# Synesthesia and MBTI



## velvetoveralls (May 7, 2012)

I apologize if there's already been a thread about this on PerC (I did do a quick search and didn't find anything), but I've been wondering lately if MBTI types with strong Ni (INFJ, INTJ; ENTJ, ENFJ) have higher instances of synesthesia. I've only known three people with strong synesthesia: two INFJs and my ENTJ grandmother. An INFP friend of mine has some synesthesia as well, but it's nowhere near as strong as mine and the other two INFJs I know. (These two INFJs and I seem to have stronger synesthesia than my ENTJ grandmother, too.)

I'm sure any type can have synesthesia; I'm just curious about whether it's perhaps more common with certain types.

What do you guys think?


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## Lesley Drakken (Aug 17, 2012)

I'm an INFP with_ extreme_ Synesthesia. I have all of the basic kinds except for those dealing primarily with numbers (due to my discalculia; I still have color associations with single digits however) and several of my senses (smell, sound, color, visual) are networked together in odd ways; my greatest strength seems to be the ability to 'see' music and sound. I can also 'see' images attached to words and attach color, meaning and personality to letters and random shapes.

Important to note that I'm also on the Autism Spectrum, and that this is a trait known to pop up with Aspergers people. At the same time I can also see those with sensitive types being more prone to it. What I think is that perhaps certain types aren't more or less prone to Synesthesia itself, but certain types are more prone to certain types of Synesthetics. For instance, I might put personalities on letters and associate words with images because INFPs are predisposed to being linguistically gifted.

Also, just for fun:

I = Booksmart, coldhearted- 'Icy Intellectual Isaac' 
N = Kindly, absentminded - 'Nice Nana' 
F = A tease who talks big but messes up a lot - 'Funny Fritz'
P = Almost like I, but more paranoid and outwardly antagonistic - 'Private Paranoid Percy'


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## velvetoveralls (May 7, 2012)

Hmm, I don't know if certain types might be more prone to certain types of synesthesia. I have extreme synesthesia, too, and I also put personalities on letters and associate words with images and all of that. 

Since synesthesia is about making connections between senses, and Ne/Ni is about making connections and visualization, I wouldn't be surprised if synesthesia and iNtuition are linked.

Yes, I knew about the link between synesthesia and autism. It's very interesting....


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## Coyote (Jan 24, 2012)

I would be more likely to associate it with Jung's original description of introverted sensing. It creates a barrier between reality and how you perceive it, so a real Si-dom literally doesn't see things as they are.


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## velvetoveralls (May 7, 2012)

Really? But Si is my weakest function by far, and nonetheless I have extreme synesthesia. My mother is dominant Si, and she is far more in touch with the actual world than I am, being that I am dominant Ni.


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## Coyote (Jan 24, 2012)

velvetoveralls:2837788 said:


> Really? But Si is my weakest function by far, and nonetheless I have extreme synesthesia. My mother is dominant Si, and she is much more in touch with the actual world than I am, being dominant Ni.


Well, here we can get into trouble with the distinction between MBTI's Si and true, Jungian introverted sensation. It's quite possible that someone could score low on MBTI's Si, even if they're really an introverted sensation type, since the tests are measuring something pretty unrelated.


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## Deus Absconditus (Feb 27, 2011)

I have synesthesia and I'm an Ne dom. I've been analyzing this myself and I'm not too sure what the connection between cognitive functions and synesthesia is. There was a thread on the INTP forum where a few them had synesthesia and the rest didn't, so I'm not to sure if cognitive functions have any influence on synesthesia.


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## Belrose (Dec 23, 2011)

I have some it, it comes out and with the way I word the experiences goes like this:

"This song is sparkly" for instance.

But I do associate things with smell and taste the most. If I see the colors blue, teal and aqua on a pattern together for some reason I actually smell an old folk's home. I don't even want to go there since I have no idea where the relation comes from. This is just one of my examples but they're all kind of strange.


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## Fridays (Jul 12, 2012)

Here is one more synesthesia-"person". :crazy:
And -hey, I am an ESFP. :happy:


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## velvetoveralls (May 7, 2012)

Wow, this is all fascinating. Even if it's not related to MBTI, it'd be so interesting to know where synesthesia comes from.


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## unINFalliPle (Jul 8, 2012)

Revival!

Hello. My friend (INTP) has this and it's hard to understand and I really want to. I want to experience it. I wonder if I have. I'm wondering how do you? Is it something we all have, but those with synesthesia are made more aware of it? Do you have more of an imagination or feel more for things that are inanimate?


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## Ace Face (Nov 13, 2011)

I'm Ne dominant, and I have synesthesia. One of the more interesting things I've noticed... the colors are more vibrant when I'm happier. The colors tend to fade when I sink into a depression. I'm just curious to know whether or not other synesthetes have experienced the same thing.


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## Jabberbroccoli (Mar 19, 2011)

Ne w/ synesthesia.


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## Elaminopy (Jun 29, 2011)

ISTP here. Here's a thread I posted a while back before I knew about hybrid pain-killers (*syn*thetic an*esthesia*):

http://personalitycafe.com/general-chat/64735-my-impression-alphabet.html


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## MegaTuxRacer (Sep 7, 2011)

I assign colors and personalities to letters and numbers and can also see different shapes (sometimes color) with music. If I am overcome by a piece of music and close my eyes when my mind is really relaxed, I will hallucinate the song. That's about the extent of it.

Consequently, I hate green and the number 7.


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## pizzapie (Oct 23, 2012)

Oh my gosh I made a thread about if there was a correlation between Si dom/aux users an synesthesia and it got rejected so bad ;(

I think any type could have synesthesia, although I think dominant percievers would be more likely to have it. Just my opinion with absoluetly no facts to back it up


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## cyamitide (Jul 8, 2010)

unINFalliPle said:


> Revival!
> 
> Hello. My friend (INTP) has this and it's hard to understand and I really want to. I want to experience it. I wonder if I have. I'm wondering how do you? Is it something we all have, but those with synesthesia are made more aware of it? Do you have more of an imagination or feel more for things that are inanimate?


I don't think this is related to MBTI types. I have an INFP friend who thinks in a very prosaic and pragmatic, down-to-earth way. It may be related to Openness score on Big 5. The aforementioned friend tests low on Openness, while two people I know of who make synesthesia kind of associations both test high on Openness.


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## Cathrine (Mar 21, 2013)

Letters and numbers have colors in my head. A is red, B is dark purple, C is pink etc. Also months of the year and days of the week are organised in a three dimentional fasion, counter-clockwise. Now that it's October, I see the whole year from the place at which October is. I am Fe dominant as an ESFJ, but I have a strong Fi, Si and Te/Ti as well..


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## ElasticNebula (Sep 27, 2013)

I found out 5 years ago that I experience Chromesthesia. I lived most of my life not really thinking about it/assuming that everyone experienced that same thing. However, in my undergrad studies, we discussed synesthesia one day during my psychology class. I remember vaguely hearing at one point in my life about people that experience Graphme-Color Synesthesia, but never Chromesthesia...so, I never even really thought about it until I was hearing about it in lecture. And, as we were discussing Chromesthesia and how it's commonly associated with drugs use, I was getting this awful sinking feeling in class like maybe I was a drug baby or something...I'm not...my mother is wonderful and didn't even take Tylenol while pregnant with me, but I was seriously weirded out by the lecture. On a sort of personal note, this experience actually caused me to go through a period in my life where I began to question a lot of things. I had assumed that everyone experienced the world very similarly to me, but I soon came to realize that I was incorrect. What other differences exist between people's perceptions of the world? I actually confronted my professor about it one day (the psychology professor), and she assured me that I wasn't crazy...she actually said that it could be a more common phenomenon than we realize. For example, I had assumed all of my life that everyone experienced chomesthesia, because I can't really conceptualize experiencing the world in a different way. I have determined that it is not because I am special, it's just that we are now realizing that people experience the world in vastly different ways...we are only just now beginning to understand SOME of the ways that people experience the world around them. For the record, I consistently test as an ENTJ on the MBTI.


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## Thalassa (Jun 10, 2010)

Is this like when certain words make me think of chewing ice, or almost as if they have a flavor? I have never completely understood synesthesia. I don't correlate color to numbers or anything, but certain words evoke sensation in me unrelated to their taught ascribed meaning.


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## TheISO (Jan 29, 2014)

I was percieving music in colors since my childhood. As I was growing, it went even further, and while listening to certain melodies, I started percieving pictures. It never looked like a hallucination, more like a vivid daydream. I never took any brain - altering substance and my lifestyle isn' t much different from that of many ordinary people. I did have a depression some times in my life, but that was caused by external events, and I' m done with it right now. Aside from that, I never had any mental disorders. I always thought it was just vivid imagination, which I also had since early years of my life. But recently I read in a magazine that it is actually a rare thing. I don' t get why do people associate chromesthesia with drug use. Also, INTJ here.


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## Raawx (Oct 9, 2013)

End of Hypnosis said:


> I have some it, it comes out and with the way I word the experiences goes like this:
> 
> "This song is sparkly" for instance.
> 
> But I do associate things with smell and taste the most. If I see the colors blue, teal and aqua on a pattern together for some reason I actually smell an old folk's home. I don't even want to go there since I have no idea where the relation comes from. This is just one of my examples but they're all kind of strange.


I have the same experience as you.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

My ex who I am fairly sure is an ISTP going off memory, has synesthesia. It was a mix between visual and auditory, as he saw colors and shapes when he heard music. 

I have a very mild (close to non-existent) form. The only thing I really associate is that certain chords come with colors. C major is always Easter yellow to me for example. Not so much that I see it though, but when I think of the C major chord I imagine it as yellow though it is a sound and not a visual object.


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