Can types be suppressed according to circumstances?

[AnnaC]

Basically, I was an ESTP before my mother took me out of school and began to home-school me. After she took me out of school, my Se began to be suppressed beneath an immense Ni tendency. Due to my lack of things to do and new people to meet/compete with, I began to become more introverted and less aware of my surroundings (which I think may have been the Ni overtaking the Se).

Last year, before my mother took me out of school again (thank the Gods I graduated this year), I was beginning to start seeing things in the way I did as a child in my early elementary years, and I began to behave as I had then. I was more outspoken and confident, and began to see the world more clearly again. I realized that I was missing less and less of my surroundings: People would throw paper airplanes at me, and I'd catch them easily because I wasn't oblivious to them zooming through the air toward me. I began to act out a little, and to do things rather recklessly with no thoughts as to the various possible end results. I started running regularly as a hobby, eating a wider variety of peculiar foods for the fun of it, and somehow managed to get myself invited to be a twirler for the band. I had more acquaintances and friends than ever. I read books and enjoyed them for how good they were, rather than glumly thinking that what was in those stories would never happen. I did things without worrying about the morality of them.

Now, I'm back home and rather impatiently waiting for college to start, and I've been eating the same foods for weeks, writing stories, and thinking about the morality of things. I've stopped running and seeking out new people to talk to, and I've periodically ran through my friends list on Facebook, winnowing out numerous folks who I suddenly think aren't even worth my time.



But, I digress from my original intentions in posting here. What I want to know is this: Is it possible for a type to become suppressed immensely by another when circumstances are dismal? For instance, could Extroversion be suppressed by a lack of good company, and could Se be crushed under Ni when there are no new outside elements to consider?

 

[TimeAsylums]

Is it possible for a type to become suppressed immensely by another when circumstances are dismal?

Short answer: Yes. Easily.

Especially in such dismal circumstances when surrounded by a whole community with a certain culture/beliefs contrasted to one's own nature, or even just in a family unit.

Multitude of ways this could come about:

Force, peer pressure, choice.

I doubt anyone wants to be truly ostracized, so one *fits in.*

 

[DelusiveNinja]

I think due to certain circumstances you can have your functions be ordered differently. For instance, when I am at home I closely resemble ENTP (without friends) and when I am at school people think I am INTJ but, I think I am an INTP adjusting to my surroundings.

 

[TimeAsylums]

I think due to certain circumstances you can have your functions be ordered differently. For instance, when I am at home I closely resemble ENTP (without friends) and when I am at school people think I am INTJ but, I think I am an INTP

Generally not, just because you're overusing NeFe doesn't make you an ENTP, and just because you're terse and succinct or using Te doesn't make you an INTJ. Assumably, going by nature, (INTP right?) Ti dom will be your dominant function regardless of whether you overuse the others or not.

adjusting to my surroundings.

Precisely.

 

[DelusiveNinja]

Generally not, just because you're overusing NeFe doesn't make you an ENTP, and just because you're terse and succinct or using Te doesn't make you an INTJ. Assumably, going by nature, (INTP right?) Ti dom will be your dominant function regardless of whether you overuse the others or not.

I said I "resembled" an ENTP at home. I am not an ENTP or INTJ (dont think). I think you can say after a long day of "holding Ne back" I have to come home and go on theoretical tangents with some sort of given information.

 

[TimeAsylums]

I said I "resembled" an ENTP at home. I am not an ENTP or INTJ (dont think). I think you can say after a long day of "holding Ne back" I have to come home and go on theoretical tangents with some sort of given information.

I was referring to this:

I think due to certain circumstances you can have your functions be ordered differently.

"functions be ordered differently." Meaning that you would become those, not just resemble. If Ne were to "become" your dominant function, you wouldn't just "resemble" an Ne-dom, you would "be" one.

Your words contradict:

Are you saying the functions re-order themselves, or you simply meant "resemble."

 

[DelusiveNinja]

I was referring to this:



"functions be ordered differently." Meaning that you would become those, not just resemble. If Ne were to "become" your dominant function, you wouldn't just "resemble" an Ne-dom, you would "be" one.

Your words contradict:

Are you saying the functions re-order themselves, are you simply meant "resemble."

When I said ordered differently I was referring to something that Architect brought up in the '24 types of INTPs' thread. What if the order of the functions "switched up" like this: Ne-Ti-Si-Fe? Is this still considered ENTP? Maybe it's not a switch. Maybe it's a time when one function has slightly more "energy" than the dominant function. The periods only last a mere 3-4 hours and then I get tired and quiet again.

 

[AnnaC]

Short answer: Yes. Easily.

Especially in such dismal circumstances when surrounded by a whole community with a certain culture/beliefs contrasted to one's own nature, or even just in a family unit.

Multitude of ways this could come about:

Force, peer pressure, choice.

I doubt anyone wants to be truly ostracized, so one *fits in.*

The trouble with this particular explanation is that if I have suppressed one type with another, then in this particular instance, the object is to avoid people who I'd very much not like to deal with. This same group of people is the same group I'm exposed to on a daily basis. However, when I'm outside of this same group of people, I immediately find myself more outgoing, physically active, and generally more agreeable all around. At home, I'm admittedly a theoretical nut who has no apparent purpose but to denounce all that others say, sleep, and write. I'm purposefully a fright to get everyone away from me.

But, like I said: When it's other people, I'm great. For instance, you folks on here are a breath of fresh air. I've been chucked into a family were 2/5 of the people are temperamental ESFJs and ESFPs, and it's all I can do to manage a semblance of sanity. I've found being very still to be a wonderful defense mechanism. It's like when there's a very menacing rabid dog chasing a person: They dive for the nearest hiding place, and peep out only when necessary.

I get along fine among people my own age, and even older or younger people who aren't inside my house. I'm very talkative, as I'm sure everyone's already noticed, which leads me to think that my Introvertedness may only be due to the current situation, which in turn causes me to wonder whether the Ni/Se confliction is also caused by the situation.

 

[Architect]

Yes absolutely they can and often do. However you don't become another type, you simply manifest your functions (including the shadow functions) differently. This is an example of your personality displacing or altering the natural expression of your functional stack.

 

[DelusiveNinja]

What do you think of this AnnaC?
http://intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=7016

The SP Wannabe, to me, reminded me of what you described above. I could be (most likely I am) completely wrong in my assertion, but hey, I don't mind being wrong every once in a while.

 

[AnnaC]

What do you think of this AnnaC?
http://intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=7016

The SP Wannabe, to me, reminded me of what you described above. I could be (most likely I am) completely wrong in my assertion, but hey, I don't mind being wrong every once in a while.

Hmm... I don't know about the Fe. I don't necessarily have the "must progress mankind" instinct that INFJs possess, nor is my Se so well developed as it used to be - it only comes to light when I'm with friends as opposed to family. I have a pretty good perception of the people around me, but my own Feeling side normally manifests itself as anger or my very tumultuous bouts with depression, which usually appear when I'm near people who affect me strongly in a negative way.

Now that I think about it, I've considered volunteering to work with children before, though, and also thought being an EMT might not be too terrible. If it matters any at all, another thing that has bothered me about identifying as an INTP is the fact that I have never, ever been good at math or particularly enjoyed science. I'm good at science (and could be brilliant at it, if I'd like to be), but I disliked it in school once we began to study chemistry. The symbols and numbers confused me, whereas letters and words have always been easy for me to work with. Yet most other INTPs seem infatuated with the logic of numbers and science.

 

[Puffy]

I personally think the personality types theory is pointless if the idea of "changing types" is accommodated. At that point it just loses all explanatory power as a theory; you have no useful marker by which to understand yourself, as it could just be shifting at any moment.

But like what Architect said, maybe one function (an Se dom would have Ni as inferior after all) can suppress another depending on environment and circumstances. I feel that my Fe suppressed my Ni (INFJ) for quite a while...

In honesty though. I'd expect an ESTP who was leaning on their inferior function to be properly drained by staying in that space for very long periods of time. If you're actually energised by being in your own company, writing, etc (and you're an ESTP) I'd suspect it's different functions largely at work here, or that you're a different type.

 

[Architect]

But like what Architect said, maybe one function (an Se dom would have Ni as inferior after all) can suppress another depending on environment and circumstances. I feel that my Fe suppressed my Ni (INFJ) for quite a while...

Yeah I say that from experience, from having long had my type suppressed or redirected for growing up in a strong S household. Good people and raised me well, but strong personalities (ESTJ & ESFP) that it's taken me this long to fully assert myself and my basic psychic energies. Which is one reason I've worked to become a MBTI expert, it's the only thing that explains what is going on with the people dynamics.

This is why I assert that the shadow function do exist. I've got them, I can Se with the best of them - for about five minutes. When I was younger I could do it longer, basically because young people are willing to waste their energies needlessly. Likewise everybody has all the functions but we channel our energies along certain pathways (the functional stack).