Does knowing that you “fit in” a personality type actually makes you feel better?

Yes. It had a positive effect on me.

 

It made me feel less odd, like there might be more people like me, or that think and perceive the world the way that I do. . lot of things began to make sense

 

I felt more excitement about my Harry Potter house quiz on Pottermore than I did about my MBTI. Priorities

For myself I don't really put much stock in the significance of MBTI, but I appreciate that it has brought me to a forum of like-minded, talented and equally bat-shit crazy people (hello lovely you whoever is reading this).

 

The human need to categorize is inescapable, primarily because it's what keeps us alive.

With consciousness developing in human the categories became less directly related to life or death; before maybe the category was safe food to eat and bad food to eat.

Now it's

This kind of person is good this kind of person is bad

Which if you boil it down it's about

I need to belong to a tribe
Because humans in tribes have a greater chance of survival

So wanting to be liked
Wanting to fit in
It's an innate survival mechanism. Why we feel so bad if we don't fit in, is because the logic (though we don't consciously realize it) is that we are going to die

So yes it was helpful because I now feel less likely to die

 

Yeah, I like my personality.

 

Understanding the mbti types and how they apply to people helped me not only to understand myself a but better, but to understand others from the past and present too.
It's not perfect, but close enough.
It's crazy to think there are others out there with similar approaches to how they think about things

 

That's the intellectual ego thing

Really it's your biology thinks you have a better chance of staying alive if you're with people, and being with people means they have to like you to want you to stick around

The idea of connection is a biological illusion.

A nice one, but an illusion nonetheless.

 

I do think its helped me come to terms with some of the more existential parts of my personality.

It also helps me play to my strengths. Knowing how people like me operate means I can bring that into my day to day life to improve it, and other peoples.

 

Sometimes its better to enjoy the painting than look too hard at the brush strokes.

 

Sometimes it comforting for me to recognize a pattern in my behavior and attribute it to type. It allows me to step out of the feeling and back into my mind to take control.

 

Oh, that's so romantic. Might want to lighten up there.