# How do you guess someone's type?



## Jazzo (Aug 4, 2011)

Most people don't go around telling you their types, if they even know them. But I, like I bet many of you here, like to guess people's types, either for fun or to help with interactions (whether in a manipulative way or not). What are your methods of typing people who you know? Do you go through each group and pick a letter? Do you look at different 4-letter types as wholes? Do you think about different functions? And what key things do you look for to help with these distinctions.

Answer as many or as few of these as you'd like. I'm just trying to get better at this.

Julian


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## WickedQueen (Jun 1, 2009)

My only method of typing people is to get them do the test.

You can guess their type, but I don't think you should. It's like you're judging them merely for what you _think _they are, not for what they _truly _are. It's not fair for them, IMO.

Plus, it would lead to false typism, generalization, and stereotypes.


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## Jazzo (Aug 4, 2011)

Maybe. I just feel like people constantly talk about people they know of certain types, and I doubt they all took tests.


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## L'Empereur (Jun 7, 2010)

Guide to typing in real time. - INTP Forum


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## WickedQueen (Jun 1, 2009)

Jazzo said:


> Maybe. I just feel like people constantly talk about people they know of certain types, and I doubt they all took tests.


They are judgmental. Do not follow them.


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## whiterwair (May 29, 2010)

I type people in person that I meet, but I don't know tons about MBTI, so I usually can't claim to type anyone accurately or even to type everyone. I do do it, though, just because it's something I do when I meet someone. I usually break it down into the four - I/E, N/S, T/F, J/P. It's usually relatively easy for me to tell the I/E and the P/J, but I falter a lot with N/S and sometimes T/F. (Not that I really know if I am correct, but I have guessed a few peoples' types correctly before I'd gotten to know them better and made them take the test.)


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## yaintj (Dec 17, 2010)

I don't type anybody, but sometimes things pop up into my mind when meet a person. Some persons are enigmatic and I want to learn more about them. It can be fun, but I don't let it bother me and surely not bother others with it.


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## jonjonjonjon (Jul 4, 2011)

You can get some idea by just observing and listening to what people do and say. Some are really easy to pick, while others are much harder. If they are unaware of the MBTI then all the better. They will act naturally and will reveal more when or if you can get to know them. Type is a hypothesis. Test your knowledge of Type theory and have some fun with it in your own head.


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## woodpeace (Jul 20, 2011)

I don't type people. I assumed that someone whom I had met several years ago and was a facilitator on an MBTI course I attended last year was INFP, but ahe told the course that she is ISTJ.


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## NeedsNewNameNow (Dec 1, 2009)

I look at what they do, say, what they do for work, or hobbies. Try to spot cognitive function usage. I go through the letters sometimes too. I don't have a set method, it's like doing a jigsaw puzzle for each person.

Sometimes their type is easy to figure out, or I can guess it with a high certainty. Sometimes I'm torn between more than one type. Sometimes I can't figure their type out for the life of me! 

I have sometimes had them take tests after thinking I've figured out their type and been right  (I don't reveal my guess until I see the result, to not influence it)


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## NotSoRighteousRob (Jan 1, 2010)

I usually start by what genitalia they have but lately that hasn't worked as well


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## Obsidian (Aug 10, 2011)

I am trying to get good at typing people, too. That link to the intpforum was fairly excellent, and also supported my own conclusions that I have been drawing lately.

If you look up videos on youtube (just type in "[insert MBTI type"), you can see many patterns among the types. The only problem with watching videos on youtube is that some of the types haven't posted very many videos.

Regarding Fe, I think it's one of the easiest ones to notice. The Fe people will use way more facial expressions, especially around the mouth. Fe seems to me an excellent way to tell INTPs from INTJs. (INTPs, for example, will often frown a lot with their mouth and eyes when they are thinking, and will also do other similar expressions with their eyes. And they will smile more.) And although both NFPs and NFJs will tend to show more emotion than an INTP, the NFPs generally express their emotions with actions, such as hand movements, or just doing weird and quirky things like saying something crazy or making an abnormal facial expression for comedic effect (e.g., a common abnormal expression seems to be making a fearful expression by stretching the mouth downward to one or both sides, when in reality the person is not afraid whatsoever and fear makes no sense in the context). With NFPs, you will still see PLENTY of feeling, but the feeling will essentially bleed out. It is indirect. NTPs and FJs, by contrast, will express their emotions through more normal facial expressions, which will often tend to be rather exaggerated (with ExFJs showing the most exaggeration).

NTJs tend to be more confident, direct, and concise when talking. INTPs will ramble and speak slowly.

STPs tend to be very energetic.

S's will use shorter sentences, and N's more complex sentences.

Granted, I have only gotten into this over the past few weeks, and so I am fairly new. Also, this is my first post to the forum. Several of the S-types I have not yet been able to familiarize myself with much.


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## NeedsNewNameNow (Dec 1, 2009)

Obsidian said:


> NTJs tend to be more confident, direct, and concise when talking. INTPs will ramble and speak slowly.


I tend to speak fast when trying to explain something or nervous


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## Obsidian (Aug 10, 2011)

Well everyone speaks fast when they get nervous. But I'm not referring to the speed of the words. I'm referring to the speed of the sentences and paragraphs. The INTP (Ti) is bad at outwardly organizing his thoughts so he will have to pause a lot to think up what to say next, may get off on a tangent and have to bring himself back on topic, may have to pause to think up just the right word to use, etc.

Obviously none of this will apply if he has already written down his thoughts and is just reading them, or reciting from memory.


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## Sparky (Mar 15, 2010)

I've been trying to guess people's types ever since learning about the MBTI. Mainly, I look for patterns by comparing people I know to be a certain type with the person I'm trying to guess. It's easier to see the patterns after first typing people closest to you, like family and friends. In public, people seem to get a little uncomfortable when they think you're "typing" or judging them in some way in your head, but for the most part, it's okay. The key to getting better is by practicing and meeting people, like in public or when watching television. Thank you.


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## Eric B (Jun 18, 2010)

I usually start with the Galen temperaments, and then see if the person fits the type the temperament blend suggests.
The temperaments are based on expressiveness and responsiveness, which are fairly easy to detect in a person's interaction, even when masking it (like appearing gregarious but not really being interested in people).


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## Capsicum (Mar 17, 2010)

I try to figure out which function they lead with, which narrows down the options from sixteen to two.

Often that's enough for me; if I can't figure out their second function I'm not fussed.


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## allisreal (Mar 23, 2010)

Depending on the person, there seems to be certain letters in the 4-letter type code that just stand out. Like there may be someone who must be an ExFx because it's just that obvious from my perception. To figure out the missing letters I have to think a little bit harder about his or her behaviors and where attention appears focused, using the functions to leverage my final decision.


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## Obsidian (Aug 10, 2011)

According to my observations, I think it's easier to judge FJ from FP than it is to judge EF from IF. Like I said, the FPs don't have normal facial expressions. Instead, their emotions will indirectly bleed out. Sometimes that will cause them to smile, which is obviously a normal expression, but that's about it. And when they smile, often the smile will linger or quickly return, like the person were under the influence of some drug that keeps causing them to smile. They also tend to act quirky. FJs may actually seem more mellow and less emotional. That's just because their emotions are shorter and more directed, instead of just chaotically bleeding out like with the FPs.

Also, in the youtube videos I've seen the EFJs often look sort of depressed, like they're just so sad and de-energized that they can't be hanging out with other people at that moment.


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## Zeptometer (Dec 5, 2010)

I do type people in my life, but I don't type anyone who is borderline, for the very reason @WickedQueen says not to type people, it's just too judgemental. I guess it's an ENFP thing, but I can pick up on stuff about other people that I sort of semi-consciously relate to other people whose types I know for a fact. Like, I don't really _guess_, persay that someone is an ESFP, I just know it, because my best friend has been typed as an ESFP and I know what being around one and talking to one feels like. And, it's like an alarm goes off in my head when I meet another ENFP. It's very bizarre, and not easy to explain. If you can do that as an ENTP, (I have no idea if you can, sorry if I sound presumptuous.


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