How DO you go about typing another person?

[MissQuote]

Without the aid of having talked them into taking multiple tests over a period of time and all...

What is your method of going about typing others?

I am asking this because I would really like to expand my knowledge of typology as well as my understanding of the people I know, and the most practical next step (well, one of the next steps) (as far as where I am with all of that) seems to me to be looking towards the people I regularly interact with and delving out what their type might be.

I also think I have mistyped some people I know, but also wonder if I haven't and I am just focusing too much on the stereotype of the type I typed them as. ha. Yeah.

One example, I think I have mentioned a few times here that my husband is ISTJ, but I honestly am beginning to seriously doubt that as fully accurate. I have begun to suspect he is just a very shy extrovert, and possibly an intuitor not a sensor, though sensing and introversion is the surface front that shows if one does not really look into his behavior and experience of the world.

There are others too, a close friend of mine is supposedly ESFJ, but reading all the complaints around here about that type that she does not match, and combining that with her intense desire to search out intellectual stimulation despite her feeling bias, I wonder if I have typed her correctly either.

So my question is: What is your method of typing others beyond anything to do with having them take a test?

 

[MissQuote]

Alternatively, if you have not a good reply to the initial question, the the secondary question is : can you help me type my Husband? And possibly my close friends too? What questions would you ask me to help me delve out what their type may be, as well, what questions should I ask them/would you ask people you know?

 

[MissQuote]

Also also, Mods feel free to move this if this doesn't seem the appropriate category.

 

[skip]

I'm pretty good at typing personalities I've had the most experience with but usually I just ask people to take the test at Humanmetrics. Would your husband be willing to do that? It's free.

http://humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Have you read Tony Alessandra's book, "The Platinum Rule?" He talks a great deal about reading cues like word choice and body language to discern type preferences.

 

[TriflinThomas]

I start function by function, if I can't match them with a type that I know well. Then, I research the type I've come up with.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

So my question is: What is your method of typing others beyond anything to do with having them take a test?

For family members and close friends, I find it really difficult to analyze them because of bias. What works for me is to look from a distant perspective, compare the general idea of the person with the general idea of a type, and see which fits the best. I'd suggest this method for your husband, maybe write down a cloud of things that represent him the most, socially, personally, emotionally etc.

Functions only come in handy for me when looking at characters or celebrities, and I type them by theme, lifestyle, and temperament.

 

[Absurdity]

I don't like the tests. A lot of people have strange perceptions of themselves that don't match how they behave when they aren't consciously reflecting upon their thought processes and actions.

With that being said, I am not sure if I really have a defined "method" of typing people. To use the language of cognitive functions, I use Ne to connect the dots and then check with my Ti to make sure I have the correct picture. Trial and error, more or less.

I agree with EyeSeeCold, people that are too close to you can be difficult to type, especially (for me at least) if they are introverts. It was very easy for me to type my close extrovert friends (ENFJ, ESFP, ENTP, etc.) but I have struggle for a while to definitively type my mother and a close female friend of mine. I am now almost positive that my mother is an ISFP. As for my friend, she is some sort of INFX. Maybe even an INTP (but definitely not an INTJ and definitely not a sensor). I also cannot seem to type my father at all (other than the fact that he is an introvert and probably intuitive) but he isn't around very much and I don't really care for him. Feelings cloud judgement.

 

[Beholder]

I've become very good at typing people through visual ques, identifying the functions two by two (te/fi, ti/fe, ne/si etc'), once I've done that it's easy to tell exactly what type they are. With extroverts I can tell their type within a few minutes, introverts I need to talk to them one on one, but that also usually isn't enough to tell the order of the functions if it's not someone I know.
This is a skill I've been working on for a long time, and I've had the accuracy of my readings confirmed many times, and learned a lot about personality theory through it. One of the things I've learned is that you can't use the type descriptions to identify people, as they are just stereotypes and generalizations, and while there are some people (and some types) which somewhat resemble their description, most do not.

As for your problem, a few things I've observed about ISTJs: they're not close minded at all, at least not anything like what their description says. Although they do usually have a pretty set worldview, they are open to learning and changing. When they are feeling confident their Te in combination with their inferior Ne may seem really awkward or immature to us (Fe users). They usually have a very "black and white" view of everything - right vs. wrong, good vs. bad, us vs. them.

 

[Architect]

From another thread, here is one method to do it. Personally I use these clues but not in a systematic way, I try to 'grok' a person in total (Ne process I guess). And a caveat - like anything in MBTI these aren't hard and fast rules, but examples and probabilities. A type of Baysian Network really.

Yeah, well typing people you don't know is hard. Typing public figures is harder because they usually (always?) have a public persona that obfuscates the person underneath.

So I'll say a few things about typing. One thing the PodLairians (shudder) got right is that there are physiognomic manifestations. For example ...

• The eyes Thinkers tend to have blank eyes, like looking at a wall. With feelers the eyes really are the windows into the soul. ESTJ women have a hard, almost hard alcoholic look to their eyes.
• Endo/ecto Example, INTPs tend to look like Beaker (The Muppets) while their close cousins look like any big burly guy you could happen to name.
• Dress. Academic nerdy types will dress the part, same for a flowery ESFP.

And so on. Now with a basic visual assessment its time to look for a dominant function. Here is a handy list The Functions. First I start with the extraverted doms versus introverted, as that is easy to spot

• Te ESTJ or ENTJ
• Fe ESFJ or ENFJ
• Se ESTP or ESFP
• Ne ENFP or ENTP

If you see an introverted dominant, then

• Si ISTJ or ISFJ
• Ti ISTP or INTP
• Fi ISFP or INFP
• Ni INFJ or INTJ

Then it's simply a matter of determining S vs N (usually easy) and T versus F (also easy). From the tables above you can then zero in on the persons likely type.

More or less this is the method I use. Actually more often I 'sniff' it out (using my Ne intuition to feed data from the person to my analysis Ti core - same difference). It should work well for most people, but perhaps 10%-20% of people are un-typable and require more work than this. And as I say public figures take more careful investigation.

 

[snafupants]

@MissQuote

I first look at the person holistically and try to match their personality to these archetypes I have in my mind for each type; this is clearly flawed but it normally/efficiently works for me. To basically crosscheck that process I look for specific functions or behaviors and attitudes associated with certain cognitive processes. For instance, Ne dominant folk wave their hands and incontinently gesticulate when enmeshed in some theory, while Ti has these awkward conversational pauses and flattened affect, which most people on this forum should be familiar with to some degree. It starts out as this proverbially right-brained, intuitive process and then transitions to a left-brained, analytical checklist. The whole shebang is pretty intuitive, actually, but some telltales might be career, religiosity, thrill-seeking (Se), or something as particular as daily routine and eating habits. By discerning where the cognitive process is in the person's stack, I'm able to further winnow down the possibilities. Yeah, I suppose I use deduction to home in on three or four possibilities and then by process of elimination I glean my answer. Edit: I'm actually reading the OP this time around. OK, there's a difference between social and cognitive introversion. In Psychological Types Jung's main concern is cognitive introversion/extraversion. Jung doesn't use shyness and introversion synonymously; in other words, there are shy extraverts and shyness and introversion aren't even the same thing. Second Edit: Type is more about information processing than intellectuality. There are fucking dumb INTPs and brilliant ENFJs in this world. It's about priorities rather than aptitude per se.

 

[pjoa09]

I do the functions too.

Introvert vs. Extrovert, Thinking vs. Feeling, and Judging vs. Perceiving are very easily displayed.

Intuition isn't flaunted in most people.

 

[redbaron]

I'm not really interested in trying to type other people. There's a few people I know who I'm 90-95% sure about their type, but I haven't actively tried to type them.

I think people are going to be better at typing themselves than I will be. Like @skip said, I've gotten some people to do a test.

 

[Minuend]

I don't.

I find the notion of type too vague too accurately type without being caught up in personal bias about what each type should be like.

I used to type people before, but a lot of the types I typed back I find they might as well be other types so ¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[PmjPmj]

@Architect recently had a go at typing me (via video). He seems to know what he's on about, so take his advice.

Te / Ni, btw.

 

[PhoenixRising]

I mainly use my intuitive impression about people. I can usually type someone after talking to them for a few minutes. In the cases where I have estimated type and then had the person take a test, I was always correct.

If you don't get a gut-feeling about them, just look for these basic signs:

*Do they express a desire to be around people or do they spend a lot of time alone? Do they seem more energetic when interacting with others or do they seem worn out after a while?

*Do they tend to put things in terms of what they can see, smell, hear, touch and taste? Or do they tend to describe things in an abstract way? Do they seem to have an uncanny sense of the world around them, something beyond what the 5 senses could pick up?

*Do they automatically react emotionally? Do they express a lot of emotion and seem to hold their emotional needs in high priority? Or do they tend to put aside emotions in order to think logically about problems at hand?

*Do they tend to be very organized? Do they focus on social rules and systems? Or do they seem to take things as they come and remain a bit disorganized?


Answering these questions about the person is usually enough to type them accurately. However, there are some convoluted people that are 50/50 in some areas, so the only truly reliable way is to have them take a test. If your husband has something against the test because of the possible categorical implications, then you're probably right that he's a J-type.

 

[MissQuote]

Thank you everyone for the replys, they rae helpful. I will try to come back and give individual responses/questions to everyone's reply's later- probably tomorrow.

As far as my husband goes (though he was not the main point of this topic, just secondary point) I know without a doubt that he is a thinker that uses Te (seriously intense). Aside from that I am having trouble with the other functions for him. As far as his introversion/extroversion goes. The thing that makes me think he may not be an introvert is when I compare my introversion to his (supposed)/ for me I thought I was an extrovert until my mid twenties and always assumed he was a complete introvert. No matter how much I enjoy good company and an eccentric get together I must (and always have had that must) have my time to myself and always have sought out a plethora of alone time. I think it is my Ne that enjoys the loud weirdness of interesting social situations. For him, he is very quiet around those he does not know well, to the point of sitting in the other room alone if too much company he doesn't know is around, but he is very witty and charming around those that he knows AND on top of that he never seems to need anytime alone, save for maybe once a monthish for a few hours, and will devote all the time asked for to being around others *as long as he knows them well*. (compared to my need for time to myself near daily, no matter how well i like the people around) Combine this with the things I have been reading about the difference in dompamine reactions in introverts vs. extroverts i translate it to mean he very possibly is just a very shy extrovert?

I have also begun to wonder about my teenaged sons type. He has typed himself as ISTP but, in all honesty, he is probably one of my best friends, though I have to parent all the same. The boy and I can talk, literally, for hours on all manor of abstract and logical matters, in a way I cannot talk with anyone else I know, and recent discussions have had him open-mindedly dabbling with the idea that he is an INTP that is in a less mature stage than me.


Basically. All these people confuse me greatly.

Specific reply's to the responses given tomorrow, probably.

 

[Words]

Hmm... i used to type more analytically, listing all possibly relevant details and possible variables, strength of correlations, probability and then cohering that data analysis with the different theories...8 Cog-functions, 4 function model(FiTe vs TiFe etc.), Inferior Function theory, personal ideas, and to a lesser extent, basic MBTI letters(TNSFJP). Now, I just type by experience(limited by culture) I recommend reading Lenore Thompson and Jung, and just relating their explanations with your personal observations. I guess, for me, to type means to understand first. Don't read keirsey tieger, quenk etc. They're full of shit.

 

[Beholder]

I know without a doubt that he is a thinker that uses Te (seriously intense).

So basically it all comes down to determining whether Te is his first or second function, and determining what his other function is.
As you said, he may just be a shy extrovert. If this is the case, when he's not being shy (when he's around people he's comfortable with, particularly his family) his true nature should be apparent - his dominant Te would have him talking non-stop and being very ExTJish.
If he is an introvert, even in situations where he feels comfortable and relaxed his Te wouldn't be out there and in-your-face all the time. It would be more of an on/off thing, for example in a conversation around the dinner table he would spend a lot of time silently observing, but when he has something to say his Te would suddenly 'switch on', whereas if he were simply a shy extrovert, his dominant Te, which despite his shyness is always working in his head, would be dominating the conversation, it's quite unmistakable when you see it.

The thing that makes me think he may not be an introvert is when I compare my introversion to his

INTPs are very different from other introverts in that sense. I think that most introverts don't need alone time the way we do, they're just uncomfortable with too much intense 'people time'. I suspect it's the combination of Ti-Ne, since ENTPs also need a lot of alone time (which is why so many ENTPs mistype themselves as INTPs...). But I won't go into that now.

I have also begun to wonder about my teenaged sons type. He has typed himself as ISTP but, in all honesty, he is probably one of my best friends, though I have to parent all the same. The boy and I can talk, literally, for hours on all manor of abstract and logical matters, in a way I cannot talk with anyone else I know, and recent discussions have had him open-mindedly dabbling with the idea that he is an INTP that is in a less mature stage than me.

ISTP is another type that is commonly mistyped as INTP (I'm not saying that your son isn't an INTP, just that they are very very similar).
A few things I use to tell the two apart:
-ISTPs tend to have a skill or two that they are very good at, things like music (a certain instrument), programming, a certain sport, computer games. It's usually a skill which requires thought. The reason for this, is that they don't have that Ne which gets bored of anything once you 'get the idea', so they just work and work on perfecting these skills (but if you ask them about it, they never say that they work or practice at it, for them it's just play or idle fiddling).
-ISTPs usually don't have the typical INTP awkwardness and social anxiety...
-Ne vs. Ni: When INTPs are in 'idea mode' they get kinda hyperactive, and the ideas just burst out (Ne), the eyes move around like crazy, as if they're trying to follow the ideas bouncing around in their head. When ISTPs go into 'idea mode' their eyes are focused and unmoving, and penetrating, like they're looking 'though' whatever it is they're looking at, and then they suddenly snap out of it and tell you the idea.

Like all Sensors, they have a hard time seeing the big picture, I always get frustrated with them in discussions where they think that they 'got' some idea, and they now understand it, but really they just got some detail, and they can't see the big picture, and they can't see that they can't see the big picture, and they think I'm the one who doesn't understand.