about her just like she was my own mother I couldn't help but feel like it was her own fault and that she shouldn't have been so careless. I do have a logical approach to situations if the person involved could have reasonably easily avoided the conflict.

This sounds a little like some aspects of my Fi, but I don't understand Ti well enough to say that it's not also like Ti. Do you spend a lot of time thinking about Who am I, what do I feel, what do I need to be happy, what do I believe, what is right, what is wrong, am I a good person, am I following my heart, do I have integrity, am I kind, am I living my life the way I should be, am I in harmony, what is wrong with me? By a lot of time I mean, do you you sit in front of the TV and think about these things in the ad breaks? While you're eating lunch? In the shower? Before bed? Every single day? If you do you probably have Fi, if not probably Ti.

I've never been able to put it into words like you just have, but that is something about myself that I haven't been able to put my finger on for my whole life. I just think about who I am and what I'm feeling and exactly why things are the way they are all of the time, every day. I think this is also the main reason I cannot fully connect with someone. I'm too busy analyzing and being narcissistic (in a way) to fully devote myself to the moment. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a nervous way of thinking. It's actually calm and I take my time in analyzing, but for whatever reasons I treasure the time when things are too intense for me not to be completely in the moment.

This might be related to having the combination of Ne and Ti. The Ne would like abstract ideas, but the Ti would draw you to find hard facts to base your conclusions on. Perhaps?

I'd have to agree with you. I think that I'm about in the middle of these functions.

Thank you so much for the time you spent to type all of that. It was very informative. It's getting late, I'll have to watch that video tomorrow. Thanks again for all of the info. :hi:
 

Oom

Your time is gonna come.
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
510
MBTI Type
IsfP
Enneagram
5w4
Double post/
 

SpaZZakaZZ

New member
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
29
MBTI Type
INFP
No worries, I hope some of it helps. Good luck in your journeys :)
 
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