Okay, storytime. So I typed myself as INTP from 2008 until around 2013. Then I had an identity crisis and switched to ENTP for a few years. I got burnt out on it for a while, and then relatively recently I have kind of settled back on INTP.
Other people have also typed me as INFP or ENFP. I never thought INFP quite fit. I considered ENFP for a short bit. I come off very differently in different contexts. Like, I would figure most people on here would agree on INTP for me, while on another similar forum, people largely agreed that I was ENxP.
One key thing about it is that this many years later I still do not feel settled on my type. I don't think I ever will.
But at the least, I am back to enough sureness to list INTP as my type again. How?
(1) No one on earth who has met me in person would consider me an extrovert.
(2) Some of the things I attributed to Ne could easily also be attributed to Ti.
(3) I am very in touch with my Si. Like if I am an ENxP I am possibly the most balanced one on the planet.
Though counterpoints:
(1) I consistently score highest in Ne in function tests. The extroverted intuition section in
Psychological Types made me feel seen like almost no other description had ever before. I have bad anxiety about the sensations in my body and Jung considered that characteristic of Si inferior.
(2) Since when do I go with group consensus?
But pretty much, my thoughts on it recently have been that in the large scheme of things it doesn't really matter if I am mistyped, as long as the one I choose to work with works well enough. And just plain trying to just live my life and not obsess on typology in general so much helps a lot in maintaining my type decision
A specific method did not help. I know function theory very well, like to an extent where I'm considering making a blog about it soon, and function theory is what got my doubting my type in the first place. Methods such as identifying one's inferior function, taking the MBTI backwards (answering the opposite of how you would usually), and matching temperament to type.... these have a lot of promise. But just saying from experience, none of them are guaranteed. At a certain point you may have to simply give yourself a break, and make peace with that lingering uncertainty.