[Heather]

When I was in high school, I took my first MBTI test and got INFP. I read the description and was amazed at how much it was like me. I felt like I was finally understood, blah blah blah. I went along like that for a while. As I attended college, I began to see I wasn't so oriented around feelings anymore. I don't know when, but one day I realized I didn't identify as INFP anymore. So I did more research on it, and this time the test I took was the one that determined your individual functions.. you know, the one with the really complicated wording. :crazy: I found it here.

That test told me I was ENTP, and when I read the description I realized that was much more me. While the INFP was once so enlightening and awesome to me, now I saw it as totally wrong and much too full of "butterflies and sunshine" for my personality. No offense to INFPs, because I still love you guys. :happy:

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced their main functions changing? For me I went from Fi being my main and Ne second, to Ne coming up first and Ti replacing Fi. However, I have also wondered if maybe I was simply ENTP all along, but just with a strong tertiary Fe that mis-tested as Fi. I can be and am very sympathetic and kind to other people when I know that it's necessary, and I am a very understanding and compassionate person (at least compared to most ENTP descriptions.. I'm still cold compared to an ENFJ!). Even today, on the normal tests, I still often show up as INFP or ENFP...

The idea that I might have misidentified then makes me wonder if I am misidentifying now... but I really do think ENTP is me. So that makes me believe my functions must have changed. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[penchant]

Sorry for the short post, but i need to get some sleep soon...

Inaccurate tests are very common, and in fact it is not really about the quality of the test, but rather that the test can only be very generalized and is also varies a lot depending on your mood, and so on, so just doing tests is not a good way of finding out your type. So, just as you have done, introspection and understanding the cognitive functions is useful for verification.

It is generally held that people do not change type. However, in your teens and/or twenties your tertiary function would normally develop and that leads to some change in personality that does not mean you've changed type. However, Fi and Ti would not be in the same type, so from the given data, that is not a possible explanation in your case.

But you are also talking about changing order between using an Introverted function or an Extraverted funciton as dominant, so I would suggest you post on "What's my personality type?" forum and get someone there to sort out your functions for you...

Ok. That's my reaction.
I guess that's not what you asked for... Sorry. :happy:

 

[Heather]

Hm.. Yeah, maybe this was the wrong forum for this question. It sort of morphed while I was writing it... :blushed:

 

[otto11]

...the test can only be very generalized and is also varies a lot depending on your mood, and so on...

Definitely. Someone recently told me she's an ENTJ at work but an INFP at home.

 

[OmarFW]

That test told me I was ENTP, and when I read the description I realized that was much more me. While the INFP was once so enlightening and awesome to me, now I saw it as totally wrong and much too full of "butterflies and sunshine" for my personality. No offense to INFPs, because I still love you guys. :happy:

You are thinking about this in too much of a black and white perspective. The type descriptions you read are for extreme INFP's and extreme ENTP's etc. Since you have tested as more than one type, that would imply that you are not in fact an extreme type and you will not relate entirely to people who are.

INFP - Fi,Ne,Si,Te
ENTP - Ne,Ti,Fe,Si

It's not impossible to test as both of these types if you have developed usage of the appropriate functions. Usually an INFP who only ever tests as an INFP can only efficiently use his own functions and not any ones that INFP's don't typically use.

The whole NFP butterfly's and sunshine thing is a stereotype based on extreme versions of the NFP description. I do not relate to that at all and yet I am very much an INFP. Humans are far too diverse to simply fit into 16 stereotyped categories.

http://personalitycafe.com/cognitive-functions/33543-blood-sugar-its-effect-cognitive-function-usage.html

I become very ENTP'ish when my blood sugar is low. It isn't because I actually am an ENTP, it's because of physiological changes in my body keeping me from being able to maintain my normal state. You choose what type you are unconsciously and consciously.

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced their main functions changing? For me I went from Fi being my main and Ne second, to Ne coming up first and Ti replacing Fi. However, I have also wondered if maybe I was simply ENTP all along, but just with a strong tertiary Fe that mis-tested as Fi. I can be and am very sympathetic and kind to other people when I know that it's necessary, and I am a very understanding and compassionate person (at least compared to most ENTP descriptions.. I'm still cold compared to an ENFJ!). Even today, on the normal tests, I still often show up as INFP or ENFP...

Your function order cannot change without some sort of life changing event or trauma.

But, you can develop your functions so that instead of only being good at using just your dominant ones, you can use many of them confidently. You add more languages to your index of knowledge.

If you take the test at a time when you using certain functions besides your real dominants, you will test as something else. This is why the test is flawed. Personal analysis is the only real way to figure out your type, not a test. Much less an inaccurate online one.

 

[TreeBob]

I noticed that since she wrote this post she is now an ENFP.

 

[amnorvend]

The official position on this subject by the CAPT (the people who own and release the MBTI) is here. Essentially, your type doesn't change but it does develop and you do discover more things about your type.

One other thing that may be relevant: it's not uncommon for a person to develop their secondary function to the point that it's about as well-developed as the primary function. So in other words, you might be an INFP who's developed Ne to the point where personality tests might confuse you with an ENFP.

I was just reading "The Inferior Function" by Marie-Louise von Franz and she gives one technique for sorting out puzzles like this. Essentially, it's difficult for you to determine what your type is. So the next approach is to consider what your type isn't. If you're not sure what your primary function is (whether it's Ne or Fi), you might ask yourself what gives you the most trouble typologically. This will give you your inferior function. Do you find that you have trouble using logic and applying it to the outside world (Te)? That would make you an IxFP. Do you find that you're constantly finding new ways to do everything but can't just stick to what works? That would make you an ENxP.

With regards to you being an ENTP, the basis for the MBTI is that people know their own type best. If you feel strongly that you're an ENTP, then I'd say you're an ENTP no matter what the tests say. I would advice learning a lot about typology before coming to such a decision though. For instance, if you're an INFP like I said above, your inferior function can convince you that you're an extraverted thinking type. I could see how that might make you very confused.

I hope this helps (even if it's somewhat "stream of consciousness"-esque).

 

[Heather]

Do you find that you're constantly finding new ways to do everything but can't just stick to what works? That would make you an ENxP.

That one! Haha, yes, I went and posted in another forum and came to the conclusion of ENFP. I have chased many white rabbits in search of who I am, but I think ENFP is my personality. The stereotype of Feelers in general really scared me off of them, because I am not a very "squishy" person at all. Plus I had a very close ENTJ friend in high school that I was always trying to be more like (I really admired her), so I learned how to use my Te very well.