What Typing Methods Do People Use?

[BlackDog]

I was inspired to create this thread since it seems typists use different methods. Please post your methods for others to learn from, compare, etc!

Mine is based on reading text, imagining the person behind the text, and trying to map their basic 'patterns' to the basic patterns of one of the types.

Sometimes I immediately get a strong idea of where they are at. Sometimes not.

Either way, I go through the grid eliminating types. I try to eliminate temperaments, but this isn't always possible because there are lots of leaks and holes in that theory. For example, ISFP doesn't always appear as SP, and ISTP sometimes appears as NT, and some types just don't appear to have as strongly distinguishing characteristics as others.

Generally, I can narrow it down to three or four possibilities, only one of which has the 'true essence' of the image I imagined for the person. I go with the one that matches the 'essence'. My mind auto-aligns all the evidence behind that typing, unless something sticks out. I then type up the results for people.

 

[Alomoes]

I used to ask people whether they preferred to be alone or with others, explaining that this is without caring about society's bias towards extroversion.

Then I'd ask whether intuitive or sensing, explaining that it is thinking vs doing. I use the metaphor of effort vs thinking.

Then I'd ask whether logical or feelings based. I'd emphasize the fact that thinking is different from logic. Stereotypical it isn't akin to thinking in intuitive or sensing. Most people understand this.

Then, finally, I'd ask if they liked to gamble. I figured Ps wouldn't mind it so much as Js. I was half correct. This lead to a few mistypes, including my own. Then I changed this one to something else because I met an INFJ and an ENFJ who liked gambling. I forget what. Not whether you are neat or disorganized, because I considered myself at the time to be quite organized as a P (I'm not).

I've decided that it isn't that you like gambling, it is why. I now ask whether they like gambling or not and why. This is to eliminate those who like gambling because they like to count and game the system, ENFJ and INFJ, and eliminate those who don't like it because they suck (ME!). I have trouble thinking of a question to find out P vs J. I have had a better one, but I forgot it from disuse. I've tried to abstract out the action and instead focus on the preference of definite vs vague in a situation, but I feel as though that is too technical for my purpose.


I remembered that better way of testing J vs P, it is whether you like planning or not. And by like I mean enjoy.

I haven't used this in a long time. It does work, but my thinking on basis of personality has changed to be function based. It also helps for me to be there to answer any questions about this, because it is a subjective thing. Don't want them to be pressured with a task they know nothing about. Much like most bad war-games, I've found. You spend an hour figuring out the UI and then still have no idea what is going on. I know my UI is bad, but try to compensate with an easy to read manual.

This is a very informal thing I did with friends I know to clarify which person is which type. I've found that most people know their type when shown a description and have used this to confirm type.

I've made the decision to move back to using this.

NOTE: This is not so reliable, but neither is anything else. Especially with people who don't care, like a friend who I believe is ISFP. He wants to be a biologist. He is so incredibly introverted, that I don't know. And he doesn't think heavily on the stuff I do, so he doesn't know. As such, this is a problem. Eventually, I decided ISFP because he reminds me of Mozart. So yeah, that's how I started this thing. Thoughts?