• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Does the type make the man?

eagleseven

New member
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
331
MBTI Type
INTJ
Or the man make the type?

Does the very act of taking these personality tests, change your personality?

If so, how?


Would this effect distort the results, or be an integral feature of the results?
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
6,898
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Or the man make the type?

In my opinion, the type tries to provide a generalized construct of representing the many men and women who constitute the continuum of personalities of each given MBTI type.

Does the very act of taking these personality tests, change your personality?

For me, no. The first MBTI test I took basically told me alot of what I already knew, but it was revealing of some details that I overlooked along the way, it was useful for that.

Would this effect distort the results, or be an integral feature of the results?

That depends on whether the person in question has an internal locus of control or an external locus of control, right?

Good questions. :)
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
6,898
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Is this type-dependent as well?

:huh:

No, I don't think it is at all, but if one has an internal locus of control than they believe "the man decides the type" but if they have an external locus of control then "the type would define them (after being tested or an MBTI type)."

I am no expert on typology or psychology, but I have studied both at school and/or as part of personal interest. There are a few associations between MBTI and other schools of thought that were interesting to contemplate on, but I generally don't try and mix them up if I can help it. :D

Have you determined your Enneagram type? If not a good free online test is here:

Free Enneagram Personality Test

I'm an ESTP in MBTI, and a 7w8 Enneagram. Those two seems to have a good fit. But, the two systems are distinct.
 

IZthe411

Carerra Lu
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
2,585
MBTI Type
INTJ
I think in all instances a person is 'made'.

I think for someone who is balanced, it validates their ways, and may give them confidence to continue on as they were.

For others, it helps them to figure out that they need to adjust their view of others and the actions that follow

Then for some, it gives them some kind of meaning to their otherwise meaningless lives, and gives them a feeling of superiority over others, even if they fail to recognize that it's only potential, and in the real world, nobody cares what those 4 letters mean when one is, at best, an internet forum hero yet a douchebag IRL with little to nothing to show for thier self-hyped superior type and ability.
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
6,898
MBTI Type
ESTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Then for some, it gives them some kind of meaning to their otherwise meaningless lives, and gives them a feeling of superiority over others, even if they fail to recognize that it's only potential, and in the real world, nobody cares what those 4 letters mean when one is, at best, an internet forum hero yet a douchebag IRL with little to nothing to show for thier self-hyped superior type and ability.

Preach it!!! :pumpyouup:
 

Aleksei

Yeah, I can fly.
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
3,626
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
7w6
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Does the type make the man?
Hell no. Typology is far too general to really capture the essence of who a person is, beyond a rough measuring stick as to their temperament. It tells us how we function, and what our strengths and weaknesses are on that basis, but it doesn't even come close to describing our whole personalities, which are the sum of our experiences, upbringing and heritage.

Or the man make the type?
Probably not. A person can willingly, consciously change their type, but it's extremely difficult. A Perceiver, for example, can act like a Judger (Organized, deliberate, planned, meticulous), but he will probably never feel like a Judger (Compulsively determined to finishing everything he starts).

Does the very act of taking these personality tests, change your personality?

If so, how?
It could, if you let your personality be determined by the archetype of your given type (which it doesn't have to -- as I mentioned, personality ranges much broader than type). Changing your type as a result of taking a Myers-Briggs test is unlikely, though.
 

eagleseven

New member
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
331
MBTI Type
INTJ
Then for some, it gives them some kind of meaning to their otherwise meaningless lives, and gives them a feeling of superiority over others, even if they fail to recognize that it's only potential, and in the real world, nobody cares what those 4 letters mean when one is, at best, an internet forum hero yet a douchebag IRL with little to nothing to show for thier self-hyped superior type and ability.
This I just don't understand...it makes about as much sense as believing in racial supremacy. Then again, there were quite a few racial supremacists throughout the course of human history...

I agree with Aleksi above. One reason I dislike these personality types is that it puts people into neat little boxes, when human brains are highly plastic. We're constantly re-networking the neurons in our brain, so why do we assume the personality is a static state, once we reach a certain stage of development?

I intend to be a very different person than I am now, in 5 years, then again in 10 years, and so on.

It is useful, however, in finding people who currenlty think similarly to yourself.
 

miss fortune

not to be trusted
Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
20,589
Enneagram
827
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
it's an interesting theory for explaining the differences in people (like why my Te using man is signifigantly better at puzzles than I am, but I kick his ass at trivia games), but people tend to use it wrongly on internet forums to feel better than other people because they're XXXX type and the other person is YYYY type... if you understand the building blocks and the dynamics between them (and how people can develop other functions and such!) it's a useful tool... if you use it for stereotyping and putting people in boxes it's a negative thing (like claiming that all Sensor's are dumb or things of that sort :newwink:)

it doesn't make a wo/man, it can help you understand them though! :holy:
 

Mole

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
20,284
Does the very act of taking these personality tests, change your personality?

If so, how?

Would this effect distort the results, or be an integral feature of the results?

In taking the MBTI test we are inducted into a light trance. And in a light trance we are susceptible to suggestion, and MBTI suggests our personality, so it is no wonder that so many of us accept the suggestion.
 

Stanton Moore

morose bourgeoisie
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
3,900
MBTI Type
INFP
Or the man make the type?

Does the very act of taking these personality tests, change your personality?

If so, how?


Would this effect distort the results, or be an integral feature of the results?


Typology does not determine who you are, who you were, or who you will be. It's just not a determining force in anyone's life. It's the illusion of constancy and certainty where there is none.
 

Valiant

Courage is immortality
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
Messages
3,895
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8w7
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
The man makes the type, if he is strong enough to do so.
I choose to be who I am. I have tried many different types, and this is who I want to be; for now.
My "problem" in settling for a type stems from being strongly developed in everything except Si and to some extent Fi.
Fi has seen a growth the last year or two, though.

One thing that is important is self-awareness.
With that, knowledge and an analytical mind, one can go far.

It is quite safe to say that I love myself, and I do not feel guilty about it.
I have no religion that says I should feel guilt all the time, only be who I am and do good.
And boy, do I love being good.



Or the man make the type?

Does the very act of taking these personality tests, change your personality?

If so, how?


Would this effect distort the results, or be an integral feature of the results?
 

Mole

Permabanned
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
20,284
Personality and Culture

MBTI is actually onto something otherwise it would not be so popular.

Just ask any mother and she will tell you her children are born with their personalities. And we know personality remains constant throughout life.

But what is most interesting is that cultures also remain constant throughout their lives, and remain true to their founding principles through thick and thin.

So both personalities and cultures remain remarkably constant throughout their lives.

So we have a personality test to make the personality visible, but we don't have a cultural test to make our culture visible.

And this is simply because the current environment is invisible. So we can conclude that culture is now our current environment while personality is part of the environment past.

So we drive forward looking in the rear vision mirror of personality, while the cultures of the world rush towards us through the windscreen.
 

Snuggletron

Reptilian
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
2,224
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
10
mbti made me into a racial internet forum supremacist, even though I'm a Dbag in real life.

the self-discovery I've achieved through mbti was worth it, however.
 

KDude

New member
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
8,243
i'm not open to claiming some "permanent" type as of yet, but i'm open enough to chalk that up to my lack of understanding on how the functions work. maybe i am a type.. i just don't know yet. i should read more, but i don't really have that many in depth materials on hand atm.

that said, i know that i'm a pretty hardcore "perciever" by any defintion. :D
 

Little_Sticks

New member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
1,358
In taking the MBTI test we are inducted into a light trance. And in a light trance we are susceptible to suggestion, and MBTI suggests our personality, so it is no wonder that so many of us accept the suggestion.

OMG, you made some sense here ;P. Careful where you're treading!
 
Top