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how do you know your friend's types?

Kyi

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Messages
47
MBTI Type
ENFP
Do you just guess or do you get them to take the test? I feel kind of annoying if I ask everyone I know to take the test, although some of them have willingly done the test after I explained to them and gave them a short version of it.
 

Oaky

Travelling mind
Joined
Jan 15, 2009
Messages
6,180
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I read this
AOSRP_1.jpeg


Allows me to read a personality type of someone within 30 seconds of meeting him/her.
 

Moiety

New member
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
5,996
MBTI Type
ISFJ
Everyone wants the "Sy Seal of Approval", so they take the test lest they be shun.
 

Polaris

AKA Nunki
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
2,529
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
451
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I only have a couple of people I would call friends. I know their types because I asked them to take the test (it makes a nice subject for conversation). One of them is an INFP, and the other is an INTP, albeit an unusual one: his functions are exactly like an INTP's, but he acts more like an unhealthy INFJ. I think it's partly because he's a type 3, which is extremely rare for INTPs. Of course, he might also be an ENTP--I'm not sure how close his Ti and Ne are.
 

Saslou

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
4,910
MBTI Type
ESFJ
I usually guess but i always struggle with the N/S.

I guessed 2 friends were ESTP and they turned out ENTP and ENTJ.
I thought my mum was ESTP .. She tested ESFJ.

Really though, i think it is rather irrelevant. These people are my friends and we are friends based on our experiences and on how well we connect .. Type doesn't really need to be brought into it .. We'll still be friends regardless :D
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
I've let people take the test...or...hm...pestered them long enough so that they've caved in and taken the test. That is with the people I'm closer to. With others it's all about observation, comparison, gut feeling and guessing.

Really though, i think it is rather irrelevant. These people are my friends and we are friends based on our experiences and on how well we connect .. Type doesn't really need to be brought into it .. We'll still be friends regardless :D

+1

Typing friends and acquaintances is only for my own personal amusement.
 

BlackCat

Shaman
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
7,038
MBTI Type
ESFP
Enneagram
9w8
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Typing friends and acquaintances is only for my own personal amusement.

This.

I type people by getting a feel for the types. Certain people have a certain impact on me, and I can tell based on that. Also I look for function use, etc.
 

INTP

Active member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
7,803
MBTI Type
intp
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx

poppy

triple nerd score
Joined
May 30, 2009
Messages
2,215
MBTI Type
intj
Enneagram
5
Do you just guess or do you get them to take the test? I feel kind of annoying if I ask everyone I know to take the test, although some of them have willingly done the test after I explained to them and gave them a short version of it.

When I was new to MBTI I managed to get a few friends to take a test...but now I feel like such a gadfly trying to get them to take one, so now I primarily guess...I can usually figure it out after a while. I of course have no way of being sure how accurate my guesses are, but it doesn't really change how we interact either way.
 

OrangeAppled

Sugar Hiccup
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
7,626
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I make a mental list of their traits, which paints an overall picture that I compare to the MBTI profiles. That usually narrows it down to a few types. Then I consider functions.

If a person is particularly hard, I write the traits down, which somehow clarifies it further. Then I take it to a forum and ask for opinions, if I still need help. If I'm not close to someone, I am often content to just figure out their temperament. I find tests to be unreliable (I mean, they often type me incorrectly...), especially that stupid facebook one.

And yes, this is just for fun, but it also sheds light on our interactions and gives me ideas on how to improve communication and stuff like that. I also start to spot trends in types, and that further increases my understanding of that type and how its functions work. You get better at it with practice, basically.
 

Bowie

New member
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
62
MBTI Type
ENTP
I've made most of my friends and close acquaintances take the test. I give them a brief description of what it is (most know, they learned about it in psychology class or something), have them take the test, and read their type's description on personality page (my favorite online description page). I talk to them about it afterward, to see how they feel about it, and if it describes them. 99% of the time, they say it's "creepily accurate". From then on, I take a mental note of what their type was, and observe them and compare them to others that have similar types, and on and on and on...I've gotten fairly decent at typing people. Now I type them beforehand, and then have them take the test, to see how I'm doing :D
 

Cimarron

IRL is not real
Joined
Aug 21, 2008
Messages
3,417
MBTI Type
ISTJ
Enneagram
5w6
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
For most people, I am just guessing.

Actually, I find that the better I know a person, the harder it is to guess their type. My best friends are the fuzziest, because I can see so many aspects of their personality and am not sure which way it could lean overall. That doesn't "upset" me, but it's a funny phenomenon. :huh:

Maybe the less you know about people, the more they lack "3-dimensionality," making it simpler to fit to archetypes.

I asked my sisters to take it, making it sound like an "on a whim" thing, so they did. On the whole, though, it doesn't really fit into conversation to ask someone to take an MBTI test.
 

Kyi

New member
Joined
Sep 27, 2009
Messages
47
MBTI Type
ENFP
Hmm, for the most part I guess as well. I've gotten a couple of them to take the test and I've usually been correct about the I/E and J/P. The S/N is the hardest to tell. My best best friends seem to be INxx types. I guess I just need to learn the functions better to know the rest.
 

Laurie

Was E.laur
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
6,072
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7w6
I had some people take tests. As I become more familiar with the types I'm better at placing people. It is for my own amusement. Although ISTPs usually end up enjoying their type, it's fun to tell them what theirs is. (brother and friend are both istp) I think they don't always fit "this world" any better than struggling NTs and NFs.
 

Usehername

On a mission
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
3,794
I know about 40 people who have taken the online or real tests. (Most of them were in a gap year program where we took them together after living together for months on end.)
 
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