# Genetics & Cognitive Processes: You & Your Parents



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

_I couldn't find it anywhere, so sorry if something like this already existed..._

There are four sets of strongest cognitive processes for the 16 personality types. If you vary the order, there are 4 resulting personality types for each process:

*Ne Ti Fe Si* => _INTP, ENTP, ISFJ, ESFJ_

*Ni Te Fi Se* => _INTJ, ENTJ, ISFP, ESFP_

*Si Te Fi Ne* => _ISTJ, ESTJ, INFP, ENFP_

*Se Ti Fe Ni* => _ISTP, ESTP, INFJ, ENFJ_


I've realised out that my husband and my brother-in-law share the same cognitive functions. But their four letter preferences are completely opposites: ISFJ and ENTP.
Sadly, I don't know what types their parents are and what type their sister is. 

I'm interested if there's some significant correlation between your parent's (and other family members') types and your own type.


*Please*...

...cast your vote for what applies to you.


*And* (if you want to)...

...specify your set of cognitive processes.
...specify your parents' sets of cognitive processes.
...specify the connection.
...write something about your siblings' and grandparents' prefered cognitive processes.
...write something more.


I think I forgot an option:
"partially the same functions both of my parents have (they have the same functions)"...something like this...

*(Just for the record and in case anyone might think this: the last option does NOT mean "I don't believe there is a correlation even though there seems to be one". :tongue*

EDIT: 
*For those who don't have any connection with their parents cognitive function-wise:*
It would be very interesting to know what your cognitive functions are and if there is a connection between your siblings and you or between you and your grandparents!


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

hm...maybe I should put this in the "cognitive processes forum"...:crazy:

Anyway: My four strongest cognitive processes are Ni Fe Ti Se. Those are the same as my mother's (INFJ) and my grandma's (ENFJ, afaik) cognitive processes.


----------



## Mulberries (Feb 17, 2011)

Me: INFP
Mother: ENTP, so we have Ne.
Father: ESFJ (I think)


----------



## TheOwl (Nov 3, 2010)

Both of my parents have Si Te Fi Ne. My brother and I both have Ne Ti Fe Si.
That means we all use Ne and Si.

Also, my mother and my grandmother use the same cognitive processes in an opposite order.


----------



## Konan (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm not sure if I got this right so please bare with me here. Me and my dad both have the Ti and Fe in the same order so that means partial similarity right? That is why I voted that. 
*Ne Ti Fe Si* => _ISFJ _(Me)
*Se Ti Fe Ni* => _ESTP_ (Dad)
Mom is unknown...


----------



## StandingTiger (Dec 25, 2010)

Dad --- ENTJ -- Te-Ni-Se-Fi​+ Mom -- ENFJ --- Fe-Ni-Se-Ti
Me ---- ENFP -- Ne-Fi-Te-Si​
Not much is share with them at all, except the combination of Fi and Ti with my father, although in the opposite order. I went with "partially the same as my father's".


----------



## goodgracesbadinfluence (Feb 28, 2011)

I'm an INTP, my dad is an INTJ, and my mum is an ISFJ (I think).


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

goodgracesbadinfluence said:


> I'm an INTP, my dad is an INTJ, and my mum is an ISFJ (I think).


Hm, yeah, that would mean same functions as your mum but in a different order.


----------



## StrixAluco (Apr 8, 2011)

My father and my brother seem to be both ISTP (though I've been thinking that my brother may be copying my father but he does consider himself to be ISTP and his childhood seem to indicate that, my father's type is rather confusing as well) . 
My mother is an ESFJ.

I'm positive I am either an ISTJ or an INTJ, no matter how chaotic my bedroom is, I am J.

My grandmother (mother's side) is interested in MBTI type and said that she may be an ENTP (so there are similarities with my mother).

I've got a cousin on my mother's side who is ISTP as well. It seems quite common on both sides when it comes to males.


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

StrixAluco said:


> My father and my brother seem to be both ISTP (though I've been thinking that my brother may be copying my father but he does consider himself to be ISTP and his childhood seem to indicate that, my father's type is rather confusing as well) .
> My mother is an ESFJ.
> 
> I'm positive I am either an ISTJ or an INTJ, no matter how chaotic my bedroom is, I am J.
> ...


Just summarising/translating for a better overview:

father 
ISTP: Se Ti Fe Ni

mother 
ESFJ: Ne Ti Fe Si

You
ISTJ: Si Te Fi Ne / INTJ: Ni Te Fi Se

this would mean that you either share Ne and Si with your mother OR Ni and Se with your father. And your Te and Fi are unrelated.


----------



## StrixAluco (Apr 8, 2011)

My weakest functions are Fe and Se apparently, so that'd mean I'm more likely to be an INTJ from what I've read and therefore took after my father. Note that my brother took entirely after my father (apparently) which seems unusual looking at the results of the survey though it's a little too soon to make any conclusion. I could see him as an ISFP copying my father, he's tricky to analyse (though his childhood makes him a bit more of a thinker).

Then, there's the nature vs nurture question, *is it genetics or education* ?

Anyway, I've notived something in the posts :


> Dad --- ENTJ -- *Te*-_Ni-Se_-*Fi*
> + Mom -- ENFJ --- Fe-_Ni-Se_-Ti
> 
> Me ---- ENFP -- Ne-*Fi-Te*-Si


The parents have Ni and Se in common, the child too after the Fi and Te function after their father but has Ne and Si instead of Ni and Se.

As for mine :
_Fe_ Si Ne _Ti_
_Ti_ Se Ni _Fe

_Fe and Ti in common,and they are the functions I don't share with them._ We could observe the same pattern with my brother if we considered him to be an ISFP rather than an ISTP but that's just an hypothesis.
_


> Both of my parents have Si Te Fi Ne. My brother and I both have Ne Ti Fe Si.
> That means we all use Ne and Si.


However, it doesn't seem to work with parents who share the same functions, obviously. They all use Ne and Si but the children use Ti and Fe instead of Te and Fi.

More people seem to take entirely after their mother. There's also a mixture of both or taking partially after the father (seems more common than taking partially after the mother). 
It would be interesting to know if there's any correlation with the gender. I don't see why nobody would take entirely after their father (except from genetic explaination, right but then, why would they take partially after their father or be a mixture of both ?) unless there is some cultural aspect in it. On my mother's side, there are 4 children who share the same functions as their mother (*ENTP*) but my cousin is the son of an ENTP and ISTJ seems to be turning into and INTP so he's taking after his father. 
I think, perhaps, we inherit one or two functions for some reason and then develop the two other functions according to our personal history. The reason *why* some may develop like their parents or be their opposite is a bit tricky though, it seems normal to have preferences but how do they truly develop ? 

There's obviously a natural preference in everyone that can be seen early in childhood (or at least, I've noticed one among my acquaintances) but education play an important role in the way we develop, social interactions have some importance in our life as well. I mean, I've noticed that Thinkers in my family are more likely to have dyspraxia/dyslexia (there's only one Feeler who had dyslexia), so I guess there's something in our genes that interfere with our preferences but still it would be rather surprising that living does nothing to interfere as well. My knowledge of genetics is really basic though, I guess people sometimes become the opposite of what they should naturally be because of traumatizing experiences or some disorders. Perhaps our main functions are genetically coded but the order is not necessary given (yet, everyone use all of them differently). 

Honestly, seeing that made me a bit curious but I don't know what can be thought about it yet, my first hypothesis was that we tend to have opposite functions (I mean, extrovert instead of introvert) when our parents share two of them, but that doesn't seem to work. 

Or perhaps I'm being extremely stupid and I should stop talking about something I don't master. I can only find speculations about it on the Internet.


----------



## Oleas (Jul 22, 2010)

Me- xNTP
Mom- ESFJ
Dad- INTJ
Brother- ESFP

Me-Mom = *Ne Ti Fe Si*
Dad-Brother = *Ni Te Fi Se*

Weird coincidence, I have every single function repeated twice in my family.


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

Yeah, funny, from what you've said it looks like girls get their functions from their mothers and boys get them from their fathers. But I do think that it's different for my husbands family, for example. Afaik my father-in-law is some sort of FP. But this would mean that he couldn't have the same functions as my husband and brother-in-law (Ne Ti Fe Si).

And strangely enough, nobody has voted for "the same as my father" yet. :crazy:


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

Another thought: Seeing that you have to both know your parents' and your own CORRECT type for answering those poll questions, there's actually a very high chance of mistypings. So it is also possible that the high number of "non-relation" is actually due to mistypings. But it's just a thought and possibly not correct. ^^


----------



## Metaplanar (Apr 2, 2011)

Dad ---- ISTJ -- Si-Te-Fi-Ne​+ Mom -- INFJ --- Ni-Te-Fi-SeMe ----- INTJ -- Ni-Te-Fi-Se​Looks like I got the outer two functions from my mum and the inner two from my dad. Neatly straightforfard so far.

And then there's my mum's family (I'm not really sure about all of them)Granddad -- ESTJ -- Te-Si-Ne-Fi​+ Grandma -- ENFP --- Ne-Fi-Te-SiMum ------- INFJ -- Ni-Fe-Ti-Se
Uncle ------ ISTP -- Ti-Se-Ni-Fe
Aunt1 ------ ESFP -- Se-Fi-Te-Ni
Aunt2 ------ ISFJ -- Si-Fe-Ti-Ne​


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

hm...still nobody with the same cognitive processes as their father...? :mellow:


----------



## StrixAluco (Apr 8, 2011)

PlushWitch said:


> Another thought: Seeing that you have to both know your parents' and your own CORRECT type for answering those poll questions, there's actually a very high chance of mistypings. So it is also possible that the high number of "non-relation" is actually due to mistypings. But it's just a thought and possibly not correct. ^^


Sure, but considering that it's not exact science but mostly introspection, it would be hard to make any real conclusion or make sure nobody's mistyped unless we had some kind of brain scan to detect our types (and then, there would be no question of nature vs nurture, that'd be much easier). ^^

We could totally think that what seem to be true or usual isn't true to reality (especially since it's even more difficult to know the real type of someone else, even when asking them). Any result in this poll would be speculation, interesting speculatin.


----------



## Emerson (Mar 13, 2011)

Me and my mother are both INTJ 
While my father is ESTJ and so some similar functions.
And my sister is ENTP who is the same as one of my aunts.


----------



## diMaggio (Apr 27, 2011)

I chose "_totally unrelated to the ones my parents have.".
_The one person of my family whose cognitive processes I felt most related to was my grandfather.
He had a great zest for knowledge, was very curious about the world, read many books and was very logical in his thinking.
All other members of my family are more or less "just" living, if you know what I mean.
Btw. I never had any siblings if that's of any interest.


----------



## Psychosmurf (Aug 22, 2010)

Father: ISTP
Mother: INFP
Me: INTP

:happy:


----------



## Eylrid (Jun 25, 2009)

I'm the same as my mother, and partly the same as my father.

Me: INTJ - Ni, Te, Fi, Se
Mother: INTJ - Ni, Te, Fi, Se
Father: ENFP - Ne, Fi, Te, Si

3/4 of my parents children are N dom.


----------



## heartturnedtoporcelain (Apr 9, 2010)

Mum: ENFP Ne-Fi-Te-Si
Dad: ENTJ Te-Ni-Se-Fi
Me: INFP Fi-Ne-Si-Te

so - I have the same main functions as my mum but rearranged. My dad - Fi-Te reversed.


----------



## Crymzion (Feb 12, 2011)

I'm an INTP, my father is an ENTJ, and my mother is an ESTJ. The only one I have in common is the NT cortex with my father.


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

Crymzion said:


> I'm an INTP, my father is an ENTJ, and my mother is an ESTJ. The only one I have in common is the NT cortex with my father.


You've got Ne and Si in common with your mother, actually. 
INTP: Ti *Ne* *Si* Fe _vs_. ESTJ: Te *Si* *Ne* Fi

_EDIT: That's actually why I think there are many incorrect votes. _


----------



## snail (Oct 13, 2008)

I'm an INFP, which I guess makes my processes the same as my ISTJ dad's, even though I feel like I relate better to my INFJ mom.

My ENFP brother also has the same processes as our dad.


I hadn't really thought of our family in this way. I guess it makes sense that we all got along so perfectly, if we were all essentially the same except for my mom, whose type is known for being empathetic and tolerant, and who shares the NF temperament with both of her children. I always figured dad was the oddball, because of his SJ, or that my brother was because of his E.


----------



## Valdyr (May 25, 2010)

My mother is an xSFJ, and my dad is an INTP, so they have the same cognitive functions in a different order (Ti, Ne, Si, and Fe). I'm an INTJ (Ni Te Fi Se), so have none of those. I have no siblings, and I have no idea what my grandparents' types would be (most of them are dead anyway).

I've noticed that my dad and I have a complimentary relationship when problem-solving, which is nice, as do my ENTP best friend and I.


----------



## Nixu (Jun 2, 2010)

I don't know the order of cognitive functions, only the MBTI types. I also don't know the types of my siblings, but I'll guess (probably horribly wrong).

Me: INFP
Mother: ENFP
Father: INTP
Sister: ExFJ (guess)
Brother: IxFx (guess)

I don't know the types of my grandparent's, but I think my mother's father was INTJ and my mother's mother is most likely xNFx (hard to say if she's E or I, since she's been depressed since grandpa passed away. =/ )
Father's father seems ISTJ to me, but I could be wrong. I have a very strong feeling father's mother was an ENFP.

I don't know if this was anyhow useful, but I trieeedddd!


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

Nixu said:


> I don't know the order of cognitive functions, only the MBTI types. I also don't know the types of my siblings, but I'll guess (probably horribly wrong).
> 
> Me: INFP
> Mother: ENFP
> ...


K, you've got exactly the same functions as your mother. That's all that counts for now. :laughing:


----------



## DeadboredreD (Aug 2, 2011)

why am i the only person who voted " the same as both of my parents' (=> they also share the same)."????


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

DeadboredreD said:


> why am i the only person who voted " the same as both of my parents' (=> they also share the same)."????


My theory is that all the people who should have voted for this option actually chose "a mixture of both of my parents'". And I think many also chose "totally unrelated to the ones my parents have" because they didn't know that their parents' types share the same functions with their own type...


----------



## DeadboredreD (Aug 2, 2011)

you mean they are mistyped? those 2 options make more than 50% of your sample. 46 people!


----------



## PlushWitch (Oct 28, 2010)

DeadboredreD said:


> you mean they are mistyped? those 2 options make more than 50% of your sample. 46 people!


Well...yeah...mistyped might also be a possibiliy. But I think many people just misunderstood the prospect of the question and the responses.


----------

