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Is it easier to type your own?

Mort Belfry

Rats off to ya!
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
1,238
MBTI Type
INTP
When I found out about type and my own type, I realised instantly that I could type a lot of people I had met or known as intps.

I was wondering if people of other types can recognise their own.
 

alcea rosea

New member
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
3,658
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
7w6
It's hard. I think I have met few ENFP's althought I'm not really sure.

So, quite a different experiece.
 

Athenian200

Protocol Droid
Joined
Jul 1, 2007
Messages
8,828
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
When I found out about type and my own type, I realised instantly that I could type a lot of people I had met or known as intps.

I was wondering if people of other types can recognise their own.

Actually, that seems hardest for me. I tend to focus in more on how they're different from me than how they're similar to me. So I may overlook a member of my own type as being another type because they seem different from me.
 

Ezra

Luctor et emergo
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
534
MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
8w7
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I disagree. I've met very few NTs in my life, and even if I have met any, they've never been particularly recognisable.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'd say I was quite a rare breed based on the people I know. That isn't to say I'm the only unique one; it's just that a lot of them are clear SPs. I've met a few NFs in my life, and I much prefer their company to that of the SPs (who I can clearly see make the bulk up of my circles of friends). I met my first SJ outside my family (my grandad is an SJ, probably extraverted, and my grandma I think is also an SJ) on coming to uni, the September just gone.

Maybe it's because you associate yourself with more of your 'own kind', Belfry. For example, at school, college or uni, was your clique or group of friends made up of people who were inherently NTs (and maybe a few NFs)?
 

Mort Belfry

Rats off to ya!
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
1,238
MBTI Type
INTP
For example, at school, college or uni, was your clique or group of friends made up of people who were inherently NTs (and maybe a few NFs)?

I didn't say I knew or met a lot of them, I meant that when I knew what an INTP was, I realised I knew we'd I seen them the few times that I had.
 

arcticangel02

To the top of the world
Joined
Oct 5, 2007
Messages
892
MBTI Type
eNFP
Of course it depends on if you've actually met people of your own type before. There's only one person I've known (prior to this forum) who may have been an ENFP, (and he was a very extreme, charismatic one) but that was online.

If I've met any ENFPs in real life, I haven't recognised them.
 

Wandering

Highly Hollow
Joined
Dec 24, 2007
Messages
873
MBTI Type
INFJ
Actually, that seems hardest for me. I tend to focus in more on how they're different from me than how they're similar to me. So I may overlook a member of my own type as being another type because they seem different from me.
Same for me. I really don't think I'd recognise an INFJ if I met one. But then, I'm not sure I'd recognise myself if I met me :huh:
 

nightning

ish red no longer *sad*
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
3,741
MBTI Type
INfj
I see INFJs as being a lot more variable that other types... but then again, you own type is always the one you think about the most often. It's not unlikely that you pay more attention to how you don't fit the description to the T and therefore are more likely to see your type as being variable... although chances are the other types are just as variable... you just haven't thought as deeply about it.
 

Randomnity

insert random title here
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
9,485
MBTI Type
ISTP
Enneagram
6w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
I know a few people who seem like ISTPs, which I realized pretty quickly and don't really see another type working for. Another guy I thought was ISTP for a while, but I think he's actually INTJ.

But who knows how accurate any of these guesses are, really.
 

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
If I know the type of a character on a show and know someone who acts very similar to the character I mean very very similar I usually type them as that type until new evidence proves otherwise. but I find typing others really hard because you really do not know what they are thinking at any given moment.I have the most problems with S and N followed by T and F which is tied with J and P then I and E. So I usually figure out if their I or E first unless something pops out and tells me another letter then I either do t and f or j and p depending on the person and my mood then I do s and n of course letters are liable to change in the middle of me doing this. I really want to read a typing book I think I may get on amazon and order one. And I have another issue I can find a way to relate to most anyone, it doesn't mean I fully understand them or agree but fully understanding/agreeing and relating are a tad different.
 

Jae Rae

Free-Rangin' Librarian
Joined
Nov 19, 2007
Messages
979
MBTI Type
INFJ
I think it depends on the type of the person trying to identify himself/ herself. According to the literature, INFJs often don't recognize themselves or other INFJs very well, and that's what the INFJs here are saying, too. I usually test ISFJ, but have many INFJ characteristics, and for all I know, am one. They're rare, but I have at least one friend who's INFJ. It took me awhile to figure it out.

INTPs seem to easy to identify, both by themselves and others. Of course, there are always exceptions and borderline cases, but INTP is a pretty easy one for me to see. Clear mind, few emotional hooks, thinkers above all else.
ENTPs are also pretty easy.

I also think EJs in general are easier to type. Certainly ENTJs and ESFJs are quite easy for me to recognize. The most difficult for me are INFPs and ISFPs.

Jae Rae
 

Mort Belfry

Rats off to ya!
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
1,238
MBTI Type
INTP
INTPs seem too easy to identify, both by themselves and others.

So that's the conclusion, it's not necessarily easy to type yourself but INTPs are really easy to type. And here I thought I had some depth to my character.:unsure:

I usually find the easiest thing to type is whether someone is IJ, IP, EP, or EJ first and the try to pick up the cognitive core from there because you know what functions to look for.

P.S. I just realised how xenophobic the name of this thread sounds.
 

"?"

New member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
1,167
MBTI Type
TiSe
When I found out about type and my own type, I realised instantly that I could type a lot of people I had met or known as intps. I was wondering if people of other types can recognise their own.
I think that you are more apt to be wrong than right in your typing.

I have posted snippets of this information here and other forums. In her booklet, “Dynamics of Personality Type: Understanding and Applying Jung’s Cognitive Process”, Dr. Berens refers to cognitive function look-alikes and differentiators. Based on her theories, there are certain types that will have dominant and auxiliary functions that are similar enough for a type to easily mistype.
1. Si and Fi are often associated with a strong kinesthetic sense – like a whole body feeling-tone response. Si is an information source that informs decisions. When engaging in this process, a series of past impressions comes to mind unhidden. Fi is a judging process that uses different sources of information as checkpoints along the way to know if the evaluation is right.

2. Ti and Ni are often accompanied by a sense of detachment and disconnection. With both there tends to be comfort with complexity. The difference is that when we are engaging in Ti, we usually have a clear sense of the principles or models something is judged against, whereas Ni, an impressionistic image forms in the mind.

3. Se and Te are often used when there is a focus on facts and an empirical approach. Se is a perceptive process and may consist of data gathering with questions, whereas Te is a judging process in which the purpose of questions is to establish logic.

4. Ne and Fe often focus on people and their interactions. With Ne, it is the meanings and inferences that come to mind relative to people and their interactions. With Fe, it is the actions that keep people connected or disconnected that matter.

5. Se and Ne are both simultaneous in nature and involve perception of many things at once. This can lead to random activity as the outer world is scanned for additional information. With Se, there is an emphasis on possibilities for actions to take. With Ne, there is an emphasis on possibilities to be considered for action.

6. Si and Ni are both more focused and involve perception of “one thing at a time.” This gives the behavior a sequential appearance, with a sense of beginning, middle and end. With Si, the sequence is often logistical in nature and based on the past. With Ni, it’s based on a vision for the future, and the focus is on what steps to take next.
Clearly any type using the same dominant function must first and foremost be taking into consideration, i.e. ITPs, INJs, etc. However based on the principles referenced to above, it makes sense that all types are interlinked and easily can look like others using their dominant and auxiliary functions.
 

Mort Belfry

Rats off to ya!
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
1,238
MBTI Type
INTP
I realise now that my original exaggeration has come back to haunt me. It wasn't until "?" quoted me above that I realise I've said. When I said, "I could type a lot of people as INTPs," I specifically meant three people.

This obviously inverts the whole meaning. What I was trying get across is that you meet people who are so similar to your type, that it actually helps you acquire more meaning for what your type is.
 

"?"

New member
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
1,167
MBTI Type
TiSe
I realise now that my original exaggeration has come back to haunt me. It wasn't until "?" quoted me above that I realise I've said. When I said, "I could type a lot of people as INTPs," I specifically meant three people.

This obviously inverts the whole meaning. What I was trying get across is that you meet people who are so similar to your type, that it actually helps you acquire more meaning for what your type is.
I think your inquiry was okay, I just find it arduous (well that makes it seem as though I go around typing others) to type others when it has taken me all of seven years to get mine right and that is after having the DiSC and Step II administered to me in 2000. What I referenced to above is how easy it would be to misidentify what you are perceiving as a specific function. Too many factors come in to play. For one (and just taking the INTP/INFJ as an example), based on Lenore Thomson's eight function seccesion, the next natural introverted function for ITPs would be Fi. If I am using my Fi, then I give off a somewhat bleeding heart response, which I would assume could easily be misconstrued as being NF. Since the IFJ's next extraverted function is Te, then they could actually appear hard and cold (remember the warm and fuzzy theory). I think these things and others have to come into play unless you have known a person intimately for a long period.
 

Magic Poriferan

^He pronks, too!
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
14,081
MBTI Type
Yin
Enneagram
One
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I easily recognize INTPs, but then it seems to me like everyone does.
Some types are just more obvious than others.

I can tell you that it's a lot harder to devour your own.
A real test of the will there. :yes:
 

Luigi

New member
Joined
Sep 10, 2015
Messages
1,310
MBTI Type
ISFJ
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
Before anybody says it, yes I realize the last post here was ten years ago.

I'm posting here anyway - no matter what my type is, I haven't met anybody like myself
 

Frosty

Poking the poodle
Joined
Apr 6, 2015
Messages
12,667
Instinctual Variant
sp
I tend to overtype 9s yes.

Mbti no.
 

Lyra.I

First of Her Name
Joined
Jan 26, 2018
Messages
67
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
748
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
Ohh i think i'm able to identify ENFPs and INFPs almost right away, especially over the internet (or atleast identify the xNFP part, some of us can be hella balanced with Ne/Fi).
IRL, i don't know any, there's been a few people in the past who i've speculated to be ENFPs but i didn't get to know any of them enough to be sure.
 
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