Do our personality type remains the same ?

[Rishabh R]

I remember taking the MBTI personality test 4 years ago and now I took it this year. The result was the same. Mediator  INFP-T.

Could anyone answer why or is it constant ?

[Zeroguy]

Yeah it's a constant I am ISTJ .

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Calling @Joshe for some advices  

[Rishabh R]

@Zeroguy Ok Thanks. Is the test verified ?as last night I surfed the internet and found out that that the test uses some psuedoscientific claims which are prone to confirmation bias .

[Natasha Tori Maru]

As far as I am aware personality type in MBTI is reflective of the cognitive functions behind the 4 letter type: Ne, Ni, Se, Si, Te, Ti, Fe, Fi

Each 4 letter type code has a different order and set of preferential functions - your type remains the same, but as you grown and develop you tend to develop each of the functions in stages. So for example, I type as INTJ - Ni, Te, Fi, Se. Ni comes natural to me as a default: I know no other way to be. Te, Fi, Se have later developed and I recall stages of broadening each, making them feel more dominant at different times.

I view MBTI as a frame - I use it to understand certain ways people (and myself) take in information and make decisions. That is all it is - a way of describing how we perceive and make decisions. It is important not to let it limit you as all frames can. I find it useful as it means I can find a way to better communicate to someone IE some people prefer lots of details prior to understanding the overall picture (don't like to assume or read between the lines) - some prefer the general idea before they can nail down details (comfortable with extrapolating on incomplete data).

By scientific standards MBTI is pseudoscience. There is no solid empirical backing, it isn't as strong as a predictor as say, big 5. And it is based on Carl Jung's work which is more philosophical introspection than scientific experiment. That said, I find it useful. Many others do not. I would operate from cognitive functions and not type codes: the j vs p (judging, perceiving) Myers-Briggs uses isn't needed, and causes a lot of confusion IMO.

[Rishabh R]

@Natasha Tori Maru Got it. 

[Miguel1]

3 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

I type as INTJ

I am almost certain you have mentioned that you type as INFJ, the introvert version of me 

[Natasha Tori Maru]

3 minutes ago, Miguel1 said:

I am almost certain you have mentioned that you type as INFJ, the introvert version of me 

I did! I actually discussed this back and forth with @Joshe as I expressed a lot of doubt with my typing.

His questions helped me work out the areas I had issue with and where I was misunderstanding how I was making decisions and acting in the world.

I can't be 100% certain, but I suspect I typed INFJ a lot longer ago due to some significant unresolved trauma causing hypervigilance (paying so much attention to community, harmony, others emotions so that I was safe from wrath). This led to me thinking I was a default Fe user. I seemed to have picked up on social queues as a way to survive bad situations with violent people. But the process was extremely draining. I am a project manager in construction... so I think I was blind to where I was using Te. I like this role and I am very good at it 

I think this highlights the issues with the Myers Briggs tests. 

I remember you being ENFJ thought 

[Miguel1]

@Natasha Tori Maru

I see! Yeah I have a couple fairly close INFJ friends and they are in many ways complete opposite to me, it’s mind buggling. But these people did have a tough childhood that they haven’t processed.

I am yet to bump into a healthy INFJ.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Just now, Miguel1 said:

@Natasha Tori Maru

I see! Yeah I have a couple fairly close INFJ friends and they are in many ways complete opposite to me, it’s mind buggling. But these people did have a tough childhood that they haven’t processed.

I am yet to bump into a healthy INFJ.

And INFJ is supposed to be the rarest type - but people often get typed as it. It could speak to the amount of trauma most people carry  or it could simply be how people answer the questions in an 'ideal' way they WANT to be, not how they are. And therein lies one of the huge flaws in MBTI testing as it is self reported (online testing that is).

I believe @Emerald is an INFJ and comes across as very integrated and healthy. The way she writes and her life purpose scream INFJ to me !

[Miguel1]

@Natasha Tori Maru I see, you make a good point in how some people type INFJ not because they truly are but because of other reasons, especially trauma. I can see how they are linked.

And I can see her being an healthy INFJ too. Can @Emerald confirm? 😊

[Kid A]

9 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

By scientific standards MBTI is pseudoscience. There is no solid empirical backing, it isn't as strong as a predictor as say, big 5.

This. I see way too many MBTI references everywhere and way too few Big Five ones, which is scientifically far superior. I guess Big Five just isn’t as fun to talk or vibe about…

Here in Norway, there is a podcast where they talk to a celebrity in each episode about their results after taking the Big Five. It’s so amazing.

Edited 7 hours ago by Kid A

[waheed]

22 hours ago, Rishabh R said:

I remember taking the MBTI personality test 4 years ago and now I took it this year. The result was the same. Mediator  INFP-T.

Could anyone answer why or is it constant ?

It doesn't change once you start believing it. It's not something we discover out there, it's a model we apply and all models are reductive at minimum and can be completely off the point in worst cases. It's a more deliberate way of crystalizing the self and then living as that.

Edited 4 hours ago by waheed

[Carl-Richard]

Even if cognitive functions are quite fundamental, there are fundamental things that can change over a lifetime. But some things tend towards stasis, when it works.

[Eskilon]

15 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

As far as I am aware personality type in MBTI is reflective of the cognitive functions behind the 4 letter type: Ne, Ni, Se, Si, Te, Ti, Fe, Fi

Each 4 letter type code has a different order and set of preferential functions - your type remains the same, but as you grown and develop you tend to develop each of the functions in stages. So for example, I type as INTJ - Ni, Te, Fi, Se. Ni comes natural to me as a default: I know no other way to be. Te, Fi, Se have later developed and I recall stages of broadening each, making them feel more dominant at different times.

I view MBTI as a frame - I use it to understand certain ways people (and myself) take in information and make decisions. That is all it is - a way of describing how we perceive and make decisions. It is important not to let it limit you as all frames can. I find it useful as it means I can find a way to better communicate to someone IE some people prefer lots of details prior to understanding the overall picture (don't like to assume or read between the lines) - some prefer the general idea before they can nail down details (comfortable with extrapolating on incomplete data).

By scientific standards MBTI is pseudoscience. There is no solid empirical backing, it isn't as strong as a predictor as say, big 5. And it is based on Carl Jung's work which is more philosophical introspection than scientific experiment. That said, I find it useful. Many others do not. I would operate from cognitive functions and not type codes: the j vs p (judging, perceiving) Myers-Briggs uses isn't needed, and causes a lot of confusion IMO.

Just to add to this, another model that I use in conjuction with MBTI is the Enneagram. The model is divided into 9 types, each corresponding to the numbers 1 to 9. Each number is a personality type with it's traits, desires, fixation, passions, fears, defense-mechanisms and development levels(healthy, average and unhealthy).

I think the interesting thing about the Enneagram is that it is not only horizontal, but also vertical; due to the levels of development each type has. Meaning you can be a type 6 for example and be in the unhealthy level while another can be the same type but in the healthy level.

Basically if MBTI tells you how someone proccess information and makes decisions, the Enneagram tells you why someone is making those decisions.

Edited 1 hour ago by Eskilon

[Schizophonia]

Yes ofc, your personality can change a lot with experience.

[TimStr]

I did 4 Myers-Briggs tests in the past and got 4 different results. Not hugely different but still different types. 

I also think that the mood and well-being of the moment you take it has a big impact.

I would suggest that just like all other typologies you treat it more like something you have put on, like a costume or mask rather than something you are.