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Question #1167564455Sunday, 31-Dec-2006
Category: Theory
As a child I used to be an out-and-out INFP but now (as an adult) I am a hundred percent confirmed INFJ (with a strong INTJ element). Is it possible (and natural) for psychological type to change over time? -- Dhananjay
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A1 Listen to yourself: "I am 100% INFJ with a strong INTJ element". WTF? Make up your mind P guy/gal. NO, the type cannot change, and it looks like you're some sort of INFP/INTP type. -- Unpleasant
A2 My "unpleasant" friend - that I am now a mixed NF-NT type is beyond the shadow of a doubt. It is far likelier that I am an INFJ/INTJ type rather than a INFP/INTP type. Let me explain why. According to the functional analysis of the Myers Briggs types, both INFJs and INTJs come under the "Introverted Intuition" Jungian type. On the other hand, the mirror image of the INFP is the ISFP (both are "Introverted Feeling")and that of the INTP is the ISTP (both are "Introverted Thinking"). Does that make sense? It does to me. As a kid I used to be much more Idealistic than Rational but as an adult it has gradually reversed. That is possible (or likely) only if the functions are side by side and not if they are diametrically opposite to each other. -- Dhananjay
A3 Dude, this is socionics. In socionics, both INTP and INFP come under Introverted Intuition. -- d-_-b
A4 Are you trying to say that in Socionics INTP and INFP are as close to each other as INTJ and INFJ are in standard Jungian personality theory? I never heard of such a thing (maybe I am too strongly influenced by MyersBriggs). However, I could be wrong ... and I am always open to correction. One thing I have is a remarkably small ego and I am willing to learn even from a kid ... if he or she can really guide me to the truth. -- Dhananjay
A5 I believe that maybe you were an INFJ, but developed your thinking function,(INTJ) but it may not be dominant, though you use it more. I think that as you mature, you develop your hidden functions more, but I'm not sure if type changes. To help, INTJ uses TiNe( Introverted Thinking, Extraverted Intuition), and INFJ uses FiNe( Introverted Feeling, Extraverted Intuition). Like A3 was saying the first function of both the INFP/INTP is Introverted Intuition( Ni), but the second function of INTp uses Te( Extraverted Thinking), INFP,Fe( Extraverted Feeling). Another way to help would be that Feelers are more preoccupied with how people work, unlike Thinkers, which are preoccupied with systems and products, and how they work(not that they don't like people, just a preference). Thinkers aren't as emotionally open as Feelers are, in fact. -- Fefe
A6 Fefe, you raised a good point. Over time, you develop your hidden/auxiliary functions more, but should not that also change your type? After all, type depends not only on the extent to which your functions are used, but also on the order in which your functions are used - and they both need not be the same. -- Dhananjay
A7 A6. None of that would change your type. By the time you've realised that you have functions and have mastered some of them, you're already too old to change your established way of functioning. Even internally you have already adapted to that way of functioning. It is like a bent tree. Tell the tree to start growing in the other direction - it is impossible, because it is too late. However, it would have been possible only when the tree just started to grow. Does it make sense? -- Anonymous
A8 Twenty years ago, my thinking process was like a stag with large antlers in a thick forest - rigid and fixed ... today it is like a monkey swinging nimbly from vine to vine - flexible and free. It does not make much sense to me that this massive psychological transformation in how I see and interact with the world would not have any effect at all on my type. After all, not only does your type determine your thoughts and actions but the reverse is also equally true ... otherwise, all therapy would be useless. -- Dhananjay
A9 this is something really interesting to me too. it's the reason i keep tossing the idea of personality theory out the window, and then later going out and finding it again for a closer look. i've heard type is set from birth, i've heard it's set after your brain is fully developed, and i've heard it's never fully set but can change over time. it makes sense to me that perhaps the type really is mostly concrete, but that our lives force us to use functions that we might normally not use as much. sometimes i think we lean heavily on our T function for survival. does anyone agree? to avoid the sensitive (tho dominate) F function because of the rough life we live. T can be for survival. we seem very logical on the surface, but quietly we hide inside a very sensitive person. someone who is truly an F with a T for defense and protection. i'm speaking from experiences with people. and this sort of person, if they trust you and befriend you enough, will allow you to see their sensitive underside that has long been hiding behind the sheilds of T behavior, which steps in durring emergency--some people's lives are an emergency. so this would be an example of someone who was forced (more or less) to use another function in order to survive in a rough world. any opinions? -- danny
A10 As a kid, societal pressure forced me to do many things I did not really want to ... however, as an adult I am living life by being more and more "true" to myself. Maybe the way I worded my question was inadvertently wrong, but I am sure you folks know what I am driving at. It is never too late to be who you really are, even if it means facing some painful truths and dumping a lot of "traditional" baggage in the process. In fact, the reason I find this site interesting is that it is hastening my journey towards "self-realization". -- Dhananjay
A11 The type doesn't change, or maybe after a certain age it doesn't. But the type descriptions and tests are written for adults. It's possible to tell what type the child is, but you would have to know how the type developes. So children of different ages and types would have their own type descriptions, that are different from those of adults. For example, I haven't cried once after I was 10 years old. If I had taken a test then, I would have scored much higher on F, than I do now. -- RR INTp
A12 As a child I used to be a strong P, but now my P has reduced considerably and my J has strengthened considerably. As Einstein said, "Common sense is the set of prejudices we acquire after the age of eighteen". It may be just that. -- Dhananjay
A13 I am SO confused? Why in socionics is the INFP said to have introverted intuition as their first cognitive process and extraverted feeling as the second? In MBTI the INFP is understood as having introverted feeling as their first process and extraverted intuition as the second. Is there information somewhere on how these two fields have come up with different ordered and oriented processes? Why and how does socionics use MBTI to identify themselves? -- Montana
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