• 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.

[SJ] Being an SJ teen

Ezra

Luctor et emergo
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
534
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8w7
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I haven't actually come across that many SJs my age. There's one living on my corridor, an ISFJ and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet (stacked like a brick), but he's one of the few SJs I've met and the only ISFJ I've ever met. Most people my age are EPs and IPs.

However, the OTC (Officer Training Corps) has given me access to a variety of people who could easily be EJs. There's one guy I'm sure is an SJ in my platoon, for example.

As an SJ, whether you're a teen or not, how likely are you to cross paths with another SJ? Who are you most surrounded by?
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I haven't actually come across that many SJs my age. There's one living on my corridor, an ISFJ and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet (stacked like a brick), but he's one of the few SJs I've met and the only ISFJ I've ever met. Most people my age are EPs and IPs.

Just for this point, I've heard that teenagers tend to test as P more often because their judgment isn't fully developed. Hence most of them procrastinate and act out until their brains develop further... so their J comes in later on. There are still differences, but they're less obvious (although some J's show up strongly sooner, like mine.)
 

Splittet

Wannabe genius
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
632
MBTI Type
INTJ
Well, there are more Ns among teenagers also. Thing is, IQ has risen quite a lot, and IQ correlates with intuition, and I do think intuition is becoming a more common trait, possibly because of rise in intelligence?
 

The Ü™

Permabanned
Joined
May 26, 2007
Messages
11,910
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Well, there are more Ns among teenagers also. Thing is, IQ has risen quite a lot, and IQ correlates with intuition, and I do think intuition is becoming a more common trait, possibly because of rise in intelligence?

Young people tend to be more open-minded, period. They possess a more open-minded, chaotic P mentality. As people mature and have responsibilities, they tend to develop a more closed-minded, orderly J mentality. This is why SJ descriptions tend to sound like old people and SP descriptions sound like impulsive children.

I think, in school, the SJ children are the ones involved in traditional extracurricular activities, such as sports, marching band, cheerleading, etc., while the SP children are more likely to be doing their own thing, possibly forming meeting places outside of a formal setting. The NT and NF children may or may not be in these organizations, depending on J or P preference.

But most of the people I tested (around my age) did, in fact, have an S preference over N. So most people (young or old) still have a preference for concrete thinking.

The correlation with N and IQ is not that high. The majority of the people with high IQs still have an S preference. IQ tests measure ability, the MBTI measures preference. So a person with capable ability for abstract thinking can still be an S because of a preference for concrete thinking. Likewise, a person with limited ability to think abstractly according to the IQ test can still be an N because of a preference for fanciful abstract thinking.

Besides, IQ primarily measures logical ability, which is not abstract per say.
 

GZA

Resident Snot-Nose
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
1,771
MBTI Type
infp
Young people are more open minded, but I think it has to do with learning more than anything else. Young people who's brains have not fully developed learn things much easier than older people, or so I've gathered from talking to older people. For example, a guy who was maybe... 40 onced asked me how long I'd been playing guitar. He said he'd like to learn, but it would be difficult to enter such new concepts because he said he's older and he can't absorb it like he once could. I don't think its a P or J thing, its just congnitive development.

And I don't think its fair to say there must be more N's because we've gotten more intelligent or vice versa. First, IQ measures how well you can do an IQ test, it can't really be trusted as a way to measure the full capacity of one's intellect, its shakey. N is only one aspect of intelligence, its intelligence working in one way. S is just as intelligent, it just works differently.

I think teens are, MBTI wise, more or less the same as adults.
 

MC2456

New member
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
5
MBTI Type
ISFJ
I'm an ISFJ and a fifteen-year-old (and probably the youngest member here!). Who says you can't be a teen and be a SJ? Anyway, how I found out I was an ISFJ...well... I dunno...one day I just happened to take a quiz (I forgotten what led me to the website. So much for SJ's having good memories. I think I was looking up Jungian theory after reading Princess Diaries or something) And when I saw my result, it SO matched my character! I have no idea why, even though I kept retaking the test, it's still ISFJ for me! And Ezra, I'm the second ISFJ teen you meet! Well, online that is.
 

mippus

you are right
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
906
MBTI Type
Intp
Enneagram
5w6
Can't there be a simpler explanation?
I can imagine the characteristics that go with being an SJ are not really appealing to teenagers who are looking for their own unique identity. Hence they may fill out the test with sociably desirable answers.
Behaviour may vary with age, but I always believed that type does not...
 

Mondo

Welcome to Sunnyside
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
1,992
MBTI Type
EsTP
Enneagram
6w7
I would argue that there is some sort of iNtuitive bias on many of the MBTI tests- many of the questions are designed to make the iNtutive answers seem better and more desirable for all people.. that is why one of my personal favorite tests to take is the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (questions aren't biased). Many people who test as NF's or NT's are likely SF's and ST's for this reason. As for the J/P dichotomy.. it is just a young person thing.
I know of some bloody brilliant people who are definitely Sensors.. so you don't have to be an N in order to possess a high IQ.
 

Badlands

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
98
MBTI Type
INTP
In my experience, there are quite a few Guardian teens; they usually just tend to be less overt about their J preference. They're usually the types of people who do things because that's the way their parents have done them, etc. Even if that's not clear, You can usually tell the Artisans as the people with a particular sense of adventure as to how they take on life; usually the people who you can tell aren't Intuitive and aren't clearly Artisans are Guardians.
 

Mr Galt

New member
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
294
MBTI Type
ISTP
To be honest, I find myself typing all the people in my high school as ESxP more or less. Se is such a dominant trait in adolescence that the others seem trivial in comparison. Occasionally I'll come up with a few N's, NO SJ's, and a very small minority of introverts (mostly in the Asian population).

Now there's a whole new (and possibly somewhat controversial) topic. Race and I/E. I'll leave it to a different thread. This post derails enough as it is.
 

dancinglissa

New member
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
27
MBTI Type
INFJ
I know some

I'm an ISFJ and a fifteen-year-old (and probably the youngest member here!).

No, you're not! I'm 14.

Oh, I know some SJs my age. Not an awful lot but, let me think. Oh, I know an ISTJ, an ESTX (possibly J), an ESFJ, and an ESTJ. And those are all from my school (which is ridiculously small, by the way)!
 

sriv

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
418
MBTI Type
JIxT
I can be ISTJ sometimes.

Turns out somewhat unpleasant. I end up the most serious kid in all my classes. I am one of the few that care about grades. People talk to me as a last resort, which sucks. There are a few that spend time with me because of my interests, but not many.
 

Shadow496

New member
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Messages
6
MBTI Type
ISTJ
I can be ISTJ sometimes.

Turns out somewhat unpleasant. I end up the most serious kid in all my classes. I am one of the few that care about grades. People talk to me as a last resort, which sucks. There are a few that spend time with me because of my interests, but not many.


Geez...you just described my life now even past school. I think I'm just too intensely serious for a lot of people and it turns them off, I've never really grown out of that.

My experience as an ISTJ teen? Basically a running series of social disappointments (losing what friends I used to have from when I was younger, never invited to any parties or on dates). A few of the people that did talk to me outside of classes were generally asking for homework help or talking about the extracurricular orchestra we were both part of. Even though I was never the best in grades I was usually close to the top and was somewhat competitive (though not overtly so). I think a few of the people I generally associated with in my honors courses might have been SJs as well, maybe even ISxJ, but I'm not certain as I'm not too good at reading other people in that way.
 

sriv

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
418
MBTI Type
JIxT
ISxJ teens really get beat up. Possibly the worst type to be as a teen. Personality at the teen age solidifys so we recieve the burden of the "maturity" and seriousness. In contrast ENFx teens thrive until adulthood where they get deemed as "immature" and childish.
 

Badlands

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2008
Messages
98
MBTI Type
INTP
I'd be certain ISJs have it quite easy; they are over 20% of the population, and social success is all about compatibility and mutual understanding, especially at that age. ISTJs maybe though because TJ is directly adverse to the general trend of FP in adolescence, but a good portion compromise their integrity to fit in. In general, introverts have a harder time than extraverts though, regardless of the other three letters. Even among the introverts, I think the rarer types have a harder time in school socially, particularly Ns. It's all about distance from the SF norm, really.
 

Mondo

Welcome to Sunnyside
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
1,992
MBTI Type
EsTP
Enneagram
6w7
I'm 19 currently.
I knew A LOT of SJ's in my school- anything with people acting like SP's is more due to conformity than anything else. They are tired and true SJ's all the way!
 

Mondo

Welcome to Sunnyside
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
1,992
MBTI Type
EsTP
Enneagram
6w7
ISxJ teens really get beat up. Possibly the worst type to be as a teen. Personality at the teen age solidifys so we recieve the burden of the "maturity" and seriousness. In contrast ENFx teens thrive until adulthood where they get deemed as "immature" and childish.

I think INXJ teens have it the worst since ISXJs are normal and INXJs are not. The XNXP's often do well socially (at least I did) because of a common love for partying and reckless behavior.
I know of more partying INXPs than partying INXJs.. simply because it can be fun and P's are all about fun!
 

Haphazard

Don't Judge Me!
Joined
Apr 14, 2008
Messages
6,704
MBTI Type
ENFJ
I think INXJ teens have it the worst since ISXJs are normal and INXJs are not. The XNXP's often do well socially (at least I did) because of a common love for partying and reckless behavior.
I know of more partying INXPs than partying INXJs.. simply because it can be fun and P's are all about fun!

INxJs teens are usually too oblivious to notice that they have it bad. They're all burdened with the full-time job of following dominant Ni.
 
Top