is mbti restricted by environment and/or culture?

[joal0503]

its a simple question, and i dont really expect a simple explanation. i apologize in advance if it sounds like a simpleton perspective, but i suppose thats the case here...i dont have much knowledge on this subject...

but i just have a hard time visualizing the mbti being applied to other cultures and environments...for example, would you be able to find types in the "x-tribe" in the amazonian jungle? would you be able to apply these types 45,000 years ago in the middle of the sahara?

just seems like personalities might be somewhat a product of culture or environment...

helpz plz.


yea

 

[Nezaros]

Differing personalities are a given in any culture. If you're asking about specifically classification of these personalities then that's almost surely a luxury only people of a certain social stature in a certain time period can afford. Which are you asking about though, personalities or classification of such?

 

[Architect]

Differing personalities are a given in any culture.

I distinguish between personality and temperament. The genome responsible for our brain encodes (compressed) orders of magnitude less information than the pattern recognizers in the brain. Therefore there is a large component to our brains/minds (thoughts create physical brain pattern recognizers so the words brain and mind can be used almost interchangeably) that is not deterministic - this is nurture. I call it personality.

There are also clearly programmed behaviors (sexual as an obvious example) which are nature, this I believe is temperament. I see temperament as programmed modes or patterns of thought, expressed as behavior.

So, to answer the original question, yes I believe temperament transcends culture, modulated by personality, which includes cultural influences.

 

[Words]

I've lived in several cultures. I've lived and interacted in the desserts of the middle east, i've lived in the jungles of south east asia, thrived in modern metropolis in the U.S., the orient...and yet type is still so vivid. Culture and environment plays a big role, but people are different under the same external settings in a way that only type can explain. I'm currently in an environment and culture that I'm sure is distinct from the majority here, and yet I'm still able to apply and learn type and type interactions. It broadens understanding of type. You get to see the differences between an educated INTP and an uneducated, impoverished INTP, for example. The latter tend to be more sociable etc. All this under the premise that Architect has elaborated on. Personality is not limited to type.

 

[BigApplePi]

I distinguish between personality and temperament. The genome responsible for our brain encodes (compressed) orders of magnitude less information than the pattern recognizers in the brain. Therefore there is a large component to our brains/minds (thoughts create physical brain pattern recognizers so the words brain and mind can be used almost interchangeably) that is not deterministic - this is nurture. I call it personality.

There are also clearly programmed behaviors (sexual as an obvious example) which are nature, this I believe is temperament.

Okay for personality and temperament.

So, to answer the original question, yes I believe temperament transcends culture, modulated by personality, which includes cultural influences.

Sounds good. Could we say personality is to software as temperament is to firmware and hardware?

I see temperament as programmed modes or patterns of thought, expressed as behavior.

When I think of handedness (I'm a leftie), I think of firmware or hardware. Temperament must be broader than thought. There is sensual arrangement ... I don't know how to put it ... that must influence temperament. And it must go deep ... especially if there are strong correlations to left and right sides of the brain as well as front and back.

 

[Architect]

Sounds good. Could we say personality is to software as temperament is to firmware and hardware?

exactly

 

[joal0503]

thanks for the responses...helps clear up the picture!!

 

[joal0503]

additional question...is there a specific age window where typology would be optimal? I know it is subject to change over years naturally, however does one just conclude that the final type (Death) is the best fit? sorry if this is a stupid question.

 

[scorpiomover]

its a simple question, and i dont really expect a simple explanation. i apologize in advance if it sounds like a simpleton perspective, but i suppose thats the case here...i dont have much knowledge on this subject...

but i just have a hard time visualizing the mbti being applied to other cultures and environments...for example, would you be able to find types in the "x-tribe" in the amazonian jungle? would you be able to apply these types 45,000 years ago in the middle of the sahara?

Yes. But I admit that the way dfferent types behave online who come from the general culture of the USA, is VERY different than the way their corresponding types behave online who come from the general culture of the UK, and even then, they both differ markedly from the way people behave who come from other cultures that I have familiarised myself with.

 

[snafupants]

MBTI is less "deep" than Enneagram because the MBTI deals with surface behavior.

I distinguish between personality and temperament.

Good for you.