MBTI Help

I am fairly new to MBTI too, though in typical INFJ fashion have really thrown myself into it. The above gentlemen you mentioned are indeed very knowledgable about type and their traits. There is a section here on the forum dedicated to MBTI-type threads. I suggest you look there. I'll enclose a link to an INFJ site I read when first researching MBTI and INFJ's. It has a lot of helpful info. Hopefully this helps.

http://www.infj.com/

 

One of my favorite descriptions of each cognitive function is located @ http://books.google.com/books?id=twt29GlROowC&lpg=PA18&ots=7E4lZLhAnM&dq=extraverted%20sensing&pg=PA16

It is just a clip from a book, but all the cognitive functions are covered.

If you weren't aware, there are 8 cognitive functions:

Extraverted Sensing (Se)
Introverted Sensing (Si)
Extraverted Intuition (Ne)
Introvertged Intuition (Ni)
Extraverted Thinking (Te)
Introverted Thinking (Ti)
Extraverted Feeling (Fe)
Introverted Feeling (Fi).

An MBTI type is made by determining which of those 8 are your primary 4.

In an MBTI type, the cognitive functions alternate between introverted and extraverted, in other words, if your primary function is Fi, then your secondary function is going to be extraverted sensing or extraverted intuition.

Intuition and Sensing determine how you gather data, thinking and feeling determine how you judge/process that data collected.

An ISFP = Fi Se Te Ni

The I in ISFP is used because the primary function is introverted.

Judging vs Perceiving, the final letter is J or P. Judging, from what I have seen relys on your most dominant thinking or feeling function to be extraverted. Perceiving has your most dominant thinking or feeling function as introverted. Perceiving alternates data collecting and judging functions whereas Judging groups one or the other in the middle. For example ISFP = Fi Se Te Ni and INFJ = Ni Fe Ti Se. The ISFP alternates the functions whereas the INFJ has both judging functions grouped in the middle.

Description for INFJ: http://schools.esu13.org/bannercounty/INFJ.pdf

ISTP: http://schools.esu13.org/bannercounty/ISTP.pdf

Just change the letters in the link for whatever type you like.

As for analyzing yourself, I default to people with more experience.

 

NAI gave a good general overview. It is a good starting point to understanding this, as it is a lot to take in.

As far as understanding yourself more. Take the cognitive function test. This tends to be the most enlightining to your full type, and it explains some discrepencies that you could possibly have. Post the results here and a few of us can analyze it.

 

I learned mostly through google. I also started thinking about the types of the people that I know, that I observed some of things that they said on web sites in real life.

 

Like Indigo said, there is a lot of information and many concepts to take in. It might all seem overwhelming at first, but as an INFJ you'll probably have a natural curiosity for psychology systems, and if you stick with it you will have many of those 'aha' moments as it all becomes clear.

Several things to start you off.

These personality types are based on the work of Carl Jung, who determined that the mind has distinct cognitive functions: Feeling, Thinking, Intuition, and Sensing.

Feeling is reasoning based on philosophical and emotional judgments.
Thinking is reasoning based on logical and relative concepts.
iNtuition is processing information through pattern recognition.
Sensing is processing information through sensory observation.

Each of these four functions also have a macro and micro perspective, called extroverted and introverted respectively. For example, Thinking is logical and rational. Introverted Thinking is concerned with the small picture, how things work at their inner most. Extroverted Thinking is concerned with the big picture, how things relate on an overall scale.

Therefore, there are 8 distinct cognitive functions (abbreviations in parenthesis): Extroverted Feeling (Fe), Extroverted Thinking (Te), Extroverted Intuition (Ne), Extroverted Sensing (Se), Introverted Feeling (Fi), Introverted Thinking (Ti), Introverted Intuition (Ni), and Introverted Sensing (Si).

In time you'll come to understand what these mean in much greater detail. For now, understand that everyone has and uses all 8 of these functions. However, everyone also has a favored preference in which they use these functions - a starting place, and an ending place. The order in which we prefer to use our functions is what creates our personality types.

INFJs prefer to start with Ni, then move to Fe, then Ti, then Se, and so on. This means we prefer to start our cognitive process with Introverted Intuition, which is the function of pattern recognition. From there, we use our Extroverted Feeling, our desire to care for and relate to others. After that, we concern ourselves with how things work by using our Introverted Thinking, and finally we take in the world around us as it is in the moment with Extroverted Sensing.

All of our functions support the ones before them. For example, our desire to care for and relate to others supports our pattern recognition, and our curiosity for how things work is usually used to support our desire to care for and relate to others, etc.

Every personality type in this system, 16 in all, are based on their own order of the 8 cognitive functions. For example, ISTPs have the following order of functions: Ti, Se, Ni, Fe, or expressed in long form, Introverted Thinking, Extroverted Sensing, Introverted Intuition, Extroverted Feeling, etc. The ISTP personality type shares a lot of the same function preferences with INFJs, just in a different order.

Now that you understand the basic concepts, we have a thread full of very helpful links for INFJs here.

The one thing that is most important to understand is a quote Carl Jung himself. 'Every individual is an exception to the rule.' No one is going to fit a mold with this system. The human mind is too fluid and adaptive to compartmentalize neatly. These theories are based on tendencies, trends, and commonalities. For the most part, these theories are sound, so long as you understand that they apply to the big picture of all the people in the groups of personality types that comprise them, not to specific individuals with those personality types. There are going to be things about you that aren't perfectly typical of the INFJ description. That's very normal. We come in an array of variations. This is a science of tendencies, not absolutes. It is a system designed to expand upon the similarities, not the differences. If you keep these things in mind, all of this will make a lot more sense and be much more viable for you.

Welcome aboard. I hope you find this stuff as interesting as we have.

 

Once you study each individual cognitive function enough, you should be able to match up with those specifically to get a better idea, or get more confused.

It goes both ways for me.

 

One could say we grow more confused each day!

 

Both of those scores are closest to ENFJ. The second could be INFP, but it could just as easily be ENFJ as well. I am inclined to say that because of the first test taken.

The overall order for ENFJ is Fe>Ni>Se>Ti, and enfp is Fi>Ne>Si>Te. Both of them have the order F>N>S>T, both scores follow that letter pattern. It is very clear with that so by this test you are either of those. Again though as both scores are close to an ENFJ cognitive set, I feel that is the best fit. Also keep in mind that in the end you are your own best judge and no one single test can define this for you.

 

What makes you lean more towards feeling (Fe or Fi) rather than thinking (Te or Ti)?

 

I like to call those two people (in me) Righty and Lefty. Lefty always tells Righty to STFU and play guitar instead of whining, Righty always tells Lefty to go get a goddamn girlfriend instead of playing video games and talking to people on the internets.

 

To me that sounds like Fi and Ne playing together, hidden intense emotions with the ability to empathize with others, putting yourself in their shoes and understanding their being. How often do "what ifs" occur in your head?