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Is there a hereditary component to MBTI?

Ilah

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Jul 13, 2008
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274
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INTJ
My understanding is that your type is an innate part of you, something you are born with. Nature, not nurture.

Possible causes for traits we were born with:
1. Genetic
2. Mystic explanation. It is part of your soul.
3. Environmental condition while we were in the womb, medications our mother took, etc.
4. Other: I can't think of any other right now, but I am open to suggestions.

For right now I want to discuss the genetic possibility. This seems to suggest that your letters would match one or more of your parents letters. For example: If one parent was N and the other was S, you could be either one. If both parents were S, you should be S. But maybe it is more complicated then that. Maybe N is recessive or traits skip a generation. Maybe you are not like either of your parents, but you are like one of your granparents.

Would genetics explain why the majority of women are F and the majority of men are T? There are some traits/conditions that are recessive in females but not males, such as colorblindness. Could T and F work like that? Maybe T is recessive for females and F is recessive for males.

Ilah
 

redacted

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of course there's a bit of a hereditary component.

but i'd say most of it is nurture. it's why you don't see twins with the same type.

For right now I want to discuss the genetic possibility. This seems to suggest that your letters would match one or more of your parents letters. For example: If one parent was N and the other was S, you could be either one. If both parents were S, you should be S. But maybe it is more complicated then that. Maybe N is recessive or traits skip a generation. Maybe you are not like either of your parents, but you are like one of your granparents.

well i'm an F and both my parents are Ts. my brother is E and both my parents are I. i can think of so many more examples.

it certainly is not as simple as that. seems too complicated to even attempt to break it down in this manner.
 

SillySapienne

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I feel that for me, personally, my ENFP-ness was entirely genetically ingrained.

Since the age of three I have been an ENFP.

I will say this though, having two older sisters deepened or further stimulated my Ne and Fi traits.
 

Haphazard

Don't Judge Me!
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Hmm.

My mom is an ISFJ and my dad is an INTP.

This leaves us with Si, Fe, Ne, and Ti to work with.

I ended up INTJ -- Ni, Te, Fi, Se.

So... I'd say no.
 

SillySapienne

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There isn't an Fi gene, or an Se gene you know. :)
 

Haphazard

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There isn't an Fi gene, or an Se gene you know. :)

I know, but otherwise how are we going by 'hereditary'? Dichotomies doesn't make any more sense than function order.

People do tend to be somewhat like their parents, but I don't think MBTI can be thought of as being 'hereditary' in such strict terms.
 

Totenkindly

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Some biological inclinations (such as towards extroversion/introversion -- based on the sensitivity of the body's nervous/chemical system) exist and have been discussed here before.

As far as the other function sets, it's complex (a set of biological initiatives coupled with environmental factors such as culture and upbringing). Note that behavior that creates calm rather than anxiety will be favored by an individual, if you want to look at the function pairs that way. as to why it causes anxiety to use certain functions? I suppose that's what we're discussing.
 

disregard

mrs
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The truth of this matter is unknowable, and so I'm going with the mystical approach.
 

SillySapienne

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Human ethology is an interesting thing.

We inherit a suite of genes that correlate to our propensity to engage in certain complex behavioral characteristics/patterns.

There is *definitely* a genetic component to our personalities.
 

Totenkindly

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Human ethology is an interesting thing. We inherit a suite of genes that correlate to our propensity to engage in certain complex behavioral characteristics/patterns.

There is *definitely* a genetic component to our personalities.

Well, if you're going to speak that broadly, then ANYTHING you do could be said to be "genetic." (Because we can't possibly even have the option to do it if it's not biologically possible for us.)

When we speak of something being genetic, it's usually in the sense of a specific gene or small set of genes specifically geared towards a definable behavior. (which would then allow us to say that, for example, "Gene(s) X" codes for "Y" behavior and overrides other behaviors that would conflict with it).

That distinction seems more meaningful to me.

So is there anything that codes for "preferred Ne" for example? Or is Ne actually a set of many variables that collectively contribute to Ne behavior and perhaps can be emulated with VARIOUS sets of gene (to varying degrees), not just one basic set that can be predetermined?
 

SillySapienne

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Well, if you're going to speak that broadly, then ANYTHING you do could be said to be "genetic." (Because we can't possibly even have the option to do it if it's not biologically possible for us.)?
Word.

Everything we are and do has some genetic component to it, period.

Is there a genetic component to intelligence?

Hell yes.

Is there a genetic component to talent?

Hell yes.

A bumble bee will never magically become a hornet.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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My dad is an INTP and my mom is an ESFJ. I have 6 siblings, none of which is an FJ. I am the only N. Overall I'd say genetics has little or nothing to do with type.
 

Angry Ayrab

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Mar 31, 2008
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I personally come from a pretty large family, seven brothers (0 girls), my mom and my dad, same parents for all. My parents are pretty different yet pretty much the same in a couple of things but their kids are as varied as the rainbow, in some aspects, yet in others we are identical.

My father is an explicit example of an ESTJ if there ever was one. He is the dominant alpha male type that seems to be cool and is involved with everyone, yet is a no nonesense guy. My mother took the test a couple of times and sometimes scores as an IsFJ and some times InFJ. She is way more open to ideas and theories and talking bull than my dad, but she isn't quite off the ground in her N type mentality so I would say she is probably IxFJ. One characteristic that my mother and father do share is that they are both deeply religious, and pushed it on us like no other. My parents are also extremely old school traditionalists, so you will never see any of my brothers treat an older person like they would a friend, and all of us would be considered sexist by a feminist. Put it this way, we will treat any girl like a princess, because that is what we were tought to do. My mother used to beat are ass till no tomorrow for the slightest of things, yet we were never afraid of her. I have never seen my dad raise a hand at any of us (ok maybe a couple of times and we all deserved it for sure), but we were terrified of the man.

Well enough of the chit chat about my parents, here is the deal. I personally think enviornment, plays much more of a factor than anything else on a person. Out of the seven, only two of us have a matching personality type, Yet we all behave the same on certain things, we were raised to do. Even the crazy ones of us have these traits that my mom beat into us and that my dad scared into us just by being there. I believe that the way I was treated differently by my grandparents, my brothers, my parents and all of my parents friends surely had some effect on my persona. Then again, I was also always a stereotypical ENFP, but everyone except my brothers used to reinforce my personality (they just whooped my ass for not shuting up).

So I guess I was of no help, because I am going to say that personality is so complex that it is hard to say what influenced what more. I am so interested in this, and might be a psychiatrist one day, and if I figure it out, I will send the news your way :)
 

Ilah

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I should add my remarks on nature v. nurture.

In my case, I always got the impression that my mom wasn't particularly thrilled with my type and tried to steer more toward a type she felt more comfortable with, more social (E), less day dreamy (S), and less cold emotionally (F). So I would say in my case, nurture was not a factor. Unless you want to say I choose a type my mother didn't like just to annoy her.

But neither of my parents seemed to really understand me. I seemed to puzzle them quite a bit. So that makes me wonder about the nature/herditary side. Three of my four grandparents I didn't know at all and the other one died when I was around 12, so maybe I could see some influence there. I don't really see much of N on my mom's side of the family. I don't know my dad's side of the family very well at all.

I am not sure if my dad is an N or a S, but he seemed almost as puzzled about me as my mom. I feel like I have more in common with him than my mom, but we still connect at all.

When I was a teen, several times my friends asked me if I was adopted. I'm not. They said they asked because I seemed so different from my parents.

Ilah
 

Grayscale

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i definitely think the environment you grew up in will augment your personality as it would have naturally occurred. i grew up in a family dominated by F-types, i think this is why people have incorrectly typed me as an "F" at times

if we all have access to the same traits, some will naturally be stronger, but through various means the others can be exercised as well
 

Mort Belfry

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I think that having a parent of the same type would reinfiorce the view of hereditary functions, but having those of different types would just make you stronger in what would else be weaker functions.

My parents are father, ENTJ and mother, ISTJ, whose functions don't resemble that of an INTP, but I have developed Te more as a result and I am very Si-aware, though not strong in it.

Having a parent of same type might make you feel a stronger connection and make you see a hereditary component in type, but inot be proof.

So I don't think there's an immediate hereditary component, but I'd be interested in seeing a list of several generations' type to see if there is a recurring theme of functions.
 

Didums

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For right now I want to discuss the genetic possibility. This seems to suggest that your letters would match one or more of your parents letters. For example: If one parent was N and the other was S, you could be either one. If both parents were S, you should be S. But maybe it is more complicated then that. Maybe N is recessive or traits skip a generation. Maybe you are not like either of your parents, but you are like one of your granparents.

I don't know of any legitimate scientific studies on the subject but my hunch is that MBTI is more Nurture than Nature. My parents are ESTJs (haven't tested but I typed them) and I'm INTP, my brother is ESFJ. I don't see how this could work out genetically unless it happens in a very complicated manner. I'd say that our brain structure is initially influenced by the genes that our parents give us (the blueprints), but that our brain wiring can change via Nurture (how we are raised, in what environment, around what kinds of people, what we experience). Because people's Type can change over the years I very much believe that Nurture is the primary benefactor.


Would genetics explain why the majority of women are F and the majority of men are T? There are some traits/conditions that are recessive in females but not males, such as colorblindness. Could T and F work like that? Maybe T is recessive for females and F is recessive for males.

The majority of women are F because of a difference in brain wiring Wiki. Colorblindness is more apparent in males because we don't have an extra X chromosome just incase the X chromosome that we have has the colorblindness gene on it, (the Y chromosome sucks). If a female has the colorblindness gene on only 1 X chromosome they're fine, but if they have it on both they will be colorblind. Females have a "get out of jail free card" for genetic disorders lol.
 

Gabe

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Nov 17, 2007
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Maybe type is inherited, but in a very complicated way.

I mean, if you had a red flower in your perrenial garden who's seeds blue into your lawn and blue flowers sprouted that looked the same in every other way, that would not disprove genetics. And that is a very simple example.

By the way, to anyone who might know (I don't), is genetics chaotic in some ways?
 

Ilah

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I was talking to my brother about my parents traits.

My dad seems to have Si, Te as his top two and I have Ni, Te as my top two. This may have been a factor in me developing my secondary Te very strongly to point where it could be mistaken as my dominant. But I also may have developed my secondary because my primary, Ni was not well recieved. I suppose this falls under nurture too.

In my case I feel like it didn't really change my basic type so much as mask it.

Is genetics chaotic? I think that genetics is very complicated and the little one page summary many of us are familiar with is gross oversimplification of the whole thing. Having an inherited characteric skip a generation is fairly common, but sometimes recessive traits could skip dozens of generations, making them seem pretty chaotic. Also siblings who share both parents can be very different because it is random which half of our parents DNA we get.

Ilah
 
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