[Tantum Diversus]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I'm interested to see what people have to say.

Do you think you were born an INFJ, or has life somehow made you one?

I was always a shy gentle kid but I think a lot of rough treatment has possibly made me the INFJ I am now. I remember doing the Myers Briggs when I was a teen and coming up an ENFP. (I think I may have wanted to exhibit those traits I picked!) In redoing it earlier this year, I came up as an INFJ. It got me thinking about my life. It's ups and downs, hardships and glories etc. I wondered if I have been shaped by my life experiences into the over sensitive person I am, or was I just born that way.

I'd love to know what you all think.

[A.R. Casey]

I believe both make an impact on making someone an INFJ.
I was definately born an INFJ because I have always felt like an Alien around people and I am naturally shy and sensitive to the feelings of others. However my troubled childhood and terrible experiences of being bullied have also shaped me as an INFJ because I find that from these experiences I am more aware of the motives and thoughts of others and I can also easily empathise with others who have experienced similar difficulties.

That is my thoughts anyway! :)

[Razare]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I'm interested to see what people have to say.

Do you think you were born an INFJ, or has life somehow made you one?

I was always a shy gentle kid but I think a lot of rough treatment has possibly made me the INFJ I am now. I remember doing the Myers Briggs when I was a teen and coming up an ENFP. (I think I may have wanted to exhibit those traits I picked!) In redoing it earlier this year, I came up as an INFJ. It got me thinking about my life. It's ups and downs, hardships and glories etc. I wondered if I have been shaped by my life experiences into the over sensitive person I am, or was I just born that way.

I'd love to know what you all think.

All the research shows that it develops well before teenage years. It's generally believed to develop as early as infancy.

If there is environmental factors in later childhood, they likely are the difference between say an ENFJ and an INFJ... but honestly, I doubt it. I had a strong Ni, when I was a toddler... it was always my dominant function. I would express it through angrily being stubborn when being told to do something I disagreed with... my Ni generally believed I should do whatever my parents told me to do, and anything anyone else said was wrong.

So if there are environmental factors that determine and influence overall type, then they likely occur within the first 2 years of life.

So basically, how cognitive theory works, to interact with the world, you're given 2 functions... Ni and Fe in our case... one is going to be dominant even during our earliest interactions. Having Ni and then Fe, automatically determines your remaining cognitive functions as Ti and Se, in that order. Without both an introverted and extroverted function, you couldn't interact with the world.

Changing dominant functions isn't something we can consciously do... even when we're say age 5. So if there's a point where we can switch dominant functions, it would have to be very very early.

[katrina092196]

I'm on the side that life somehow made me an INFJ! =)

Because when I was a kid, I can talk to anyone and blab about anything...

But because of up's and down's just like your life,
I was tired being hurt/ Same as seeing someone else suffer.

I became attracted to sad things. (Which is an INFJ Factor)
I learned to be genuine only to those <few> people who gained my trust.
I became a Counselor because I know how he/she feels. :)

ETC.

But being born as an INFJ also has a great impact.
My DAD: INTJ
My MoM: ESTP

- Well what a combi.
--- My MoM always argues with me but when she becames *ESFP* Because of her good mood we came to love each other. AHAHA. Were pretty close. :)

[Auri]

I was an ENxJ (I'm usually fifty / fifty on T / F) as a child, from what I can remember. The death of a parent made me more introverted and empathetic towards others, shifting the type to INFJ.

That's how I rationalize it, anyway.

[The Umbraic Light]

I have been the same from birth to now--the other difference now is that I understand why I am the way I am. Being an INFJ boy wasn't always the simplest thing haha.

[missushoney]

Hmm. I like thinking about these kinds of things. I believe I was born as an INFP. I've always been INF for sure. There's never been a time when I was different. I do like to talk when I get used to people but I still feel drained around them and have to recharge in my room for a time. But I think the P developed into a J around high school when I was a bit more clearly aware of myself. It took time to understand myself and figure out why I did what I did. I even felt like I was weird and disconnected from the world. At times I felt like Jesus looking down on the world and loving everyone but feeling upset at how many bad things were happening. I felt like no one understood me and that the key to living happily was to live for everyone else and not so much for myself. I even was contemplating moving to India or China to live in a temple and focus on becoming closer to God and doing service for the community. This hasn't gone away but I do recognize that living for others and not myself at all can make you feel really lost when you are alone and don't know who you are anymore. You push all of your problems away and once other people's problems leave, yours come back and you don't want to deal with them. Luckily my mom is INXX (I'm not sure. It's a bit hard to tell because she is bipolar and can have traits of different things at different times) and she understands me pretty well. But nowadays I have the P in my mind and I wish I could let loose and be free, but the J overrides anything that isn't clearly decided or won't make money or isn't thought to be useful in some way. So I end up not doing a lot of things I want to do or buying things I want to buy or procrastinating for too long when I have work to do. I also have taken on the role of the "mommy" of my group of friends. I'm childlike and oblivious most of the time but when it comes down to getting things done or being responsible while everyone else is wasted, I become the caretaker who makes sure everyone gets home safely and has all of their stuff. My dream hasn't died though, I still want to live for others but I've decided I'll be happier if I can first save up money to buy my shop I've always wanted and learn how to fix myself so I can fix others.

kind of went off on a life journey there, sry. haha

[LesleySolitude]

I believe both make an impact on making someone an INFJ.
I was definately born an INFJ because I have always felt like an Alien around people and I am naturally shy and sensitive to the feelings of others. However my troubled childhood and terrible experiences of being bullied have also shaped me as an INFJ because I find that from these experiences I am more aware of the motives and thoughts of others and I can also easily empathise with others who have experienced similar difficulties.

That is my thoughts anyway! :)

Same experience with you.

I'm shy in nature. The signature pose of me in childhood is looking from behind the door with intense eye gaze.

I'm bullied in my school life, including high school. I often looked shy and timid, sigh. But now life becomes much better because I choose the right major and stay in places where people often embrace different kinds of people.

From all these, i think i'm born to be an infj, then the surrounding environment further "intensify" my nature.

[innovati]

Sometimes I feel like King INFJ™ because I fit the description to a 'T' and I don't see how it could possibly apply to another person as closely as it does to me.

I don't know if I was born or made, but I've been this way for almost a decade of being tested in various capacities, so while I've grown and changed so much, that has remained the same.

[Zadriela]

I believe I was born an INFJ. Although, I believe I became less outgoing when I hit about 8 or 9 years old, due to self confidence issues. I don't have solid proof that I was an INFJ before that time, except that I was still very, VERY sensitive then. My gut instinct tells me I have always had the same core workings, though.

In fact, I have always been confused when people ask the question, 'Do you feel any older?' when birthdays come around. The reason is because the way my core feels today is the same way it felt when I was four. I simply know more now, am a bit colder, less energized, more of a thinker, am more skilled, and not nearly as pure haha (but perhaps these are the sorts of things they were implying meant older?).