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Personality Change Over Time

Serendipity

the Dark Prophet of Kualu
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
852
MBTI Type
RAD
I believe so too.
Besides, doesn't every cell change with another cell within seven years? (I am not completely sure about that but I think I heard/read that somewhere) And if so, wouldn't also our "hardware" go through a change?

Now that I think about it; I've found out that I was more or less just pushed into a corner when I wasn't expressing the me I know from inside. And that made me try many different roles/personalities.

Would you understand my reasoning if I say that a circle that gathers circles, soon after becomes a square and when trying to break free becomes a triangle that longs to become a circle again?
 

Quinlan

Intriguing....
Joined
Apr 6, 2008
Messages
3,004
MBTI Type
ISFP
Enneagram
9w1
I haven't read the whole thread, but I think that if you think your personality type has changed over time you're probably underestimating the amount of variation that can occur within your type.

For example a depressed ESFP wouldn't become an ISTJ (though they may test and behave that way) they would just be a depressed ESFP.
 

plaguerat

New member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
195
MBTI Type
INTJ
Well, I believe I would have been a much much different person than I am today if certain events throughout my childhood up to even last year had not occurred. Now, whether or not I would be an INTJ is another question entirely, but I feel it would have talen me a LOT longer to realize the fact that I was.

When I was younger, though not as developed as today, I know (from stories and personal memories) I was largely more comfortable with keeping to myself and with knowledge and learning in general over social interaction. I also know that I wasn't the least bit empathetic (my mother still believes I have severe personality "defects") and didn't particularly care for social norms either.

so really I'm not sure. Maybe there's some sort of thing going through Middle and High school that messes with people, or temporarily disguises their preferences. Or levels them, who knows. (actually come to think of it people probably do. I just don't.)
 

mlittrell

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Sep 3, 2008
Messages
1,387
MBTI Type
ENFP
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9w1
I haven't read the whole thread, but I think that if you think your personality type has changed over time you're probably underestimating the amount of variation that can occur within your type.

For example a depressed ESFP wouldn't become an ISTJ (though they may test and behave that way) they would just be a depressed ESFP.

good call

everyone seems to be describing MBTI in a behavioral sense. that is not the point of MBTI, though, admittedly, it can reflect behavior... just not define it. MBTI is a model for the human cognition not behavior, but like i said before, behavior can reflect the mind. an ESFP can act like an ISTJ if they so please but that does not make them an ISTJ. they still think like an ESFP. they still perceive the world like and ESFP. they still make decisions like an ESFP. their little hissy fit just makes them appear to be an ISTJ when of course, they are not.

EDIT:

as a side note there is a generally unknown branch of Myers Briggs psychologists that believe that the personality changes every 9 years. at first glance it may seem like a complete change but the change they are describing is the development in the auxiliary, tertiary and shadow functions.
 

juggernaut

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Mar 22, 2009
Messages
1,009
I was definitely very I as a kid. I started sliding over to the E side during adolescence and was a full-blown, hard-core E by my late 20s (looking back it was probably a defense mechanism). Over the past several years I've found myself slipping back over to the I side. People have become increasingly draining and my need for contact with others has really begun to diminish. I wanted to keep control of my family, relationships, and business for many years, but now all I want is control over myself. I don't want the headache or responsibility of directing or marshaling others, all I want is my autonomy.

On the other hand, the NTJ has always been very pronounced. Even as a kid, I loved systems, order, and structure. Mathematics and science were always my strongest subjects, and despite years of trying to balance this out with a very broad philosophical education, I always end up back in that neck of the woods.
 

Quinlan

Intriguing....
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ISFP
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9w1
I was definitely very I as a kid. I started sliding over to the E side during adolescence and was a full-blown, hard-core E by my late 20s (looking back it was probably a defense mechanism). Over the past several years I've found myself slipping back over to the I side. People have become increasingly draining and my need for contact with others has really begun to diminish. I wanted to keep control of my family, relationships, and business for many years, but now all I want is control over myself. I don't want the headache or responsibility of directing or marshaling others, all I want is my autonomy.

On the other hand, the NTJ has always been very pronounced. Even as a kid, I loved systems, order, and structure. Mathematics and science were always my strongest subjects, and despite years of trying to balance this out with a very broad philosophical education, I always end up back in that neck of the woods.

If the E-ness was just a defense mechanism then I think you're actually INTJ.
 

juggernaut

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Mar 22, 2009
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^That's certainly possible. After 20+ years of 'E'ing, however, it's hard to tell. Everyone else in my family is uber E (to the point that I can only handle them in small doses and find myself totally shutting down when in their presence for too long), so who knows.
 

NewEra

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Dec 21, 2008
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3,104
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I
Well as a kid, I loved to be around people, and I would always be more energetic around them. I was ridiculously hyper. I mellowed down when I was 10. I was still extroverted however, up until I was around maybe 14, when I began being introverted. Then when I was 19, I became more extroverted again, and loved to be around people. Then about a year and a half later, I started withdrawing from others. I didn't have the same vigor with others, and I started feeling energized by myself. It felt better before, to be more extroverted.

Anyone got any explanations lol? Did I change my type over this period?

These days, some days I feel quite extroverted but some times I feel very introverted. I'm usually far more often introverted.
 

Quinlan

Intriguing....
Joined
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9w1
Perhaps look into how you're defining introverted and extroverted, do you think your dominant process was switching during those periods?
 

NewEra

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I
Perhaps look into how you're defining introverted and extroverted, do you think your dominant process was switching during those periods?

No, I don't think I ever had Te as a dominant function. Si was my knack throughout, and I've been known for it by family and friends.
 

Quinlan

Intriguing....
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No, I don't think I ever had Te as a dominant function. Si was my knack throughout, and I've been known for it by family and friends.

Well there you have it! I would say that points very strongly to you being ISTJ throughout. The individual letters are only meant to help point you towards the functions.
 

NewEra

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3,104
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I
Well there you have it! I would say that points very strongly to you being ISTJ throughout. The individual letters are only meant to help point you towards the functions.

Interesting, I just guess I go in and out of liking/disliking socializing then.
 

Crazydaisy

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Jul 27, 2009
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ISFJ
ChosenOne, that's a pretty crazy personality change - have you ever thought that maybe you've been depressed for the past year or so?
 

NewEra

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I
ChosenOne, that's a pretty crazy personality change - have you ever thought that maybe you've been depressed for the past year or so?

I doubt it, because I don't feel down on myself, you know? I feel energized as heck, normally I know one of the symptoms of depression is a feeling of fatigue and hopelessness. I'm not like this. I notice my personality shifts a lot depending on the environment I'm in.

I was an ESP kid. At age 10, there was a drastic change to ISTJ, then age 19 saw the shift to ESxP for a year's time, then back to ISTJ again.
 

Wild horses

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Oct 25, 2008
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I'm just wondering if there is room within each type for maturity for example, do you necessarily have to change type as you mature. Can't you just be like a mature INTP for example, who may look very different from an immature INTP... WOuld love to see a mature ENFP btw... they must be like hens teeth! :D
 

entropie

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I'm just wondering if there is room within each type for maturity for example, do you necessarily have to change type as you mature. Can't you just be like a mature INTP for example, who may look very different from an immature INTP... WOuld love to see a mature ENFP btw... they must be like hens teeth! :D

There is room for it by all means. I am not convinced the mbti system does grasp the human existance holistically at all, but saying that one for example switches from p to J cause of maturity is just dumb.
 

thisGuy

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Mar 14, 2009
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My personality has changed significantly over time. I used to be a lot more extraverted just a couple of years ago, and I'd talk before thinking. I was an E. I used to also be more carefree, and go-with-the-flow and more experimental than I am now. I was a very clear P. I used to be more friendly, less confrontational, less hard-working, more creative, and more fun. Definitely more F than I am now. This was just 1 or 2 years ago. If you asked me back then, I would never have thought one's personality could just change like that. But it happened to me. I would say before, I was an ESxP.

I wanted to know if something like this is common, or have you heard of it? Or has it happened to you?

but was that a phase of your life or was that your actual personality? of course situations call for different preference and we adapt to them
 

INTJ123

HAHHAHHAH!
Joined
Jun 20, 2009
Messages
777
MBTI Type
ESFP
I'm just wondering if there is room within each type for maturity for example, do you necessarily have to change type as you mature. Can't you just be like a mature INTP for example, who may look very different from an immature INTP... WOuld love to see a mature ENFP btw... they must be like hens teeth! :D

What do you mean by "mature" physically, or emotionally? or....the type of maturity that is the result of society/ageism and gaining of responsibility?


As for the OP, of course it's possible to change, personality is dynamic. I was a very distinct intj in my youth but now I have eased up and go with the flow better, INTX now, sometimes I test as intp but it's by 1% preference of P.
 

Sacrator

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Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
156
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ENFP
My personality has changed significantly over time. I used to be a lot more extraverted just a couple of years ago, and I'd talk before thinking. I was an E. I used to also be more carefree, and go-with-the-flow and more experimental than I am now. I was a very clear P. I used to be more friendly, less confrontational, less hard-working, more creative, and more fun. Definitely more F than I am now. This was just 1 or 2 years ago. If you asked me back then, I would never have thought one's personality could just change like that. But it happened to me. I would say before, I was an ESxP.

I wanted to know if something like this is common, or have you heard of it? Or has it happened to you?

yeah i went from ENFP to INTJ during insane working hours and a very hard life in LA then back to ENFP when i realized what i was becoming and kinda returned back to where i wanted to be.
 
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