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How often do you apply typology to life?

Merced

Talk to me.
Joined
May 14, 2016
Messages
3,599
MBTI Type
ESTJ
Enneagram
28?
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
I recently became reaware that I view life through a lens of typology. As in, in most conversations (especially verbal ones) I pick apart what is being said to see what functions could be behind them. Or I make mental note of possible enneagram fixes for people. When I was less healthy, a few years ago freshman year, I would keep a notebook to record behavior habits of my friends, going as far as making charts and constantly making them retake personality tests.

Many people use typology as a self improvement tool. Curious on how it plays a role in life though.
 

Yama

Permabanned
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
7,684
MBTI Type
ESFJ
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
i never do, but i also don't really use typology for anything
 

Lord Lavender

Bluered Trickster
Joined
Oct 21, 2016
Messages
5,851
MBTI Type
EVLF
Enneagram
739
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
On a sunconscious level 24/7 I think. I always notice patterns in people I know sucheck as reacting well or poorly to certain things. Another big thing which is have found that it helps me better understand people as I am able in a way to intectullize people instead of navigating the emotion sea. In a way ito like a science to me as like biological classification or physics laws it makes sense of a chaotic worlike.
 

Atomic Fiend

New member
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
7,275
I use it in an auxillary way. I'lll observe someone doing something complex or ways in which they converse and think "I can smell a bit of Ne there, with a hint of of Fe for flavoring." but I never pretend that I know for sure or assume that's their primary function. I don't ever "type" someone else, unless you can claim to know that person very, very, very well, as in not only see the side of them they show you at work or when you're out together, that's an extreme folly. If you know someone long enough to draw an accurate conclusion about their type, then you've already learned most of what you need to know about interacting with them and how they function anyways.
 

Abcdenfp

Terpsichore
Joined
May 19, 2017
Messages
1,669
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7W8
On a sunconscious level 24/7 I think. I always notice patterns in people I know sucheck as reacting well or poorly to certain things. Another big thing which is have found that it helps me better understand people as I am able in a way to intectullize people instead of navigating the emotion sea. In a way ito like a science to me as like biological classification or physics laws it makes sense of a chaotic worlike.
I am always looking for patterns in people, trying to breakdown motives and understand why people do the things they do and how to communicate effectively to get to the meat of what you want and what I want. Before I opened my own restaurant I managed the sales department At one of the biggest companies on the island I live on and the owner was huge on MBTI.
he had you typed before he went ahead with hiring you and we would have meetings on how to communicate with different Types so the accounts section and Sales department would have two hrs of meeting to understand what drives each type in that department. Sometimes it was exhausting as listening to accountants go on about their love for order and balance numbers, analysis and data would make me want to scratch my skin off but sometimes it was totally enlightening and awesome to see someone discover why others and themselves work the way they do.
i also like applying it because of the big emotional sea and it assists in not taking everything so personally.
 

Lord Lavender

Bluered Trickster
Joined
Oct 21, 2016
Messages
5,851
MBTI Type
EVLF
Enneagram
739
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
I am always looking for patterns in people, trying to breakdown motives and understand why people do the things they do and how to communicate effectively to get to the meat of what you want and what I want. Before I opened my own restaurant I managed the sales department At one of the biggest companies on the island I live on and the owner was huge on MBTI.
he had you typed before he went ahead with hiring you and we would have meetings on how to communicate with different Types so the accounts section and Sales department would have two hrs of meeting to understand what drives each type in that department. Sometimes it was exhausting as listening to accountants go on about their love for order and balance numbers, analysis and data would make me want to scratch my skin off but sometimes it was totally enlightening and awesome to see someone discover why others and themselves work the way they do.
i also like applying it because of the big emotional sea and it assists in not taking everything so personally.

Ive not yet used MBTI or ennegram or any other system in a professional or official capacity but ive myself been able to use the systems to help harmonize my relationships with people and deal with their difficult sides as with those systems I was able to figure out why they did X or Y. For instance i have been able to better get the Se doms in my life as Se was a function I found diffcult to work with as it collided with my Ne worldview in many ways with me preferring to act on ideas and then on sensations. Likewise ive had issues with 2s and 6s in my life as 2s can be clingy and want to help you even if you dont want any and sixes can be paranoid and cautious especially 6w5. With knowledge of ennegram I am now able to work with twos as I can now integrate my 3 with their 2 (I have a 3 goal or need they can help me reach) and ive learnt that sixes can notice danger and wrongness that others may miss.

Plus its also helped me with myself and why I fear or want certain things plus to simply sum up typology "Its fun :)".
 

Lord Lavender

Bluered Trickster
Joined
Oct 21, 2016
Messages
5,851
MBTI Type
EVLF
Enneagram
739
Instinctual Variant
so/sp
i never do, but i also don't really use typology for anything

I am curious as to your views on typology. Do you in some ways happen to see it as a fun thing like a video game or a puzzle?. I find that factor with the parts of typology I consider less useful like stackings and linking stackings to ennegram that I dont use it for anything as a practical sense but use it for fun and entertainment or that could be my 7 speaking :happy2:
 

Ashtart

Obliviously Mad
Joined
Jun 6, 2017
Messages
614
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
The answer is quite simple: if never, rarely.

I use it to better understanding of myself, I don't care much about others' agenda or types.
 

Abcdenfp

Terpsichore
Joined
May 19, 2017
Messages
1,669
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7W8
Ive not yet used MBTI or ennegram or any other system in a professional or official capacity but ive myself been able to use the systems to help harmonize my relationships with people and deal with their difficult sides as with those systems I was able to figure out why they did X or Y. For instance i have been able to better get the Se doms in my life as Se was a function I found diffcult to work with as it collided with my Ne worldview in many ways with me preferring to act on ideas and then on sensations. Likewise ive had issues with 2s and 6s in my life as 2s can be clingy and want to help you even if you dont want any and sixes can be paranoid and cautious especially 6w5. With knowledge of ennegram I am now able to work with twos as I can now integrate my 3 with their 2 (I have a 3 goal or need they can help me reach) and ive learnt that sixes can notice danger and wrongness that others may miss. Plus its also helped me with myself and why I fear or want certain things plus to simply sum up typology "Its fun :)".
It was really something to see someone try and run their company with MBTI in mind, it was my first introduction to it and there were times I would be like wtf are we doing here, but a lot of if stuck and even when I did the hiring for my restaurant I considered the dynamics in place currently and what the addition of the next staff member would do to shift this in a negative or positive way.
and I totally agree it's fun :)
 

Sacrophagus

Mastermind Fieldmarshal
Joined
Jul 11, 2017
Messages
1,702
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
854
Intuitively applied it before it was cool.

When you grow up reigned by INTJness, perceived in your childhood as the silent and cute child who's sitting in poise in a room full of adults talking about vacuous trivia, while you're actually reading the atmosphere, weighing everyone according to an inner referendum of values, or trying to understand why your mother is upset even though she has put an act to hide the sorrow, pursueing the why behind the what and the how of human behavior, driven by compassion and curiosity, you come up with a psychoanalytic bestiary of your own.
 

Dreamer

Potential is My Addiction
Joined
Jul 26, 2015
Messages
4,539
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
794
I've been an observant person long before personality typing has been on my radar. I was also highly aware of my inner emotionality and how the outside world blend and speak to one another. I slowly developed a more intellectual curiosity towards these observations I had, attaching what I knew on an intuitive level (not referring to N/S here but just that I didn't have a label or system in place yet for what I knew) to a more structured approach to my outside world. This also gave me the benefit to then translate what I saw and felt to words or ways of expressing this inner world, outwardly.

Eventually, I came across the MBTI and other systems of personality type. Learning of these systems was quite a fluid process for me as much of what I was learning, was already very well known to me, on a more subconscious level of understanding. I was attaching these labels such as Fi, Ne, ENFP, to areas of my knowing, and it was almost literally 1:1. I didn't have to contort definitions all that much, to fit my own system, and conversely, I didn't have to contort my understanding to these foreign definitions. I was lucky in this regard.

Getting to the OP now with this context I have provided, yes, I find myself using MBTI every waking hour of the day, that's one way to look at it, or, is it that I've always been observant to human behavior/emotionality internally and externally for as long as I can remember, and the fact that I have been able to easily attach labels to this is just coincidence. :shrug:

It's an interesting thought. :)
 

Peter Deadpan

phallus impudicus
Joined
Dec 14, 2016
Messages
8,883
This is exactly what I mean when I say I am neurotic about typing. I think it is really unhealthy to look at everything through the lens of typology, yet that is exactly what I do. Taking breaks here and there helps me with that.
 

meowington

Parody Parrot
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
1,264
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
6w7
All the time, like the OP. But I always keep in mind my own subjectivity and that of the MBTI itself. I'm an e6 : I never take anything for granted ;)
+
I've often had to review my first impression of people.

This is exactly what I mean when I say I am neurotic about typing. I think it is really unhealthy to look at everything through the lens of typology, yet that is exactly what I do. Taking breaks here and there helps me with that.

For NFs for instance it's actually pretty natural to look at everything through the lens of typology. But we also are prone to neuroticism, yeah. I think it somehow goes hand in hand. a thin red line sort of thing.
 

Bush

cute lil war dog
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
Messages
5,182
Enneagram
3w4
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I tend to evaluate people along the lines of "this new person kinda vibes like [this other guy I know]." Everyone is unique and multifaceted and act differently in different situations, of course, so [caveats here].

Typology can give some vocabulary to stuff that is difficult to put into words, some different perspectives that might contribute to a larger understanding, and some rough heuristics. If I somehow need to dig deeper it might help loosely and roughly.
 

CitizenErased

Clean Slate
Joined
Jan 5, 2016
Messages
552
Only when I'm interested in knowing about a person, otherwise they're all XXXX people for me. I mostly use it as a tool to understand myself when it comes to issues that I know are applicable (parts of my personality that I believe MBTI got 100% right).
 

Frosty

Poking the poodle
Joined
Apr 6, 2015
Messages
12,667
Instinctual Variant
sp
Fairly often but not all the time. Its more a subconcious thing- that if I were to sit down and think about it- I could probably type most people that I know. But like in the middle of a conversation though- im not actively typing people generally.
 

INTJMom

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
5,413
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
I recently became reaware that I view life through a lens of typology. As in, in most conversations (especially verbal ones) I pick apart what is being said to see what functions could be behind them. Or I make mental note of possible enneagram fixes for people. When I was less healthy, a few years ago freshman year, I would keep a notebook to record behavior habits of my friends, going as far as making charts and constantly making them retake personality tests.

Many people use typology as a self improvement tool. Curious on how it plays a role in life though.

I am an INTJ. MBTI is one of the best things that I have ever learned; it plays a MAJOR role in my life.
I have been an MBTI enthusiast since around 1992; I mostly use the books by the Barron-Tiegers and Naomi Quenck.

I used MBTI to be able to tell which parts of me were "normal".
I used it to understand my children and husband better.
I use it to get along with people.

I never jump to conclusions about a person's type, and I don't use the cognitive functions to understand them either.
The type dimension I think about mostly is whether a person is mostly P or J and this helps me communicate with them better and also helps me know what to expect from them in the way of communication.

For instance: my father is an ESTP. If I invite him to a picnic which is a week away, he feels uncomfortable deciding to come, so far in advance, but if I call him the day before, I know that makes him happy. And because I know it's his Type that makes him that way, I don't get hurt or offended or think it means that he doesn't love me because he won't decide ahead of time to accept my invitation.

Now my mother and daughter are ISxJs. They like to have things decided in advance, so I try to give them lots of advance notice and try never to spring things on them at the last minute.

My INFP sister was always changing our dinner plans at the last minute. It drove me insane because I had spent a week thinking about the meal I was going to have only to have her change the restaurant at the last minute! So now, I never tell her where we are going ahead of time. I tell her it's a surprise. She loves surprises, so it works for us.
 

Hitoshi-San

New member
Joined
Jun 26, 2014
Messages
1,078
MBTI Type
esfp
Enneagram
???
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
only if I'm bored & like "hmmm I wonder if so-and-so is an ISFJ or an ISTJ". I don't think I've ever applied it like super seriously though to where I was like "they're an ESTP and they're an ENFJ so their relationship won't worth for these reasons/will work for these reasons"
 

Abcdenfp

Terpsichore
Joined
May 19, 2017
Messages
1,669
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7W8
I am an INTJ. MBTI is one of the best things that I have ever learned; it plays a MAJOR role in my life. I have been an MBTI enthusiast since around 1992; I mostly use the books by the Barron-Tiegers and Naomi Quenck. I used MBTI to be able to tell which parts of me were "normal". I used it to understand my children and husband better. I use it to get along with people. I never jump to conclusions about a person's type, and I don't use the cognitive functions to understand them either. The type dimension I think about mostly is whether a person is mostly P or J and this helps me communicate with them better and also helps me know what to expect from them in the way of communication. For instance: my father is an ESTP. If I invite him to a picnic which is a week away, he feels uncomfortable deciding to come, so far in advance, but if I call him the day before, I know that makes him happy. And because I know it's his Type that makes him that way, I don't get hurt or offended or think it means that he doesn't love me because he won't decide ahead of time to accept my invitation. Now my mother and daughter are ISxJs. They like to have things decided in advance, so I try to give them lots of advance notice and try never to spring things on them at the last minute. My INFP sister was always changing our dinner plans at the last minute. It drove me insane because I had spent a week thinking about the meal I was going to have only to have her change the restaurant at the last minute! So now, I never tell her where we are going ahead of time. I tell her it's a surprise. She loves surprises, so it works for us.
The type dimension I think about mostly is whether a person is mostly P or J and this helps me communicate with them better and also helps me know what to expect from them in the way of communication. For instance: my father is an ESTP. If I invite him to a picnic which is a week away, he feels uncomfortable deciding to come, so far in advance, but if I call him the day before, I know that makes him happy.
I totally understand this and use it in this manner as well, it has changed the way that I communicate with several close friends, and has also made me conscious of how my tendency to change plans so quickly effects them. so I now know if I make a plan with them, unless it's an emergency, it's set in stone, because I respect the way they view the plan now.
I think MBTI can be used as a tool for self reflection but also for learning how some people prefer to be communicated with and receive information, so that they actually process in a way that they can understand.
 
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