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At what age can you be typed?

fetus

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How old are you when you're mature enough to be typed? Below a certain age are the dominant function only typings: ExTJ, ExFJ, ISxJ, INxJ, ESxP, ENxP, IxTP, IxFP.

I first took an online quiz when I was like eleven and got ESFP. Took it again at thirteen and got ENFP, then at fourteen I got INFP. Reliably INFP for a year or so and then started getting ENFP a few times. (This was all before I started getting into typology and whatnot.) It goes on.

Is it possible to have a highly developed dominant and auxiliary function as a kid? I was totally the token IxFP child until around nine or ten, at which point I started seeming a little more ENFP.

Or possibly, another theory: going strictly by dichotomies and ignoring functions, what if the strongest letter preference develops first? For instance, my F preference was apparent literally as early as preferences can be determined. P came shortly thereafter. Or, say there's someone with a strong T preference, and that preference became apparent before all the others. Would that just relate back to being some sort of ExTJ or IxTP, though?

Sorry if this seems kind of confusing. My writing is all over the place today. :shrug:
 

Gawain

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I imagine online quizes would be less accurate for kids (statistically speaking) because many kids would either 1) not know themselves that well 2) not have the reading comprehension to adjust for the writing style of the quiz's author 3) have a bias toward a certain set of traits as being desirable based on their parents' values. These are the same problems adults have with online quizes, but It would make sense that it is statistically more prevalent in a younger population.

This is why there are so many people pushing for MBTI to be done by professionals. Messing with personality quizzes at a young age without guidance would be confusing at best for the average person. The first time I took the MBTI was in high school with a guidance counselor who was trying to help me plan my career path, and even then the counselor suggested I retake it later. I was very close to the middle om three different letters, so it took us a while to be certain of which type I was. My type hasn't ever changed, but my understanding of it and acceptance has. Looking back on my childhood, my functions matched my type from the start.
 

violet_crown

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How old are you when you're mature enough to be typed? Below a certain age are the dominant function only typings: ExTJ, ExFJ, ISxJ, INxJ, ESxP, ENxP, IxTP, IxFP.

I first took an online quiz when I was like eleven and got ESFP. Took it again at thirteen and got ENFP, then at fourteen I got INFP. Reliably INFP for a year or so and then started getting ENFP a few times. (This was all before I started getting into typology and whatnot.) It goes on.

Is it possible to have a highly developed dominant and auxiliary function as a kid? I was totally the token IxFP child until around nine or ten, at which point I started seeming a little more ENFP.

Or possibly, another theory: going strictly by dichotomies and ignoring functions, what if the strongest letter preference develops first? For instance, my F preference was apparent literally as early as preferences can be determined. P came shortly thereafter. Or, say there's someone with a strong T preference, and that preference became apparent before all the others. Would that just relate back to being some sort of ExTJ or IxTP, though?

Sorry if this seems kind of confusing. My writing is all over the place today. :shrug:

I think this is a really interesting question. From a theoretical perspective, the dominant function is most closely associated with the ego. Looked at from that perspective, the question then becomes at what point do we develop a sense of self? Depending on who you ask, the answer usually ranges between the ages of 1-3 for a basic sense of self to develop, so it's reasonable to say that the dominant function emerges around then. As for other functions and when they develop, it's harder to say. Here's a quote from the Myers Briggs Foundation on the subject:


MBTI Foundation said:
At the most basic level, type development is the process of gaining comfort and command of your preferred way of taking in information, and your preferred way of coming to conclusions. Developing a function involves consciously differentiating it from the others, exercising it, and becoming more skilled with it.

Jung believed that all the functions are largely unconscious and undeveloped in infants. As we grow and develop, the different functions develop. The timing of this development has been the subject of considerable study. It is generally believed that the dominant generally develops up to age 7, the auxiliary up to age 20, the tertiary in the 30s and 40s and the inferior or fourth function at midlife or later.

As you develop your type, the way you see the world and the way you behave tends to change and broaden. Comfort with your dominant and auxiliary functions forms the basis for much of your self-esteem.

If the use of your dominant and auxiliary functions is not supported by your environment, it will still press to reach the surface, like a beach ball held under water. When a function is never allowed to develop naturally, a person can experience stress and frustration.

As you develop your tertiary and least-preferred functions later in life, the range of behaviors available to you opens up even further. But the dominant and auxiliary functions will always be the core functions of your conscious personality.
 

Luke O

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Some things may be clear from a young age, but not everything. The balance between dominant and auxiliary functions may not be fully sorted out until the child is older (the school environment may be largely to blame for this?), the extraverted functions may be clearer through speech and action before the introverted functions are.
 

Frosty

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I think that you can be typed at any age, but since most are used to the standards in typing at a certain development level, it might be challenging typing those before that mark. Some new determinations, allowances, and considerations might need to be made, as it might be more difficult to pin down the typing of a child without spending a good amount of personal time with them. Children do seem less set in their preferred type than adults do, they might be more liable to merge with the atmosphere of their surroundings a bit and gain a small bit of a group smear because of the structure of certain parts of their lives. But actually, I would say that once alone for a good enough period of time, the dominant function is actually really clear-clearer than with adults almost, for I think it is the auxilary which tends to become more manipulated by external factors- sort of tied down for a while until such a time when a child is more free, less structured environments, less desire to reflect/depend upon others for that complement to their personality... Maybe it is at this time that the emotional changes/mood swings/whatever start to make their way. Some sort of conflict and or natural distancing mechanism. Dunno.

But I would say that puberty can be both the best and worst time to type someone. You might get fairly obvious glimpses of the secondary as well as maybe bits of the inferior, but they would likely be confused and while pure and innocent representations, you would be more likely to see the extremes of the secondary function. So maybe if you knew what you were looking for and could see that the appearances were within the same realm it could actually be done with pretty decent accuracy. But it would be tricky as inferior functions may also manifest at this time as ?coping mechanisms?/for self exploration-individual desire-social demands.
 

Kensei

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You can determine someone's attitude and orientation as young as 3 and their 4 preferences around 9-12. That's what I heard anyway. The dominant function develops to its fullest potential around the beggining of puberty, and you can tell what one's preferences are a bit before that. The auxilliary function does not usually develop to its strongest until adulthood, so typing based on function is highly innaccurate until one is 21.
 

reckful

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As I understand it, it's widely believed — including by psychologists who've performed studies outside the MBTI and Big Five umbrellas — that whether someone is introverted or extraverted tends to be evident at a very early age, and that's consistent with Jung's perspective.

Here's some of what Jung said:

Jung said:
Type differentiation often begins very early, so early that in some cases one must speak of it as innate. The earliest sign of extraversion in a child is his quick adaptation to the environment, and the extraordinary attention he gives to objects and especially to the effect he has on them. Fear of objects is minimal; he lives and moves among them with confidence. His apprehension is quick but imprecise. He appears to develop more rapidly than the introverted child, since he is less reflective and usually without fear. He feels no barrier between himself and objects, and can therefore play with them freely and learn through them. He likes to carry his enterprises to the extreme and exposes himself to risks. Everything unknown is alluring. ...

[O]ne of the earliest signs of introversion in a child is a reflective, thoughtful manner, marked shyness and even fear of unknown objects. Very early there appears a tendency to assert himself over familiar objects, and attempts are made to master them. Everything unknown is regarded with mistrust; outside influences are usually met with violent resistance. The child wants his own way, and under no circumstances will he submit to an alien rule he cannot understand. When he asks questions, it is not from curiosity or a desire to create a sensation, but because he wants names, meanings, explanations to give him subjective protection against the object. I have seen an introverted child who made his first attempts to walk only after he had learned the names of all the objects in the room he might touch. Thus very early in an introverted child the characteristic defensive attitude can be noted which the adult introvert displays towards the object; just as in an extraverted child one can very early observe a marked assurance and initiative, a happy trustfulness in his dealings with objects. This is indeed the basic feature of the extraverted attitude: psychic life is, as it were, enacted outside the individual in objects and objective relationships. In extreme cases there is even a sort of blindness for his own individuality. The introvert, on the contrary, always acts as though the object possessed a superior power over him against which he has to defend himself. His real world is the inner one.

Myers wrote in terms of S children and N children differing noticeably, and T children and F children differing noticeably, regardless of which of those two preferences corresponded to their "dominant" function.

On S/N, Myers said:

Myers said:
As soon as children exercise a preference between the two ways of perceiving, a basic difference in development begins. The children have enough command of their mental processes to be able to use the favorite processes more often and to neglect the processes they enjoy less. ... Thus, by a natural sequence of events, the child who prefers sensing and the child who prefers intuition develop along divergent lines. Each becomes relatively adult in an area where the other remains relatively childlike. Both channel their interests and energy into activities that give them a chance to use their mind the way they prefer. Both acquire a set of surface traits that grows out of the basic preferences beneath.

On T/F, she said:

Myers said:
Whichever judging process a child prefers he or she will use more often, trust more implicitly, and be much more ready to obey. The other kind of judgment will be a sort of minority opinion, half-heard and often wholly disregarded. ... The child who prefers feeling becomes more adult in the handling of human relationships. The child who prefers thinking grows more adept in the organization of facts and ideas.

In Gifts Differing, Myers explained: "By the time children reach seventh grade, their types can be identified with a useful degree of accuracy by the Type Indicator."

The MBTI Manual explains: "When the MBTI is used with high school students and adults who can read at least at the eighth grade level, a counselor can be reasonably confident of the reported type for individual guidance, provided that the reported type never be used as an established fact, but rather as a hypothesis for verification."
 

Luke O

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Recently my 5 year old daughter seems as if she uses Te a lot, but it may be the case she's just one of these bossy 5 year old girls...
 

Sunny Ghost

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I'm not certain. Though I feel I was very Fi dominant as a young child. Se began to demonstrate itself more between 5-9.

Observing my niece and nephew, I feel certain they are going to be sensors. Very strong awareness of their surroundings. My niece seems to be developing a strong xxxJ function. She turned four today. Theyre both very outgoing as well. I wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to be extroverted. Their parents are ESFJ and ESFP. My guesses for the children thus far are also ESxP for my nephew (though he is two) and ESFJ for my niece.

I don't have a lot of experience around children, so I'm not sure how they are alike or different from others in their age group. Much of what I see in them could be standard to most children.
 

Coriolis

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I have heard some parents maintain that they could type their children accurately even when very young, say just a few years old. I suppose alot depends on how attuned to type and the MBTI system the parents are.
 

RandomINTP

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12 is the age one can be typed.
 

Luke O

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It's the age we get our Cutie Marksâ„¢.
 

senza tema

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I'm wondering if I may not have been more easily typed when I was younger. I would have given off fewer and less confusing signals, I think.
 

Kyubey

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I think if the child is taking a test it would be better if they were younger (6-10 range) as there would be less bias of one dichotomy over the other since younger children tend to be more honest rather than a 12+ year old who would be influenced by what society/other people think, especially during puberty. If it wasn't a test but instead a human with good knowledge on mbti just trying to type another human I would say a child during puberty would be better since you can see the more negative aspects of them. An older age would also be easier since by then they would have several functions developed rather than 1-2 if you were younger.
 

Doctor Cringelord

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I think post-puberty typing will yield more accurate results.
 

Yama

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If they're really young you'd probably only be able to get dominant function out of them. I don't think it's until early teens that the aux function starts to become more visible. So, I'd say around late teens/early 20s is when you can finally type a person with more clarity.
 

Ovid

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From what I've read recently some functions don't mature until later, and not all children mature at the same rate. The primary functions develop first so you may be able to pick those out early on, but beyond that you may need to wait as long as their mid to late teens.
 

CarolineForbes

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I feel like that is a tricky question without a definitive answer. Everyone is different and adjusts to themselves differently. We all struggle with self discovery throughout our lives and it takes some people more time than it does others to figure themselves out.
I feel like throughout my young life my Fe would have always been prevalent. Anyone knowledgeable in MBTI would have noticed my Fe ways immediately. BUTTTT. And this is a big but. I feel like I could have been typed as an ENFJ, or INFJ in younger years.
Now I am pretty positive that I am an ESFJ but up until the last five or so years typing could have been mistaken. I am 24.
I don't know if this helps at all, but it's my own experience. I just personally think it's impossibly to say for sure when a good age is. I feel like people are mistyped as adults constantly.
 

á´…eparted

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The human brain developed until the individual hits their mid 20's. As a consequence that's generally when personality "settles" into what it's going to be. People can be typed as early as their teen years, but it might not be accurate until their mid 20's depending on who the person is.

I thought I was INFJ until I was about 23 (I'm 26), and a large part of it was because my personality had a lot of developing and growing into that needed to be done.
 

Luke O

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Looking back, some functions were clearer than others. I was a very introverted child with a clear preference for Ti. I didn't speak until I was 3, and a child psychologist told my parents it was because "You're not talking to him about anything he finds interesting."
 
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