[vforverification]

Did anyone here doubt/reject their type cause of negative stereotype? I have a friend who is an astrophysicist and scored esfp, I am an unsure of my type but recently scored esfp in one, I have always been super academic, have 2 college degrees and am in med school so I always assumed I had to be an NT like there was no other way.

I am unsure of my type, I have gotten different responses but esfp keeps coming up when i do questionnaires etc. Guys, tell me the ways you are not the stereotype??

:D

[Memory of Talon]

Did anyone here doubt/reject their type cause of negative stereotype? I have a friend who is an astrophysicist and scored esfp, I am an unsure of my type but recently scored esfp in one, I have always been super academic, have 2 college degrees and am in med school so I always assumed I had to be an NT like there was no other way.

I am unsure of my type, I have gotten different responses but esfp keeps coming up when i do questionnaires etc. Guys, tell me the ways you are not the stereotype??

:D

Thanks for making the thread. Yes I find that a lot of people do and dislike being labeled as our type because of the negative stereotypes that come with it. Here was my answer in a different thread.

Agree
1. I actually know myself to be somewhat of a drama queen, although at my older age I suppress it the best I can.
2. I do have a tendency to be unorganized and go with the flow
3. I used to be a party animal, but once again in my older age I do not find them interesting anymore because its been done before.


Disagree
1. I hate the stereotype that we need to do work that has to deal with people or cannot do work that requires critical thinking. I work in software development! I taught myself how to program in java in under three months because I got moved into a department where it was advantageous to know java. Therefor I did all I could to get an advantage. I have to do a lot of critical thinking every day at work.

2. I'm also not lazy when it comes to work. I've learned that if I find something I really love doing you get all my effort and heart into the project. I did learn that I cannot handle boredom at work which causes me to procrastinate, so I understand where the lazy stereotype comes from. I now know that where ever I go, it better be action packed and yes when updates have to go out every thursday at work with a small team of developers and QA engineers, it can get really stressful and I love it.

Also the stereotype that we are non committal is something I disagree with. Everything comes down to each individuals life and desires which MBTI has nothing do to with. Enneagram has more to do with motivations than mbti or socionics does.

I can come up with more but right now I'm being lazy so I'm just citing older works. I'll come up with more stuff later.

Oh yes, I am admittedly a decently heavy drug user. No hiding that fact especially if you knew me back when I joined the forum in 2010. I've done it all except for heroin. Which falls in line with number 3 in agreement with being a party animal. I leave my avatar the way it is because honestly, it's still a part of my life as much as have stopped it they still pop up from time to time. My goal is to eventually get to a level of sobriety that I find acceptable. I would say during my marriage I was at my best not doing any hard drugs for almost 4 years. After recently getting divorced however I got back into the habits and slowly working them down again.



If you are anything like me understand that you probably have the capacity to gather and hold a lot of information in a subject you are interested in. Take advantage of it, not as many people are able to do this as you are. I personally attribute it to the combination of Se and Te. Just understand that it's driven by Fi and the need to learn about something that is important to you. Find out what's important to you by trying out a lot of things and then run like wild into that subject of interest and persue it to your hearts content, which for me is never filled enough to satisfy my curiosity. Then use it to your advantage in every day life. Learn multiple subjects that interest you that have practical every day applications.

[Memory of Talon]

This was requoted from another thread but since it was relevant and related to this I wanted to post this here.

Why am I going to be unhappy? Work is work and I'm good at all my classes too.

If you are truly an ESFJ. Then you are going to be very unhappy being an engineer. I also know I am right about this one. Are you also in denial about this, or do you need 10 years more to find out yourself?

This is fucking bullshit! Guess what? There are people in Engineering too! You have to do a lot of collaboration and the workplace is always in need of people who can work with other people and keep things peaceful. When people start to talk like this about personality and "what work each should do" I shake my head because when I was young I tried this theory out after reading about what MBTI has to say. People have strengths and weaknesses but these strengths and weaknesses mean absolutely nothing in terms of work life happiness.

Guess what? I hate customer service, yeah I'm good at it but it was a soul sucking job that I had no passion for. I like talking to people a lot but I wasn't happy doing the work but I thought I would give it a try because I was once foolish enough to let type determine what I was willing to try out. Luckily at some point I decided "fuck this theory" and went on to expand myself beyond the stereotypes of what my type says to be happy with. I am extremely happy working in software development and love being able to use my "strengths" to my advantage while being aware of my "weaknesses" so I can cover for them.

That means that I spend extra time preparing for meetings because I know I can put things off, it means I spend extra time studying a problem because it does hurt my head and I can stare at a piece of code and it not make sense for half an hour, I go talk to other developers about the problem to get a better understanding of it because I know I prefer to learn by doing and talking. It means I use my Se-Fi to do thing that the NTPs and STPs and NTJs and STJs cant do very well. Which is talk to the clients about whats going on with the software and find problems faster. Collaborate with all of the devs, system admins, customer service reps, project managers, ect, ect and become their friends faster than anyone else has.

I motivate them to break through a rough week with my hard headed vigilance and my fearless aggressiveness towards the C level managers when they ask why something isn't done. "It isn't done because we don't have enough resources and the team is worn out! You're going to have to wait because moral is really low right now and the last thing you want is for people to start looking for other work."

I was told by a colleague when I first started.. "I don't know why but man I'm just really happy that you're here. Your passion makes me want to come to work and I get the feeling everythings going to get better". I take pride in that. I love being able to motivate people. I always have and I'm glad to be able to do it in something I love doing.

Also we have an ENFJ and ESFJ on the team. Guess what! They rock too. Don't let these *flawed* fucking theories run your life.

Find your passion. Use your functions to further it. That's what you should do rather than let your functions dictate what you do in life.

[Gnome in a Pear Tree]

People aren't stereotypes. They are individuals, with their own experiences and memories. We may identify as esfp because the description fits us the most closely. There are very few people who are going to fit 100 percent into the stereotype of a personality type. Hence, the constant wondering if your type is really your type.

[Jeffrei]

It is possible to avoid the negative stereotypes, but to do it you need a lot of self control. People who know that they are an esfp have the advantage because they already know what they are up against. Know that you know that your type generally likes to overspend you can set a strict budget. You know your type is more likely to over indulge so avoid drugs and achohal altogether (or place a strict limit on how much you consume). You know you are quite likely to flake out so tell people maybe instead of yes. Of course, the simple part is planning it. Doing it can be much harder.

[Xcopy]

For me, I can say I am ESFP more than ISFP due to how little Ni I use. One stereotype that does not really work as well for me. I am not necessarily a party animal, but I have been in a lot of different discussions to the point where I became bored with what people say. I don't really feel anxiety when talking to people, just I am never really sure how people will react to what I say and a lot of times I say it anyway without thinking and because mostly what a lot of people say, I've already heard before. I do jump into a lot of moments without a plan and later realize.. "Man, I jumped into something pretty big." I try to give at least everything a shot though.

[johnnyboy]

I agree with the Garden Gnome. People aren't stereotypes. Even if that is true, I still like to see how people are different from the stereotypes. It's fun to see how everybody, even in these specific categories, are so incredibly different.

I differ from the stereotypical ESFP by:
- Staying inside, alone most of the time
- Not making as many "risky decisions" (the rationality overrides the temptation to do many risky things, for me)
- Loving philosophical thinking
- Not caring for sex

There are obviously many more. We don't live in a cookie cutter society, and almost nobody will fully fit into the stereotypes in Myers-Briggs.

[Xcopy]

I agree with the Garden Gnome. People aren't stereotypes. Even if that is true, I still like to see how people are different from the stereotypes. It's fun to see how everybody, even in these specific categories, are so incredibly different.

I differ from the stereotypical ESFP by:
- Staying inside, alone most of the time
- Not making as many "risky decisions" (the rationality overrides the temptation to do many risky things, for me)
- Loving philosophical thinking
- Not caring for sex

There are obviously many more. We don't live in a cookie cutter society, and almost nobody will fully fit into the stereotypes in Myers-Briggs.

Sounds exactly like me, save for risky decisions. I spend money terribly, but on rare moments I do get an occasional idea of possibly saving it for another time. I do have large portions where I spend time to myself, which doesn't mean too much, I am still in areas where other people are around me just not with friends, doing something there. Then I have moments where I spend time with my friends almost everyday.

[Ryosuke93]

I used to think for a while I was an ESFP, but then others told me I couldn't possibly be one because a, b, and c. I believed them, but I am back thinking I might be one.

What puts me off is the insistence that we are "party animals" and need people like we need air. I also have a graduate degree in pharmacy and am back in grad school right now for another Master's. But I kind of do feel like, even if I work hard, study, and get good grades, that there is something missing in my life...frankly, need more stimulation/excitement/inspiration.

I online tested as so many types once (ENFJ, INFJ, INFP, INTP, ENTP, etc), which led me into a wild goose chase and full on confusion. On the official test I got ISTP and INTJ before as a teen. But I think this is actually where I might be at. I was at home on the ISFP forum for a long time, but something still feels off. I used to believe I was an extrovert...but then after a long stint of depression, I became way more introspective and introverted. And now, I dunno really where I get my energy from. I do feel like Se saves me at times, from being too in my head, too anxious, so I am back thinking maybe it is my first function after-all.

[Xcopy]

I used to think for a while I was an ESFP, but then others told me I couldn't possibly be one because a, b, and c. I believed them, but I am back thinking I might be one.

What puts me off is the insistence that we are "party animals" and need people like we need air. I also have a graduate degree in pharmacy and am back in grad school right now for another Master's. But I kind of do feel like, even if I work hard, study, and get good grades, that there is something missing in my life...frankly, need more stimulation/excitement/inspiration.

I online tested as so many types once (ENFJ, INFJ, INFP, INTP, ENTP, etc), which led me into a wild goose chase and full on confusion. On the official test I got ISTP and INTJ before as a teen. But I think this is actually where I might be at. I was at home on the ISFP forum for a long time, but something still feels off. I used to believe I was an extrovert...but then after a long stint of depression, I became way more introspective and introverted. And now, I dunno really where I get my energy from. I do feel like Se saves me at times, from being too in my head, too anxious, so I am back thinking maybe it is my first function after-all.

One obstacle you are going to need to figure out, is if you do things based on how you feel on the inside or if you tend to focus on how feel inside after you do things.