MBTI Types

Zules

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I'm a big fan the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality theory, and I actually find it very helpful in figuring out my fictional characters. (If you want to know the Exvulnerum cast's MBTI types, though, I'm gonna keep that a secret for a while ;) But you're free to speculate!)

I'm not an expert or anything. The stuff I know isn't from Jungian literature, it's just from the Internet :geek:

My own type in INFJ. The letters stand for Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging, and the function stack is Ni Fe Ti Se (I'll get to that soon.)

Here's a chart that summarizes all 16 types in an easy-to-digest format
Chart

And here's the MBTI test I highly recommend
Test

Aaand since I'm a nerd, I'm going to go into detail about how the MBTI works (at least, how I understand it). But I'll put it in a spoiler since it's pretty long. You don't have to read it unless you want to.

So, MBTI theory holds that there are 8 cognitive functions: outward and inward versions of Sensing, iNtuiting, Feeling, and Thinking (shortened to Se, Si [outward and inward Sensing, respectively], Ne, Ni, Fe, Fi, Te, and Ti). These functions are hidden behind the visible letters of MBTI types (like I-N-F-J), but the functions are the secret sauce that holds everything together; the letters just tell you about the order the functions are in.



As I said, the letters tell you what order a person's functions are in. Let's take INFJ for example, which has a function stack of Ni Fe Ti Se. The first letter tells you whether the dominant function is outward or inward (Ni is inward, so "I"). The second letter tells you whether an iNtuitive or Sensing function comes first--there's always one of each in a stack (Ni comes before Se, so "N"). The third letter tells you whether a Feeling or Thinking function comes first--again, there's always one of each (Fe comes before Ti, so "F"). And the final letter tells you whether the first outward function is Perceiving or Judging (Fe is judging, so "J").

So the best way to understand MBTI is to learn about what these functions are, how they work, what they look like, and THEN you can convert them into the 4 letter code from there in order to talk about the 16 types. Why are there 16 types? Each dominant function (there are 8, remember) can only be followed up with a function the opposite of its outwardness-inwardness and the opposite of its perceivingness-judgingness. In Ni's case, either Fe or Te. 8 functions and two possible follow-ups makes for 16 types. It creates some interesting rules and patterns, like a person can never have Ne if they have Ni, and they will always have Se if they have Ni. Stuff like that.

I will now paste the descriptions of the types from my favorite MBTI blog, because they explain them really well, IMO.

Se looks outward for its source of physical stimulation. It takes the tangible facts and details of its environment and uses them to spur on immediate action. It sees what is actually there, without bias or judgment. Se seeks immediate action. It needs external stimulation to prompt action, because it cannot generate its own environment, and it hates being in a situation without exciting physical possibilities.

Si looks inward for experience. It deals in personalized knowledge. It takes in information and strongly compares itself to its own behavior and experiences. It looks at a situation and interprets it according to how it is internally impacted, as opposed to the facts.

Ne looks outward for its source of mental stimulation. It takes the tangible facts and ideas of its environment and uses them to create new ideas. It sees what is actually there, without bias or judgment, and generates new possibilities while building connections between its ideas. Ne seeks immediate ideas. It needs external evidence to prompt its theories, because it cannot generate its own ideas, and it hates being in a situation without exciting mental inspiration.

Ni looks inward for ideas. It deals in personalized visions of the future. It creates new ideas and generates visions according to its own dreams and goals. It views the same situation from many different perspectives. It looks at a situation and interprets it according to how it is internally impacted, as opposed to the facts.

Fe looks outward for its morality. It deals in agreed upon ethics and moral values in the form of social norms and expectations. Once a consensus of morality is reached, Fe adopts it as a legitimate moral view. It looks at a moral situation and sees the reality of its impact. When Fe objects, it moralizes over the situation — is this ethical or socially acceptable? It will seek compromise or negotiation between conflicting views to maintain harmony in a group. Fe seeks immediate harmony. It needs external affirmation on its feelings to feel comfortable – it needs agreement or it feels insecure, because it doesn’t trust independent emotions and sees them as selfish.

Fi looks inward for its morality. It deals in personal ethics and moral values. It feels uncomfortable with shared outbursts of emotion, since it is self-contained and doesn’t need external support in what it is feeling. It looks at a situation and interprets how it feels about it, as opposed to the facts. It wants to attach personal feelings to it.

Te looks outward for its logic. It deals in proven realities in the form of textbook information citing sources or legitimate, provable, indisputable facts about the environment. Once a consensus of logic or agreement of truth is reached, Te adopts it as legitimate. It looks at a situation and sees the reality of its facts. Te seeks immediate and obvious solutions to problems. It requires external logical affirmation to feel comfortable – it needs agreement or it feels insecure, because it doesn’t trust internal logic and sees it as potentially illogical.

Ti looks inward for logic. It deals in what seems logical as opposed to external facts. It feels uncomfortable with a logical consensus among scientists, because agreement implies an absence of independent logic. It looks at a situation and seeks the meaning behind it, as opposed to the facts. It wants to understand.​

And Here's a more concise cheat sheet:

External Sensing: living in the moment, being totally aware of your environment

Internal Sensing: nostalgic, often compares the present to the past, traditional

External Intuition: can predict all possible outcomes to a situation, a visionary

Internal Intuition: knows things intuitively without evidence, has big ideas

External Feeling: adapts to the emotions of others, takes care of them

Internal Feeling: strong personal emotions, independent of others

External Thinking: by the book, organization for efficiency, systematic

Internal Thinking: analyzing everything, wants to know how things work​

SOURCE: Link: "Cognitive Functions" (go here if you want to see them talk about Harry and Ron)


SOURCE: Link: "Subjective & Objective Functions"

Here are the function stacks of all the types, for reference:

ENTP - Ne-Ti-Fe-Si
INTP - Ti-Ne-Si-Fe
ENTJ - Te-Ni-Se-Fi
INTJ - Ni-Te-Fi-Se
ENFJ - Fe-Ni-Se-Ti
INFJ - Ni-Fe-Ti-Se
ENFP - Ne-Fi-Te-Si
INFP - Fi-Ne-Si-Te
ESTJ - Te-Si-Ne-Fi
ISTJ - Si-Te-Fi-Ne
ESTP - Se-Ti-Fe-Ni
ISTP - Ti-Se-Ni-Fe
ESFJ - Fe-Si-Ne-Ti
ISFJ - Si-Fe-Ti-Ne
ESFP - Se-Fi-Te-Ni
ISFP - Fi-Se-Ni-Te
 

Zules

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Part two:

My favorite explanation, though, is this one: (Extroverted=outward, Introverted=inward. Same thing, different terminology. [They're also called External/Internal])

"Say a group of people all go to a theme park together."

Extroverted Sensing (Se) is busy noticing all the details of the park and the people in it. Sights. Sounds. Colors. Oh, cool. That ride flips upside down! I’m going to try that. Do you smell those hotdogs? Aren’t they great? I think we ought to go bungee jumping… it’s only $50 for a group of $12! Which way is the Tower of Terror? I’m going to ride down it and watch all you sissies wet your pants when it drops 50 feet in 12 seconds!

Introverted Sensing (Si) relates everything around them to past experience. Last time I was here, I threw up on that ride; I’m not going on it again. Oh, hey, that’s the bench I sat on when so-and-so kissed me! Oh, good, the line is shorter this year. Why does this slushie taste different? I think they put less cherry cola in it than before! I feel ripped off. OR… I’ve never been to a theme park before, but that Ferris wheel reminds me of that scene in The Notebook, when Noah won’t take no for an answer, until Allie agrees to go on a date with him…

Extroverted Intuition (Ne) sees the possibilities of the park. Look at those two people. You can tell they’re not “together” anymore, but just hanging out for the kid’s sake. See their body language? How many rides are in this park? Do you think anyone ever died here? I think they should put a new ride in this space. Call it the Haunted House of Horrors, and have Dead Presidents in it. You know, they could put up an entire haunted SECTION of the park. That would be awesome. Who do I call to pitch that idea? Stay away from the guy in the red hat. He gives me vibes. Ooh, you know, I could write a story about a murder in a theme park! He could die because the Tilt a Whirl malfunctioned. No, no, because the Tower of Terror ride didn’t stop, it crashed the elevator to the bottom floor! His sister did it. No, his uncle! No, the theme park guy, because he’s freakin’ insane.

Introverted Intuition (Ni) knows what will happen before it happens. I’m going to take a step back, because that kid is going to spill his slushie all over – yup, there it goes. I know which ride I want to go on. I’ve thought about it all week. I’m going to have an awesome time on that ride. I’m going there first. Wait, there are other rides? I didn’t even notice! I was busy fixating on getting to the head of the line! Ha, Marsha better not go on that thing, she’ll hurl—yep, there she goes.

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) makes sure everyone feels involved and has their needs met. Does everyone have a buddy? Nobody should be alone! Let’s go to the bathroom first, okay? How do we feel about hamburgers for lunch? Is that okay? Let’s meet over there, shall we? Does everyone know the plan, so no one is left behind? Let’s take a vote on which direction to go first! Fe will go on a ride it doesn’t like so a friend doesn’t have to do it alone.

Introverted Feeling (Fi) decides which direction to go based on what is important to them. I’m going on this ride. No, it’s okay, I can go by myself. I don’t need you to come along unless you want to. I’m serious. I’m not afraid to do it alone. I’m not feeling the burgers, either. You all go ahead. I’m going to dash over to that taco stand. Nope, not going on that ride. You can beg all you want, I won’t do it. I’m scared of heights. Not a chance, bud. Drop it.

Extroverted Thinking (Te) is busy organizing others and coming up with “battle plans.” Which direction do we go first? Give me the park map. Okay, where do we want to be by noon? When and where do we meet for lunch? Who is in charge of watching the kid? Which rides do what? When is the bus leaving? What do we have time for? How long are the lines? Okay, everyone who wants to go on these twelve rides, line up to the left! Everyone else to the right! We meet back here at 7pm! No stragglers! Does everyone have their phone on? Good!

Introverted Thinking (Ti) is busy analyzing how the rides work and what makes the most sense. If I go this way, the path winds around past what I want to see, and by the time we’re to meet up, I’ll have been all the way around the park. I won’t have to walk back, or rush from one side of the park to the other. Wait, why are they all walking in the opposite direction? Don’t they know this is the logical way to do it? If you go that way, you’ll engage in needless walking and won’t be able to get through the line in front of the House of Mirrors.​

SOURCE: Link: "plz , the different in functions in real life :D ?"

The questions each function tends to focus on:

Extroverted Sensing: what is going on around me?

Introverted Sensing: how does this compare to what I know?

Extroverted Intuition: what are the many possibilities?

Introverted Intuition: what is the one primary truth?

Extroverted Feeling: how do you feel about this?

Introverted Feeling: how do I feel about this?

Extroverted Thinking: what can I do to change or fix this?

Introverted Thinking: how and why did this happen?​

SOURCE: Link: "Could you make a chart abut the differences..."

Aaand last of all, a helpful chart I found somewhere on tumblr gave them these keywords:

Se - SENSATION

Si - MEMORY

Ne - EXPLORATION

Ni - PERSPECTIVES

Fe - HARMONY

Fi - AUTHENTICITY

Te - EFFECTIVENESS

Ti - ACCURACY​

SOURCE: I lost it, sorry :cry: Please forgive

In my opinion, my dominant function--Ni--is the slipperiest when it comes to pinning it down. If you do more research, you'll find a lot of places call it the "psychic" function. I believe Jung described it as some sort of "universal subconscious" phenomenon. My perspective (heh) is that iNtuitive functions are all about patterns. Ne tries to project these patterns on the outside world which results in an infinite number of scenarios because of the variety of ideas and preexisting situations which exist on their canvas. Ni, however, extrapolates these patterns from their internal experiences--something much more limited and linear, which is a progression that leads to a more focused outcome. This may seem psychic because it is a process impossible to observe and hard to explain.

The order of the functions is very important.

The dominant (first) function of a stack is always a person's strongest. It comes naturally to them and is usually their default state of taking in or analyzing the world.

The secondary/auxiliary function is also rather strong and easily detectable, although less so.

The tertiary function is something that a person has a disposition towards, but generally is not developed fully until later in life.

And the inferior (last) function is something they're clumsy about and usually shows up under stress.

When a person is under stress and relying heavily on that inferior function, they're said to be "in the grip." If anyone's familiar with it, it's akin to Homestuck title inversion theory; they no longer act like themselves. Here's what that blog says about it:

“Grip” experiences are when the various personality types bypass all their dominant functions and fall into “the grip” of their inferior function. This radically changes their behavior and make them appear a completely different type altogether.

ENXPs have inferior Si, so they become defensive about and fixated on the facts and details, by over-preparing, being worried that someone may criticize their information, and habitually complain about others’ factual and detail errors.

INXJs have inferior Se, so they will become fixated on sensory pleasures by over-eating, over-spending, engaging in casual sex, and making reckless decisions aimed at immediate benefits.

ISXJs have inferior Ne, so they will freak out over many future possibilities, be unable to make up their minds, accuse others of sabotaging them, and become habitual naysayers.

ESXPs have inferior Ni, so they become insecure and paranoid (imagine others are conspiring against them), withdrawn, and overly serious, with a tendency to worry about the future.

IXTPs have inferior Fe, so they will erupt with uncontrolled emotions, complain endlessly about others’ incompetence, and feel victimized through criticism or imaginary sabotage.

EXTJs have inferior Fi, so they become overly-sensitive to criticism, likely to have emotional outbursts, and feel deeply unappreciated, disorganized, and unable to meet deadlines or finish tasks.

IXFPs have inferior Te, so they become confrontational, critical, and hyper-aware of others’ mistakes and inability to do things properly, while losing any interest in preserving harmony.

EXFJs have inferior Ti, so they become self-doubting, overly-analytical, negative, critical, and judgmental toward everything and everyone around them.​

Source: Link: "Could you explain what being in the grip looks..."
 

Delta-v

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Velocity
:uhh:I think I screwed up on the test. Let me study the concept some more, and I'll get back to you.
 

Delta-v

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Velocity
The result wasn't even close to right. It was pretty late, and I was really tired, and I now realize that I confused my natural tendencies with the way I have to be to do my job. I'm kind of an introvert, but I have to be an extrovert to work with customers. I've been doing that job in one form or another for 35 of my 67 years, and some of my work persona has rubbed off on me. :)
 

Zules

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Do you remember what type it gave you? I'd be interested to compare that with what you type as when you answer with your natural tendencies!
 

StickFreeks

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Radiance
Haha, every time I take one of these I'm either ISFP or INFP... in my high school psychology course I was so torn on the last deciding question that my teacher just let me take a look at both answers. ISNFP ftw. :oooooooh:
 

X-39

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Duality
I do not appear to fit any category. I assume this is because your inferior human technology failed to take into account the possibility of a completely flawless being, such as myself, or Dzuna.
 

StickFreeks

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I do not appear to fit any category. I assume this is because your inferior human technology failed to take into account the possibility of a completely flawless being, such as myself, or Dzuna.
Well, that's where the ESHB category comes in!
Ever So Humble Beings :D
 

X-39

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TheJLT

If specified, this will replace the title th-
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Cognizance
As someone who lives in the US,
(and actually believe in certain rights)
I think that you should be able to say whatever you want whether it hurts someones feelings or not!!! BUT people also have the right to non violently respond
without hampering any persons right
As in: boss doesn't want a jerk to work for them at Subway-TM so the boss fires said jerk.
Or the owner of a site doesn't want someone chasing off the people who use the sight, so they BAN the jerk.
 

TheJLT

If specified, this will replace the title th-
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Cognizance
What is my personality???:whistling::whistling::whistling::whistling:
 

Avidro

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Corporeality
I wonder that quite often, myself... :backupamber:

Haha, every time I take one of these I'm either ISFP or INFP... in my high school psychology course I was so torn on the last deciding question that my teacher just let me take a look at both answers. ISNFP ftw. :oooooooh:
Hey, I'm an INFTP! Multiclassers represent! :ambernyeh:
 

Zules

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If y'all multiclassers have time for some heavy reading, you can go here and find the facet categories that are in contention (Sensing-Intuition for @StickFreeks and Thinking-Feeling for @Avidro ) and go through each of the 5 facets to see if you favor one pole over the other.
 

Avidro

Terezi Rex smells right through your obfuscations
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If y'all multiclassers have time for some heavy reading, you can go here and find the facet categories that are in contention (Sensing-Intuition for @StickFreeks and Thinking-Feeling for @Avidro ) and go through each of the 5 facets to see if you favor one pole over the other.
I can see why I tend to get INFP over INTP on those tests, usually. I lean more towards the Feeling side of all of those facets, but I certainly use the Thinking side fairly often too, particularly the Logic one.
 

Zules

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I can see why I tend to get INFP over INTP on those tests, usually. I lean more towards the Feeling side of all of those facets, but I certainly use the Thinking side fairly often too, particularly the Logic one.
Yeah, that makes sense. It all comes down to which one you prefer to use. Do you prefer to judge things by your inner values and sense of morality (Fi) or by what you think objectively makes sense (Ti)?
 

Avidro

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I think I prefer (or at least, idealize) the latter, but tend to use the former more naturally. Which is why my tests are all wonky; I'm doing the same thing Delta-v did, where I'm answering as I feel I ought, not how I really am.
 
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