Which two types that are only one letter apart are the most different?

[OneLovelyAdventure]

For example, are INTJ and ISTJ more different from each other than ESFP and ESFJ? Which two types, in your opinion, are the most different from each other despite sharing three of four letters? What are the most similar two types?

 

[Surr]

INFJ and ISFJ seem to be fairly different as well. ENFJ and ENTJ, too, maybe.

 

[reckful]

Both Myers and Keirsey were of the view that S vs. N made the biggest difference, and I agree.

I think Jung might have agreed, too, since, although he wrote as if E vs. I was the greatest divide, his "extraversion" and "introversion" were largely an ES and IN mashup.

As among the eight type pairs with S/N as the only difference, I'm not inclined to single out one as the "most different."

As for which dichotomy-flip makes the least difference, I have trouble choosing between T/F and J/P — and I think both those flips tend to make a pretty big difference if you're talking about people with relatively strong preferences.

Over at INTJforum, "Am I INTJ or INTP?" is the most common type-me dilemma by a pretty wide margin, and you might argue from that that INTJs are more like INTPs than like any of the other types — and therefore that J/P is the dichotomy-flip that makes the least difference. But it could also mean (among other things) that it's more common to be middlish on J/P than most or all of the other dichotomies, rather than that a strong J is any less different from a strong P than a strong T is from a strong F.

I'm going to pick T/F as the least-consequential flip, but reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

There is none. It's going to vary from person to person. Many say the S/N divide is the easiest to recognize, yet that can't explain away all of the "am I xNxx or xSxx" threads here and elsewhere.

It's going to depend largely on the strength of preferences, as some of you have already pointed out.

http://www.typologycentral.com/foru...s/72822-mbti-phase-ii-self-rating-thread.html

 

[Pionart]

I think changing from J to P always makes the most difference, since all the functions are different. However, such two types will in a sense be "alter egos" of one another.

Changing the dominant function will make a bigger difference than changing the auxiliary.

In terms of correlation to enneagram, E/I makes the biggest difference, followed by F/T then J/P, and N/S makes the least difference.

 

[PocketFullOf]

J/P makes the most superficially obvious difference, for overall difference I would say S/N by process of elimination.

 

[teothebest]

well, I don't have an extensive experience with MBTI but since I am an INTJ and I befriended both ISTJs and INTPs I can tell you about the differences I've perceived between us.

1) my ISTJ friend is always attentive, never misses up any detail or something and is like my human agenda: whether I have an exam, class or just to hang out with her, she's gonna remind me that, and that's good. we overall get on pretty well since my ideas and theories combine quite well with her perfectionist way of carrying out things. therefore, they are the perfect partner to work with: efficient, precise, quite humble, are not going to argue, still smart enough to be able to handle themselves without the need of telling them everything.
so I'd say the difference is big when it comes to behaviour, and smaller when it comes to thinking (in fact, we relate to people and the world in a similar way, although I tend to make more mental plans than her).

2)my INTP friends, on the contrary, are much more dreamy that me. they seem to spend all their time coming up with inpractical ideas just for the sake of enjoying the cultural feeling. they tend not to schedule anything, and this can be easily upsetting when you have to work with them (don't do it, just don't. they are smart, but only when it comes to stuyding dead languages, making weird hypothesis and losing your time in general. still, if find them pretty fascinating, and hell, even sexy at times, and maybe the coziest of NTs, and can really make you have fun and feel at ease)
the surface difference is small (I had problems distinguishing my J/P trait myself), but once you get the difference you understand just how differently they perceive the world.

this is my short limitated opinion if you want a general statement as an answer, I'd say all the differences matter, since 16 types are quite few to classify all the people and thus, needless to say, if you aren't of the same type they are not going to behave like you (they wouldn't even if they were of the same type, though, but the more so if they aren't).

 

[Hitoshi-San]

ENFJ and ENTJ. INFJ is not really that similar to any other type from what I've observed, so maybe that one too?