Timing is everything?

[Kanamori]

Well, prior to MBTI, I found it a few months ago, I would basically tell people what they wanted to hear to get them off my back when something came up without really understanding where they were coming from and tended to just dismiss them as stupid. Not that that's really changed much, but now I know how to dismiss them more easily by hitting where they're most vulnerable... so it's been great.

 

[Littlelostnf]

Well, prior to MBTI, I found it a few months ago, I would basically tell people what they wanted to hear to get them off my back when something came up without really understanding where they were coming from and tended to just dismiss them as stupid. Not that that's really changed much, but now I know how to dismiss them more easily by hitting where they're most vulnerable... so it's been great.

Yikes!

 

[Littlelostnf]

Well, I would probably agree with that. (I was mostly thinking about myself, since that was the question asked.) But it's more useful for the surrounding adults, who will guide the adolescent without necessarily even referring to type.

for example, I'm sure that practiced teachers already have an informal understanding of type (or aspects of it), recognizing certain groupings of students and what sort of content and presentation will best help them.

I am a teacher and it's benefited me to no end. What's funny is that most educators have some training (if they practice it) in differentiated instruction but that doesn't always help if you don't even know how to approach the students (especially adolescents)..but even elementary age children. Alot of teachers just say ok more work for me I have to think of different ways to teach this lesson. Maybe they won't do a worksheet they'll do a hands on instead or they'll let them look at a movie or so on..but with no understanding of type they won't really understand why they should and how even knowing their own type would help them be better instructors. Knowing what their expectations are and so on.

 

[FFF]

I learned my type when I was 18. My ENTJ father finally got fed up with the questions and thrust the form into my hands and told me to return it completed.

I think the results brought more of an aha from him than me. For me the most useful thing was seeing what I already knew about myself written in a form which made holistic sense and gave me a base upon which to build my new theories and developments.

Personally I'm with my father on this one. Don't type people till they are like teenaged probably around 15-16. It's just not helpful to the psyche to have such a "role model" when your young and inexperienced.

Looking back, I doubt I would've tested as an INTP until I was 16, 17, or possibly even later. I remember my freshman year of college I took an MBTI test, but I don't remember the results besides being introverted since I didn't know what any of the other stuff meant. I was about halfway into the introvert section and my brother was about 80% of the way. I threw the test results away, so unfortunately, I can't go and find them.

 

[SolitaryWalker]

I realized after the fact that I had taken a test here and there and was once typed as an ESFJ. I was almost 33 when I started checking out INTPc and realized that I was infact an enfp. From there I searched some forums for some info, and yes the more I looked the more I realized that I am an enfp.

I have since learned that I married an ENTP, so depending where we are in life each of us has to take turns jumping into the 'J' role, other wise nothing gets done here. We have a house full of half finished projects. My mom is a J and so is his mom.... coming to our house drives them each crazy! (ah sweet revenge )


Knowing about my type and my husbands type has been well refreshing and has brought a lot of understanding to our relationship and our lives. I know what our personality weaknesses are and I can better predict where we're going.

I am certain that my daughter is an exfp..... she is a preformer once she's comfortable

my middle son I would type as an entj,,,, super smart and witty and very candid and gregarious. He's out there. Yet he loves order.....

my youngest is too smart for his own good and quite the comedian... guessing for now an entp.. his personality is the most like his daddys.


They're young but since I have such a love for understanding personality and philosophical things I so very much enjoy this.

Having good timing is a property of Ne. ENTPs and ENFPs tend to be comfortable in just about any social situations because they are well in tune with the atmosphere and know exactly when to speak up. So they undoubtedly are masters of timing.

Yet again targo, I think you may be slightly over-dramatizing the situation as ENFPs tend to envision more connections than there really are and they do this because their Fi forces them to seek meaning in their lives. This is how they gave rise to mythology. Restless drive for emotional validation that the Fi takes from the inside and the Ne furthermore gives the Fi more material to run wild on. INFPs are our primary mythologians because the Fi is stronger and the Ne is more mythology focused with them than with the ENFPs, as with the ENFPs its focus is rather general, whilst with the INFP it is specifically focused on mythologizing and befooling themselves into believing that their lives have meaning.

 

[Littlelostnf]

Having good timing is a property of Ne. ENTPs and ENFPs tend to be comfortable in just about any social situations because they are well in tune with the atmosphere and know exactly when to speak up. So they undoubtedly are masters of timing.

Yet again targo, I think you may be slightly over-dramatizing the situation as ENFPs tend to envision more connections than there really are and they do this because their Fi forces them to seek meaning in their lives. This is how they gave rise to mythology. Restless drive for emotional validation that the Fi takes from the inside and the Ne furthermore gives the Fi more material to run wild on. INFPs are our primary mythologians because the Fi is stronger and the Ne is more mythology focused with them than with the ENFPs, as with the ENFPs its focus is rather general, whilst with the INFP it is specifically focused on mythologizing and befooling themselves into believing that their lives have meaning.

How about we throw this thread a little more off topic...

or not!:steam:

 

[targobelle]

Having good timing is a property of Ne. ENTPs and ENFPs tend to be comfortable in just about any social situations because they are well in tune with the atmosphere and know exactly when to speak up. So they undoubtedly are masters of timing.

Yet again targo, I think you may be slightly over-dramatizing the situation as ENFPs tend to envision more connections than there really are and they do this because their Fi forces them to seek meaning in their lives. This is how they gave rise to mythology. Restless drive for emotional validation that the Fi takes from the inside and the Ne furthermore gives the Fi more material to run wild on. INFPs are our primary mythologians because the Fi is stronger and the Ne is more mythology focused with them than with the ENFPs, as with the ENFPs its focus is rather general, whilst with the INFP it is specifically focused on mythologizing and befooling themselves into believing that their lives have meaning.

Am I the only one who would prefer this comment to be in a context that I can actually relate to and understand?

 

[Xander]

I spoke to an occupational psychologist about this. Her view was that most psychometric tests produce relatively meaningless results before the age of 16 or so - apparently studies have been run on children and teenagers, with the finding being that individuals will provide wildly different answers even across short timeframes as they are either:
a) unable to completely comprehend what the questions are asking of them (primarily in pre-teens), or
b) going through such an enormous physical, hormonal and psychological changes that any answers they provide are not stable

This is basically what my father taught me. He too is a professional.

Mind you though I know that for one Cafe has typed her children and seems to be fairly sure of most of them. Personally I trust her judgement and she has not wavered much at all. As such perhaps it is possible to type people younger than the 16 kinda ballpark but perhaps you need to be exposed to more of their responses than the test will allow for and that the age helps a person coalesce around their primary preferences?

 

[nightning]

Am I the only one who would prefer this comment to be in a context that I can actually relate to and understand?

Ehhhh it does sound like a case of Ne going off on a tangent of what "good timing" means. SW appears to be talking about timing in the sense of knowing when to bring things up rather than timing for when to bring up MBTI to the younger generation...

Langrenus, Xander: What the two of you said makes a great deal of sense to me. Administration of tests to kids cannot be too reliable when they don't have a full understanding of the questions... they're also in the process of experimenting in figuring out who they are. Hmmm so is it safe to say such should be left until at least late teens?

Oh and answering the OP, I've first learnt of MBTI when I was in highschool... I think in my senior year. It was much like what other people have said before... a sudden enlightenment that I'm not a weirdo afterall. However I've never gotten into the theories behind the types until recently. Now that I think about it, knowing my type is only a single connection in understanding myself. It didn't have that much of an impact in my personal development back then... as compare to now.

 

[Littlelostnf]

Langrenus, Xander: What the two of you said makes a great deal of sense to me. Administration of tests to kids cannot be too reliable when they don't have a full understanding of the questions... they're also in the process of experimenting in figuring out who they are. Hmmm so is it safe to say such should be left until at least late teens?

Oh and answering the OP, I've first learnt of MBTI when I was in highschool... I think in my senior year. It was much like what other people have said before... a sudden enlightenment that I'm not a weirdo afterall. However I've never gotten into the theories behind the types until recently. Now that I think about it, knowing my type is only a single connection in understanding myself. It didn't have that much of an impact in my personal development back then... as compare to now.

I think they have a version of the test that you can give to children...I'm going to check into it.

I think that schools are starting to give it in high school..(or some version of a personality test) I understand that you didn't get into it until recently (btw I haven't a clue what age you are) but what about the ones that do start to research it? Like some others have said. I think that at such a young age it might hinder more than help. Would you have know then what you know now (that is that knowing your type is only a single component in understanding yourself?)

 

[Littlelostnf]

Personality page has an online survey for parents to try to figure out their child's type. Here is the link

http://www.personalitypage.com/cgi-local/build_pqk.cgi

 

[cafe]

This is basically what my father taught me. He too is a professional.

Mind you though I know that for one Cafe has typed her children and seems to be fairly sure of most of them. Personally I trust her judgement and she has not wavered much at all. As such perhaps it is possible to type people younger than the 16 kinda ballpark but perhaps you need to be exposed to more of their responses than the test will allow for and that the age helps a person coalesce around their primary preferences?

I consider my kids' types best guesses for now. My oldest daughter, whom I think is an INTJ, could be INTP, INFJ, or even ISTJ. My younger daughter strikes me as an INFP and I'm pretty sure that she's a NF, but she could be an SF. I think my older son is an ESTJ, and I'm pretty sure about the SJ, but he could be any kind of J. My youngest son strikes me as an INTP (SO much like his dad), but could be any type of T.

They don't any of them have to fit a particular mold, other than I want them all to be reasonably honest and decent human beings. I enjoy observing them and trying to figure out who they are. It's also fun to see myself, my husband, and other family members in the way they look and act, as well as the traits that make you wonder "Where the heck did that come from??"

When I talk about MBTI, my oldest daughter's eyes glaze over. With my younger daughter I will say something like, "You and I are like this, but not everybody is that way." My sons are really too young to bother talking to them about it at all much now. I do worry about my older son, though. He has a "normal" personality, but he also has autism and he is being raised by a bunch of INs. I worry that we will warp him and make it hard for him to fit in like he may want to some day, sort of like if he were being raised by wolves.

 

[Littlelostnf]

When I talk about MBTI, my oldest daughter's eyes glaze over. With my younger daughter I will say something like, "You and I are like this, but not everybody is that way." My sons are really too young to bother talking to them about it at all much now. I do worry about my older son, though. He has a "normal" personality, but he also has autism and he is being raised by a bunch of INs. I worry that we will warp him and make it hard for him to fit in like he may want to some day, sort of like if he were being raised by wolves.

Do you say that to your daughter because you're almost positive she's an NF? Have you ever tried that personality page link for kids? I do it for the kids in my class (I also send the link to their parents) just do see if their results match mine. Some parents are thrilled to read about their child. Some results I never get back so I just go with my thoughts. Most times the answers match up (the parents and mine). It's a real help to me to have an idea of their type. So again don't know if you'd tried but maybe you'd like to.

 

[Wolf]

I was a bit ahead of the curve in some respects, and my type has remained steady since I was a teenager. I would imagine that had I been tested as a child the results would have remained the same.

 

[SolitaryWalker]

I was a bit ahead of the curve in some respects, and my type has remained steady since I was a teenager. I would imagine that had I been tested as a child the results would have remained the same.

Wolf, dont overestimate the human propensities for honest and rational thought.

Very few have the introspective and analytical abilities that you have with the Ni-Te, especially the former.

Dont think timing is even an issue here, most people are too stupid to know what they are really made of.

 

[Wolf]

You have a point there. I have long believed that few types can be accurately identified, and those are due to the fact their personality is compatible with identifying their nature. Most are vaguely identified, at best.

 

[SolitaryWalker]

You have a point there. I have long believed that few types can be accurately identified, and those are due to the fact their personality is compatible with identifying their nature. Most are vaguely identified, at best.

Or how about wishful thinking? People are always trying to make themselves look good, so they will clearly be inclined to identify with whatever type they deem the most respectable.

 

[nightning]

Or how about wishful thinking? People are always trying to make themselves look good, so they will clearly be inclined to identify with whatever type they deem the most respectable.

Wishful thinking... How do truly we know what the right timing might be? We can only guess that our analysis of ourself is accurate. Are we just kidding ourselves in saying that we are better than them?

 

[SolitaryWalker]

Wishful thinking... How do truly we know what the right timing might be? We can only guess that our analysis of ourself is accurate. Are we just kidding ourselves in saying that we are better than them?

I am not saying that noone is better than anyone. Just that wishful thinking is a serious problem that human nature has left us with. And this will be a more significant factor with those of us who are not analytical or introspective than those of us who are.

 

[Eileen]

I've known about MBTI since my early adolescence because my dad was into it. When I first took an assessment, I came out ENFJ. I am not, nor have I ever been, an extravert. I think this sort of mistyping is very typical with kids/teenagers because they have a heightened sense of what they're supposed to be and *generally* weak self-awareness. I think I figured out by my junior or senior year of HS that I wasn't an extravert, and when I got to college, I went into "I'm an introvert, fuck off if you don't like it" mode. I don't think this was particularly healthy. On the one hand, I recognized my tendencies and needs and didn't view introversion as pathological; on the other hand, I didn't challenge myself socially.

Later in college, I went on a campus ministry retreat and participated in MBTI workshops. That was a good experience that helped me start thinking about my own gifts, my type as it relates to my communities, and so forth. I think that experience helped me get my head out of my introverted ostrich hole. Eventually, MBTI helped me make sense of some of my relationships. That tends to be the way I use it now.