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you realize & act as if you're the 'Type' ?

niki

New member
Joined
Sep 16, 2007
Messages
210
MBTI Type
INFP
has any of you felt like that, in your daily-life converstaions & interactions?
using my own real-life as example, ever since i know i'm an INFP , sometimes when i act & talk/interact to people, i can't help but often felt like "wow..look at me. this is soo INFP-ish!"
or when you're an INTJ, after you've act or interacted with people, you can suddenly feel this 'sheer' feeling of "wow, this is so INTJ-ish, do stuff that i just did (or thought, etc) ! "

and..don't you sometimes think it's kinda 'restricting' you?
it's as if, you ACT more like the Type's stereotype,..rather than being YOURself (ie: you can sometimes be like ISTJ-ish, ESFP-ish, etc etc, since you are YOU) ?

or am i alone here experiencing all of this?
or,..has MBTI 'brainwashed' me ? :shock:
 

EJCC

The Devil of TypoC
Joined
Aug 29, 2008
Messages
19,129
MBTI Type
ESTJ
Enneagram
1w9
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
OH yeah. Whenever I use the word "effective", I have a gigantic nerd moment. (One recent example involving a Halloween movie marathon: "We should watch the scary ones after the not-so-scary ones, because scary movies are more effective late at night.")

I definitely feel restricted, especially since I'm under thirty y.o. and have my career ahead of me. I keep reading these things about ESTJs being managers and thinking "What if I don't want to be a manager? What if all these suggested career options sound awful?"

I also (and I don't know if you do this, niki) read things about my type that are really extreme and get insecure and think "do people really see me like this?" I feel like this is especially the case with my type, because the web (and this forum) is so filled with horror stories and rants about ESTJs - for instance, how they bring their work mindset home with them and "manage" their families. (Look up "evil sadistic total jerk" on Google for an excellent example of anti-ESTJ ranting.) The more obsessed/nerdy I get about MBTI, the more insecure I tend to become about my personality. I feel like, as you said, I can't be "me" anymore... or was I ever "me"?

That was probably a little too much info :( Ah well. In a nutshell - No, you aren't the only one!! Sympathy hug! :hug:
 

Simplexity

New member
Joined
Jul 15, 2008
Messages
1,741
MBTI Type
INTP
In cases where I reflect and realize how far detached from the practical my thoughts are, and how much information is contained in them, how willing I am to further abstract. How consistently I like to be mentally engaged in the critical, that I actually enjoy it, and how little awareness I have of others.

It's a good way to cross check and realize how other types may take it.
 

alcea rosea

New member
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
3,658
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7w6
or am i alone here experiencing all of this?
or,..has MBTI 'brainwashed' me ? :shock:

I haven't experienced that at all because I have a strong need to be ME and act how I feel I should act whatever is my personality type.
 

Jack Flak

Permabanned
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
9,098
MBTI Type
type
Yes? Is this a trick question?

Those I hang around with most respect my off-the-wall analytical weirdness. I don't have to "fit in" with my good friends, but I willingly do so around other people. The awkwardness just isn't worth it.
 

saieditor

New member
Joined
Nov 17, 2008
Messages
59
MBTI Type
ISTJ
I prefer to use my "face to the world" (T function) most of the time. Other times, I don't see myself acting as type; I act as a human being.
 

Amargith

Hotel California
Joined
Nov 5, 2008
Messages
14,717
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
4dw
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Actually, for me it has brought the reverse..

I've been fighting myself for so many years in order to fit in and at the same time stay true to myself, that coming here has brought a sort of peace of mind to me. It has shown me that others are like me as well (to a degree) and it doesn't necessarily have to mean suppressing who I am to fit in.

I've learned to appreciate my ENFP-ness instead of considering it an evil thing which causes me to be different from the rest and makes the rest feel uneasy with me. I had trouble realizing that some people actually do like that about me.

In short: It gives me the permission I've been seeking to be myself without feeling guilty about it.

(Yeah, yeah, I know, don't take it too far though ;))
 

Orangey

Blah
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
6,354
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
6w5
To the OP, yes, I definitely experience that. Although I subsequently rationalize it by telling myself that it's just because I've managed to turn once tacit behaviors into consciously recognizable ones. I don't think it restricts me, though, because I think that it's like any learning.

Like I tell my public speaking students...if you try and speak while biting down on a pen (inserted horizontally between the lips), you will suddenly become conscious of all the mouth movements that it takes to actually say words. It's not that you weren't doing these before, it's just that now you know that you're doing them.
 

Jack Flak

Permabanned
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
9,098
MBTI Type
type
Like I tell my public speaking students...if you try and speak while biting down on a pen (inserted horizontally between the lips)
Yeah, I have to do that while I'm speaking in public.
 

Orangey

Blah
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
6,354
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
6w5
Yeah, I have to do that while I'm speaking in public.

Do you? I made my students do it as an elocutionary exercise. Debaters have to practice that way so that people can understand them when they speak really fast, so I thought it would be useful to try.
 

Jack Flak

Permabanned
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Messages
9,098
MBTI Type
type
Do you? I made my students do it as an elocutionary exercise. Debaters have to practice that way so that people can understand them when they speak really fast, so I thought it would be useful to try.
Nah, I was kidding. I don't think that would go over too well. Nor would my speaking in public in the first place. :D
 

Orangey

Blah
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
6,354
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
6w5
Nah, I was kidding. I don't think that would go over too well. Nor would my speaking in public in the first place. :D

If you could keep the drool from being too conspicuous, I think it could work.
 

Salomé

meh
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
10,527
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
has any of you felt like that, in your daily-life converstaions & interactions?
using my own real-life as example, ever since i know i'm an INFP , sometimes when i act & talk/interact to people, i can't help but often felt like "wow..look at me. this is soo INFP-ish!"
or when you're an INTJ, after you've act or interacted with people, you can suddenly feel this 'sheer' feeling of "wow, this is so INTJ-ish, do stuff that i just did (or thought, etc) ! "

and..don't you sometimes think it's kinda 'restricting' you?
it's as if, you ACT more like the Type's stereotype,..rather than being YOURself (ie: you can sometimes be like ISTJ-ish, ESFP-ish, etc etc, since you are YOU) ?

or am i alone here experiencing all of this?
or,..has MBTI 'brainwashed' me ? :shock:

Absolutely NOT! If anything the reverse is true. Sometimes I catch myself doing typically INTP things and I self-correct - I try to see things from the other person's perspective, or I realize that I'm arguing for the sake of argument for example, and I stop (yes I DO!). It's made me less dismissive / more appreciative of different mindsets, more aware of my own subjectivity.

It is amusing though. It's amusing to be called on it too.


EDIT. I'm pretty myopic, I wear contact lenses and have done so since I was 13. I was short-sighted well before this time, but in common with many people didn't know it despite the fact that I used to squint at the board in class, had headaches etc.
After your vision has been corrected you see both yourself and others more clearly - duh.
I don't have 20-20 even with lenses, but I know they are effective - I don't get on the wrong bus so often or trip over stuff; I recognize people from a distance etc.

This is analogous to the usefulness of MBTI, IMO. You see your own faults/abilities and those of others with greater clarity. You understand your prescription, you have insight into the unique prism through which your own perception operates. It helps you navigate through life with fewer mistakes.
 
Last edited:

cherchair

New member
Joined
Nov 2, 2008
Messages
238
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
>you realize & act as if you're the 'Type'?

Actually, for me it has brought the reverse..

I've been fighting myself for so many years in order to fit in and at the same time stay true to myself, that coming here has brought a sort of peace of mind to me. It has shown me that others are like me as well (to a degree) and it doesn't necessarily have to mean suppressing who I am to fit in.

I've learned to appreciate my ENFP-ness instead of considering it an evil thing which causes me to be different from the rest and makes the rest feel uneasy with me. I had trouble realizing that some people actually do like that about me.

In short: It gives me the permission I've been seeking to be myself without feeling guilty about it.

(Yeah, yeah, I know, don't take it too far though ;))

I agree. For me it's clarified things I found confusing in the past and explains some of the urges I feel (ex: becoming a peer counselor to others with mental illness) that didn't make a lot of sense before.:yes:
 

JocktheMotie

Habitual Fi LineStepper
Joined
Nov 20, 2008
Messages
8,491
I find I act the same way, I just have more cognizance of my processes and what they're doing, how they're assimilating and presenting information to me, and how I'm making decisions based on those processes. I find it all very interesting.
 

mlittrell

New member
Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Messages
1,387
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
9w1
nah i just act like myself. im still very ENFPish but my dad is an INTJ and i see the effect all the time. i actually tend to interact better with NTs then NFs. many NFs (and i myself do this from time to time) take things too personally and i dont need that when im trying to have an intelligent conversation/debate. dont get me wrong... i love my NF buds but when it comes to a good discussion there is nothing like an NT (my best friend is an ENTP). so, no, i dont act a whole lot like my type just because i know about what my type should act like.
 

Jeffster

veteran attention whore
Joined
Jun 7, 2008
Messages
6,743
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx
Actually, for me it has brought the reverse..

I've been fighting myself for so many years in order to fit in and at the same time stay true to myself, that coming here has brought a sort of peace of mind to me. It has shown me that others are like me as well (to a degree) and it doesn't necessarily have to mean suppressing who I am to fit in.

I've learned to appreciate my ENFP-ness instead of considering it an evil thing which causes me to be different from the rest and makes the rest feel uneasy with me. I had trouble realizing that some people actually do like that about me.

In short: It gives me the permission I've been seeking to be myself without feeling guilty about it.


Just change "ENFP-ness" to "ISFP-ness" and I agree with that post word for word.

Plus I got to say P-ness twice. :cheese:
 

INTJMom

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2007
Messages
5,413
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w4
has any of you felt like that, in your daily-life converstaions & interactions?
using my own real-life as example, ever since i know i'm an INFP , sometimes when i act & talk/interact to people, i can't help but often felt like "wow..look at me. this is soo INFP-ish!"
or when you're an INTJ, after you've act or interacted with people, you can suddenly feel this 'sheer' feeling of "wow, this is so INTJ-ish, do stuff that i just did (or thought, etc) ! "

and..don't you sometimes think it's kinda 'restricting' you?
it's as if, you ACT more like the Type's stereotype,..rather than being YOURself (ie: you can sometimes be like ISTJ-ish, ESFP-ish, etc etc, since you are YOU) ?

or am i alone here experiencing all of this?
or,..has MBTI 'brainwashed' me ? :shock:
I don't like my type's stereotype so I try NOT to act like it.
 

King sns

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
6,714
MBTI Type
enfp
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
hmmm.. (goes back and reads about my type)
Yea, I fit pretty close.. much more laid back, lower energy, and lower maintenance than the description, though.

I also don't fit with all the anecdotal horror stories about my type I read here.

oh and I don't think just knowing my type makes me act like the stereotype. I already was pretty close already so i wouldn't have to change it much.. also pretty comfortable in my own skin and would rather stay true to myself rather than try to act "ESFPish" just because thats how i'm supposed to be.
 

sade

New member
Joined
Aug 23, 2008
Messages
761
Naw, I act the same as always.

Besides that, I agree with Amargith.
 
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