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My N flipped. ?

Tiltyred

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I was an INFJ the first time I ever took the test, which was administered by a psych grad student I was dating at the time, and this was 20-some years ago. But in the past few years, every time I take the test, I come out as an ISFJ.

I thought your type didn't change.

So what's up with that?
 

INTJMom

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A person's type doesn't change, and there can be many reasons why you keep testing the way you do now.
While the basic skeleton of our type doesn't change, we can test differently later on in life because we have matured and balanced out our abilities more.
So at our age, when we take an MBTI test, we should really be answering the questions in the context of the way we WERE when we were school-aged, approximately ages 6-25.
This will tell you your basic type that you started with, and understanding how you've developed since then becomes easier.
Either your grad friend was wrong, or the tests you're taking now are wrong.
The online tests are notoriously unreliable.
It's much better to have a one-on-one consultation with someone who understands it.
Sometimes people come to this forum and their writing style gives away their type, though not always.

Welcome to the forum, btw! :hi:
 

raz

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their writing style gives away their type

Examples? Is it really true that a person's introverted function is used most in writing? Would that make INxJs best at creative writing?
 

ptgatsby

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So what's up with that?

It depends on your school of thought.

However, what can be said is that when tested, younger people self-report more N than S (in both a gradient and when reduced to the two types).

My personal opinion is that what is changing is measured is a degree of learny-ness, for a lack of better words. Young people are still in the process of developing and are relatively open/seeking information/etc compared to their older peers.
 

Tiltyred

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A person's type doesn't change, and there can be many reasons why you keep testing the way you do now.
While the basic skeleton of our type doesn't change, we can test differently later on in life because we have matured and balanced out our abilities more.
So at our age, when we take an MBTI test, we should really be answering the questions in the context of the way we WERE when we were school-aged, approximately ages 6-25.
This will tell you your basic type that you started with, and understanding how you've developed since then becomes easier.
Either your grad friend was wrong, or the tests you're taking now are wrong.
The online tests are notoriously unreliable.
It's much better to have a one-on-one consultation with someone who understands it.
Sometimes people come to this forum and their writing style gives away their type, though not always.

Welcome to the forum, btw! :hi:

Thanks for the welcome!
When I was 6-25, I was definitely an INFJ. But I don't feel that way anymore at all. I'm not idealistic anymore and I haven't had a psychic experience in years and years, for example.
 

Valiant

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Maybe those who come to value IRL over abstract things become sensors? :D

I really do wonder when it is decided... Is it biological (present at birth)? Maybe it's the first few years of our lives that shape us... Maybe we change all the time?

From what I've heard, the brain isn't fully developed until age 21 or so... If it isn't, how can anyone say that people never change type, at least during the first 21 years?
 

INTJMom

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Thanks for the welcome!
When I was 6-25, I was definitely an INFJ. But I don't feel that way anymore at all. I'm not idealistic anymore and I haven't had a psychic experience in years and years, for example.
I know how that feels.
 

raz

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There's also the fact that even if the theory is correct, a lot of people just don't know themselves.

From what I've read, your brain determines your E/I preference and J/P preference very early on, within the first few years of your life. A child can display all 4 preferences until they're in elementary school and their brain chooses the preferred dominant. The last preference doesn't start showing itself in full force until middle school, which is around 12. You don't essentially change type.

Misunderstandings of the MBTI, improper testing, bad descriptions of types, lack of self-knowledge/honesty with yourself along with the requirement to use all 8 processes everyday will definitely cloud your ability to find your type.

It's the lemon syndrome, like someone else said. The lemon by itself will look nice and healthy. Start squeezing it and sooner or later its true nature will come out, splattering all over you.
 

Jack Flak

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I was an INFJ the first time I ever took the test, which was administered by a psych grad student I was dating at the time, and this was 20-some years ago. But in the past few years, every time I take the test, I come out as an ISFJ.

I thought your type didn't change.

So what's up with that?
You were probably always ISFJ, and just got an erroneous test result. It happens all the time.
 

Athenian200

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I was an INFJ the first time I ever took the test, which was administered by a psych grad student I was dating at the time, and this was 20-some years ago. But in the past few years, every time I take the test, I come out as an ISFJ.

I thought your type didn't change.

So what's up with that?

I think that you could easily be an INFJ who has been focused on S for a while. I do know that sometimes doing something that forces me to focus on details can cause me to lose sight of the big picture temporarily.

I don't have a good sense of what an ISFJ is supposed to be like, though... how much curiousity and abstraction is inherent in human nature, and how much points to N?

It's likely that your type didn't change. The question is, does Ni or Si feel more like "you," fundamentally, and does the way you react under stress seem more Ne or Se?
 

Cimarron

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Misunderstandings of the MBTI, improper testing, bad descriptions of types, lack of self-knowledge/honesty with yourself along with the requirement to use all 8 processes everyday will definitely cloud your ability to find your type.
Yup, that's a good list of complications, right there.
 

Tiltyred

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I think that you could easily be an INFJ who has been focused on S for a while. I do know that sometimes doing something that forces me to focus on details can cause me to lose sight of the big picture temporarily.

I don't have a good sense of what an ISFJ is supposed to be like, though... how much curiousity and abstraction is inherent in human nature, and how much points to N?

It's likely that your type didn't change. The question is, does Ni or Si feel more like "you," fundamentally, and does the way you react under stress seem more Ne or Se?

Would you happen to have a link handy that I could study from? I want to be sure exactly what Ni and Si and Ne and Se mean.
 

Athenian200

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Would you happen to have a link handy that I could study from? I want to be sure exactly what Ni and Si and Ne and Se mean.

:)

But of course. That's what I'm here for.

Cracking the Personality Type Code

Their preferred functions, in order from most to least preferred, would be:

INFJ = Ni, Fe, Ti, Se

ISFJ = Si, Fe, Ti, Ne

Feel free to ask me if you need any further explaination.
 

raz

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Would you happen to have a link handy that I could study from? I want to be sure exactly what Ni and Si and Ne and Se mean.

Don't worry. Just go read that website. If you really want to, buy Do What You Are or Gifts Differing, as they'll go into much more detail. A month ago, those Ni's and Si's and Fe's and all that were like reading a foreign language, but now it makes complete sense to me.

If I asked you right now to think of ten random topics to write a story about, and then write a paragraph summary for each one in a half hour with no outside help, what would your reaction be?

Your response from the other thread is glaring with SJness

I look in the Table of Contents and find the page that what I want is listed on, and then I go to that page. If it's wordy, I skim.

But I think you're right -- they're reference material. I don't read them front to back, I look up what I want to know. But I usually look it up and follow the instructions, because for me it is a waste of time to mess around and try to figure it out myself. I can, but it takes longer, and it's not interesting to me to mess around with the equipment. I just want it to do what I want it to do.
 

Cimarron

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It may be difficult, though, because Ni and Si in particular are so...vague and nebulous. Hard to get in touch with what they really are. That's no reason it should stop you, just letting you know.
 
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