Susceptibility and Categorization

[Carnap]

Things like bipolar, disorders that are classified, even MBTI... while there may be something to them, does anyone else think they are dangerous? People are so susceptible. Ian Hacking has a word for it, where people diagnosed with certain mental disorders start to take on those qualities even more after diagnoses.

(Anyone who can find that term for me, I'd appreciate it by the way)

What do you guys think?

 

[Enne]

I think so. Psychology, pseudoscience/pseudopsychology and pop culture / mass media play too big a role in peoples' lives. A psych grad student was telling me how diagnoses of multiple personality disorder picked up big time after TV shows started featuring people affected with the disorder (almost all of whom probably just had underlying psychological issues or dissociative amnesia). In general, I think that slapping labels on people is just an easy way to keep the general downside and unrest of our culture quiet; it's a way to cover up that keeping pace with societal expectations and pressures is making a lot of people unhappy.

As for the influencing of MBTI, I don't think that it changes anyone's behavior. If anything I've read, particularly from ENTPs and INTPs, that reading about the character typing gives them a sense of calm; no, you're not crazed, you're just a different person from the XSXJ mainstream. I don't think that MBTI makes people want to conform to their 'type' further, though I have to say upon reading descriptions for INTP I began to look at myself more objectively. If anything, the typing would give people greater confidence, as they would come to see themselves as different and acceptable personalities in their own right, as opposed to incurably flawed versions of other characters.

 

[Carnap]

Your example is hilarious. I agree with you.

I also think evolutionary psych can be a good alternative to modern psych, but I still have some qualms with it.

 

[Agent Intellect]

i know for myself, when i stumbled upon mbti and found out i was INTP, i started to act more 'INTP' then before. after a few weeks i recognized the behavior, but i still have those thoughts in my mind like "i'm not like that, i'm an INTP!"

in some ways finding that out was beneficial, but i do think it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy in many ways.

edit: makes you think about the societal pressures on women and minorities (for those white males out there). i'm the only one expecting myself to act a certain way, and i still do it, i can't imagine having the media and much of society expecting me to act a certain way.

 

[Ermine]

Agreed. While it's been beneficial learning so much about MBTI, I have to deliberately be me, rather than a hollow shell of me, aka INTP. But almost anything can be used for good or bad.

 

[brain enclosed in flesh]

I don't know. I had my bipolar episode prior to being diagnosed bipolar. Have been quite stable since, on an extremely low dose of meds. I called myself INTP but didn't seem to be enough of an INTP. Now that I've decided I'm an INFP, I still don't relate to about 95% of those INFP descriptions and posts from other INFPs, can't imagine myself becoming more INFP-ish. That said, I have a friend who could be a walking poster child for the idea you are proposing. She 'lives' her categorizations and diagnoses, vs. simply living. I can't stand being around her or talking to her anymore.

 

[Enne]

>_< I did consciously (and unconsciously) think about it after first reading about it (on craigslist personal ads...LONG STORY), especially regarding whether I was an intro- or extrovert. But admittedly, that was before I really knew what the difference between the two was (not the superficial, western society one, but the technical/ psychological stimulus one).

As to right now, sometimes, like when I'm on this forum I'll wonder if I'm really an E or INTP, and from time to time I'll guess someone's type (usually a family member or friend), but for the most part, I don't see this as a self fulfilling prophesy or anything. I mean, if you think about it, being 355/400 points relative to a certain four letter acronym on some random personality website shouldn't translate to too much irl, imo.

 

[Black Pat]

@ Agent Intellect: "i know for myself, when i stumbled upon mbti and found out i was INTP, i started to act more 'INTP' then before. after a few weeks i recognized the behavior, but i still have those thoughts in my mind like "i'm not like that, i'm an INTP!"

I do this all the time, and it is suffocating. I suspect that by self-consciously highlighting my INTP traits and becoming hyperanalytical about things that don't need any analysis, I throw myself into on of these "grip experiences". (See, I'm doing it again.)

On the other hand, having this handy "type" guide has made interacting with other people easier. Things that used to make me really angry don't bother me much when I can think, "that is just S people doing S things." Before I react negatively to it, I consider how I would feel if someone was pissed at me for using the functions I'm comfortable using...