[vocalist]

What I mean is, I read a lot of posts where people say "My mom is a XXXX," "my co-worker is XXXX," "A lot of XXXX's I know..."

How do you know, though? Have all your friends and family and co-workers taken the MBTI for themselves, and have they divulged their results to you? Or have you tried to guess for yourselves based on outside observation? Because I would think that the latter method would be rather unreliable and not really fair. How can you possibly know for a certainly what type another person is based on your own observation only?

If my friends and family were to hazard a guess, for instance, I doubt any of them would come up with ESFJ, and yet I personally believe-- after a lot of research and re-consideration-- that this personality type really does fit me best.

 

[madhatter]

I had my family take the test, and I read their profiles to them.

 

[alionsroar]

I just guess ^-^ and unless I see evidence that points to them possibly being another type, I consider them what I consider them.

 

[Nasmoe]

A few of them took the test, but the others I type are the conclusion I came to just by judging what I know about them and types.

 

[Vaka]

I had every one of my family members, except for my baby sister, take the test...
After reading about the different types and stalking their boards, I could conclude that my dad is indeed part of what is apparently the most common type(ISTJ) and that my mom and sister are both part of the apparent two least common types(INFJ and INTJ).

 

[Monte]

I guessed the people I knew the most... and was right. After studying them for a while, I usually have them take the test, which I've slowly stopped doing because I'm pretty freakin' accurate.

 

[NeedsNewNameNow]

It's not easy. I guess at people I know best. Sometimes I have them take a test. Sometimes it confirms what I suspected, sometimes not.

 

[madhatter]

Yeah, with other people, I'll observe their behavior, and I'll think, I bet she's ExTJ or that he's ESxP. I'm pretty good at spotting the dichotomies, or now the functions (since I'm expanding and they work better anyway). I am still not as good at spotting whether they are extravert or introvert dominant.

It's cool to have your theories confirmed or disproved with a test. People always surprise me.