Cogitant said:
In general, women are statistically less likely to be xNTx.
-Suggesting that some of these women arrived at that conclusion due to trauma further reduces that statistic...
+TiC that people react to trauma in many different ways, it would be equally valid to suggest that trauma could push some women/people toward xSFx
Anyway, regardless...
I think that personality is, to a greater extent, what you are born with, and perhaps it might include primary socialization factors (so an admixture of nature and nurture with a nature bias).
Beyond that, society is mostly a masquerade^^
I would say you're basically right that there are more mistypes in the direction of xSFx due to ... maybe not necessarily "trauma" per se, but difficult life experiences, but that there will also be some mistypes in the direction of xNTx, however this will have to be quite rare. Many males with the NFTS function order (INFJ and ENFP, and especially INFJ) mistype as Thinkers, since they over-rely on the tertiary due to N and F being less accepted by the environment and thus being harder to maneuver effectively, and I'd expect there to be a similar case with females. However, there is the bias to see males as Thinkers and females as Feelers, so even with the environment pulling more on the T functions, it does also pull on F for females. Actually, I think the statistics put F types are more numerous than T types, so clearly the bias in that area can't be too strong. I'm sure it happens though.
So, the most common mistype I would say would be typing as an S when you're an N. What would the cause of that be? Well, it's simply more difficult to be an intuitive, at least in the society we're in. Look at job openings, and they will often call for someone with "attention to detail" but rarely "grasps abstract concepts". Ns may be common in the media - film/TV, music etc. but those with a naturally creative mindset (yes I'm assuming that the preference for N is strongly linked to creativity) tend to get left behind.
Myself, I'm an INFJ, but due to problems with expressing my inclinations and gifts appropriately, I have a) decided to study mathematics, which is more of an NTP discipline, and b) I mistyped as an ISTJ for a year or 2, which followed from the onset of my schizoaffective disorder (and I think, by the way, that the very notion of things like schizophrenia are an example of the strong ways in which intuitives are biased against in society - going against the norm, which isn't really a norm because being an N is pretty fricken normal, can get one in trouble if certain other factors are present) - basically, due to "getting things wrong" far too often with my intuition and having some strange experiences that I misinterpreted to be Si based (they were Ni based) and further misapplications of what the Si function is, combined with the fact that even though I wanted to be a Feeler, I had kind of resigned into thinking I must be a Thinker. What was probably going on is that my Ti and Se functions were so overused - overthinking/underexpressing and hypervigilance - and that was further exacerbated by a stay in a psychiatric facility, where intuition is essentially attacked ("Stick to the facts!", "Behave like everyone else!", "Your measure of success is your performance in work/study!"). Eventually I... came to my senses and saw my intuition, and now I'm so sure of my type that I cannot be swayed. I had to invent (what I thought was) new machinery to gain that certainty though.
So now I'll give another explanation of what my invented typing machinery is, but first with a note that even though I created the method, I've yet to use it successfully on anyone but myself (because with myself I have way more data and I can create more data whenever I want it, plus that I'm motivated to spend much more time on the case) - I've made some guesses, some of which are surely right but some of which are wrong, because it's really open to interpretation.
So, basically what you do is:
- note that when commencing an activity, one tends to prefer entering into it with the dominant function, and then moving to the auxiliary and so on. This is an oversimplification but it works as a general trend
- a post on a forum, or a video recording, are examples of such activities that are good ways of seeing one's cognition displayed in an external format
- so the key is to try and see the manifestations of
function order in, say, a forum post. A good post to use is one which has 4 distinct paragraphs of roughly equal size, because this provides a clear indicator of where one function moves to the other. All 8 functions can be shown though, or only 1, or it could start at say the tertiary rather than the dominant, so it's a matter of general trends and some deduction.
- the way of actually determining which function is used is the tricky part and requires an artistic mindset. Basically it's a matter of looking at the general theme that the paragraph is describing, and comparing it with the themes of the other paragraphs. If you scan across many posts, the themes should be repeated in the same order, and if you can see this development of themes, you'll probably end up convinced that it could only result from one specific function order.
I know I've already explained that method before, but it doesn't hurt to do so again - especially given the relevance to the thread and the people who haven't seen me explain it before.
Lastly, I would say that a key contribution that will be made by typology is to expose just how much prejudice there is regarding typological factors, and how many people as a result are locked into ways of behaving that go against their natural inclinations. Rather than everyone having to fit into the dominant paradigm, people will be more able to choose a lifestyle that they are more happy with, because they will get a better idea as to which sort of activities are causing them stress and which are giving them energy. The populace will be so much happier and in line with their selves, and there will be a tremendous reduction in certain mental health issues which stem from the attempt to forcefit oneself into an inappropriate mould.
), he had me draw up a huge list of all possible permutations of a six-variable system I use because he found it easier to memorise a 3 page list than to work it out on the fly the way I do. He also often says to me, "keep that desk tidy - remember, messy desk, messy mind!" And is just generally very procedural oriented, organised and so on.
) and if he likes someone, he usually describes them as a "grafter" (or hard worker), and like other ISTJ's doesn't have much interest in leading but values and even follows these "grafters" when he sees them. INTP's tend to find intelligence attractive even if it's not put to use - like I find potential intelligence attractive, I kind of see it as hidden depth. INFJ's I've known see empathy as wisdom and INFP's seem to value someone with strong emotional principles. Every ENTJ I've known refers to forcefulness as confidence, and so on. This can help to narrow it down.
